Me: "Hello readers! Well, the time has come to wrap up the search for the Key Fragment in Lastation."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter IC from Lounge) "Did you here that, Heero? We're gonna find the Key Fragment in this chapter!"
Heero: "It's about time. This will leave only one more Key Fragment to find before we will have all of them."
Me: "Naturally, this won't be the last time we come back to Lastation. We just won't be back until after all four are found."
Compa and IF: (Enter IC from Break Room) "We're one step closer to saving Gamindustri. Isn't that exciting, Iffy?"
IF: "What if it turns out that we end up releasing a powerful monster by bringing these Key Fragments together? Did you ever think that might happen?"
Black Heart: (Storms into IC from Break Room) "Someone took the last slice of cake I was saving! Who took it?!"
Neptune: "Heh heh… sorry."
Black Heart: "Why you little…!"
Me: "Save it for the chapter you two."
Zero: "It has certainly gotten rowdy in here. Though I share in their enthusiasm."
Me: "Of course you do. Now, let's hurry up with that disclaimer so we can get on with the story."
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 hate being remind of the fact that I don't own either franchise. Let's get back to work people. And somebody get me a soda!"
Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Zero and Black Heart:(Leave IC)
Ch. 30 Lastation Key Fragment
After having taken a break for three days, it was time for the party to resume their quest to find the Key Fragments, the items that were needed to free Histoire and supposedly safe the world. And during the break from questing they recruited Nisa, the self-proclaimed keeper of justice.
It was late in the afternoon when the Sky Harbor opened, connecting Leanbox with Lastation, the party's destination where they hoped to find the third Key Fragment. Of course, when the party actually got to Lastation the sun had set and the party saw no reason to try and recover the Key Fragment from the dungeon while it was late out. With their decision to hold off on searching the dungeon until the following day, the part headed toward Lastation's capital city instead.
As the party walked down the dirt road leading to the city, Compa began to inch closer to Neptune as she looked around the open plains that made up most of the surroundings, a scared look on her face, "S-So… what should we do? It's getting really dark and creepy..."
Neptune gave the nurse in training an annoyed look, "Ugh, well, who's fault is this nonsense?!" The purplenette began to look from side to side. "We gotta find a spot to pitch a tent."
IF folded her arms and shot an irritated look at the party's leader, "You're the one who kept napping, saying there was plenty of time left to get to the next town."
A nervous smile creeped onto Neptune's face as the other party members nodded in agreement, "O-Oh… Did I really?"
Nisa held up a box and a large bottle with what appeared to be juice inside, "You also had us stop by that bakery on Leanbox so you could get cakes and juice."
Neptune took the bakery bought food from the blue haired heroine, "These are the snacks Heero and I are gonna share later. No touching!"
A man dressed in some kind of law enforcement uniform came running across the open field with a gun in his hands, suddenly stopping when he saw the party. "Tch! Y-You girls! What're you doing here? You're not Bravo Team..."
Neptune had been taken completely by surprise with the strangers sudden arrival, "Whoa! Right back at ya! You're in a crazy police outfit and you got a neato gun..."
"Fools! This place is dangerous. You should run!"
Compa took refuge behind Neptune as she listened to the man go off about danger, ""Wh-What do you mean?!"
"I'm from S.R.A.T.S., a special forces unit investigating some evil-sounding deaths from residents. I've lost my team, though… Must be those zombie dogs! If you're not a master of unlocking, you should pay attention or you'll get eaten!"
And just like that, the party could not take the man seriously anymore. They might have believed him about being part of a special forces group if he hadn't gone into zombie dogs. Neptune assumed her thinking position as she began to question whether or not the man really belonged to some kind of special forces outfit, "Special forces? Zombie dogs? Have you been playing too much of something?"
"One warning. Ammo is limited, so make sure you aim for their heads! I'm heading out now. Be careful, ladies. Man. I'm itchy. Itchy. Tasty. G-Good luck!"
The man promptly took off after spouting off more nonsense, leaving no doubt in the minds of the party members that the man was not part of some special forces group or doing what he claimed he was out to do. IF folded her arms over her chest with a deadpanned look on her face, "...Another geek pretending to be the main character of a game..."
Yet another oddball and easily forgettable individual in the world of Gamindustri. Heero turned his attention to the city in the distance, "We may not have to sleep out here. If we continue toward the city at our current pace, we should still arrive at the same house with plenty of time time to rest in preparation for tomorrow."
Lyrica, who had been hiding behind IF since the strange man had showed up, poked her head out from behind the brunette and scanned the immediate area with that nervous look on her face that she had when a complete stranger approached her, "Then can we please hurry up and go? I don't wanna run into anymore crazy people."
Xxx
Early the following morning while the girls were still just getting out of bed, Heero was out in front of the safe house working on the Wing Gundam with Gust. While the Gundams he had for transformations could repair themselves using his own energy, fine tuning was something he had to do himself.
After taking care of the suit's maintenance, Heero packed up the tools he had been using and used a towel he had brought to wipe off the grease from his hands, "That should take care of the left balancer and thrusters."
A growling sound drew the Gundam pilots attention to his right to see Gust with a blank look on her face. The young alchemist looked up at Heero with slightly red cheeks, "Work has made Gust hungry."
"Then it would be best to head inside. The others should be up at this time."
Heero grabbed his toolbox and headed into the safe house with Gust. As soon as they opened the door, the duo heard Neptune shouting toward the kitchen, "Compaaaaa! Is it ready yet?"
"I told you Nep-Nep, breakfast will be ready in a little bit."
Neptune began to whine at hearing that she would have to wait. "But you said that like an hour ago."
"But I only said it three minutes ago..."
IF came walking out of the kitchen with a plate of toast in one hand and a glass of milk in the other, "We can always just let you make your own breakfast."
Lyrica, who was sitting on the couch across from Neptune, was looking at the brunette as though she had lost her mind, "Are you sure that a good idea, IF? Won't she burn something?"
The Guild Moderatist thought about her proposal of having Neptune make her own food, then she began to look pale as she suddenly imagined the party's safe house catching fire after Neptune was finished trying to 'cook' her food, "...You're right, that's a terrible idea."
Neptune shot an irritated look at the two girls as they talked about what would happen if she were allowed to cook her own food, "Hey, are you guys saying I can't cook? You don't know nothing! I betcha I could cook something so stupendous it'd blow your minds!"
"I'm worried that's not all that it would blow."
Gust walked toward the kitchen while rubbing her stomach, and Neptune continued to complain, "Heero! Iffy and Lyrics are being mean to me!"
Nisa came running out of the kitchen with a plate of food in her hands, coming to a stop as soon as she was in front of Heero, "What perfect timing you have, Heero! As one hero to another, I feel it is important that you eat a good breakfast to start off a day of justice and heroism."
The plate in the heroine's hands consisted of eggs and bacon arranged into a smiley face and heart shaped pancakes with butter on top and covered with syrup. Compa came out of the kitchen, her cheeks swelled as she saw Nisa holding out the plate to Heero, "Ms. Heroine, I made that plate for Heero! Why are you trying to take credit for all the effort and love I put into it?"
Before anymore words could be exchanged, Neptune grabbed the plate in Nisa's hands and inhaled everything on it before handing it back to the heroine who could only stare at the now empty plate. Neptune chewed for a few seconds before swallowing and giving an irritated glare to Nisa and Compa, "The only one who's allowed to give Heero any love filled food is me. I mean, I am his Destined Lover, so I gotta make sure you guys don't take my place as his number one girl."
Compa just gave the purplenette a blank stare, "But Nep-Nep, you haven't cooked anything for Heero before."
Neptune stopped for a moment, realizing that she really had never cooked anything for Heero. The purplenette began to try and think of an excuse for not cooking for the Gundam pilot, "W-Well, that's cuz'…"
As the others were busy with their own conversation, IF noticed Heero silently brooding on the couch next to her, "I've seen that look on your face. What's bothering you?"
Heero glanced at the brunette for a moment as she bit into a piece of toast before returning his attention to the table, "The increase in monster attacks has me concerned that our mission is going to become more difficult. Normally the defense forces of the landmasses would be able to handle it. However, with the monsters attacking the towns more frequently like this..."
The air, which had been filled with bubbly merriment, was now dominated by silence. Everyone in the party began to question how long it would be before the monsters caused any real damage. Neptune tried to lift the party's spirits and lighten the mood, "We don't gotta worry about that. I betcha when we find the other Key Fragments, the monsters will stop showing up and we'll totally beat 'em all up! We can't save the world if we're all down in the dumps."
Slowly, the other member's solemn expressions changed, reflecting a sense of hopefulness. Nisa displayed that dramatic heroine attitude that she was known for, "Yes. No matter how dire the situation, justice shall always triumph over evil!"
Compa was feeling just as confident about completing their quest as Nisa was, a broad smile spreading across her face, "We've come so far, we can't just give up now!"
Heero didn't know how she did it, but Neptune had a way or raising the groups morale when things seemed bleak, "(It certainly is one of her more endearing qualities.) It would be best for everyone to take this time to make final preparations before we head out. The probability that we will locate a Key Fragment at our next location is high, and I don't want to leave anything to chance. I will go and find information about the monster attacks on this landmass. Hopefully things haven't gotten worse than they have been."
Heero stood up from his spot on the couch and left the girls to their breakfast and preparation. Even before Neptune had brought it up, Heero could tell that the others were energized upon receiving a clue in regards to the Key Fragment on Lastation. While it wasn't exactly anything about the object itself, the location was home to some rather strong monsters, and would more than likely yield something pertaining to their search, if not the actual item itself.
The Perfect Soldier took a look at the Wing Gundam as it stood against the safe house before vanishing in a brief flash of light, "Even after we find the Key Fragment here, there is still the one on Lowee that we will have to search for. Unfortunately, we haven't made much headway in regards to finding it."
"Are you upset or something, Heero?"
Heero turned to see Neptune standing right in front of the door to the safe house, "What makes you say that?"
Neptune walked down the steps in front of the door until she was in front of the teenaged soldier, "Cuz' you were acting all down and stuff. Y'know, if your sad you can always tell me. We're Destined Lovers after all!" The purplenette latched onto Heero, throwing her arms around him in a hug. "But right now, I think you could use a hug. That'll make you feel better."
The Gundam pilot just looked at Neptune as she held onto him. As he began to maneuver his arms around the purplenette, the front door opened again. Compa was standing in the doorway with an apron in one hand and a spatula in the other, "Nep-Nep, you're foods read-"
Compa stopped before she could finish her sentence as she saw Neptune hugging the party's only male member, who looked as though he was about to return the hug. The pink haired girl's cheeks swelled from jealousy as she looked at the two. "Nep-Nep, why didn't you tell us that Heero was giving hugs? You've being an even bigger real Heero hog than usual."
Heero was about to tell the nurse in training that he wasn't giving hugs and that Neptune was the one that started this, when Lyrica suddenly poked her head out the door, "Did someone say Heero is giving hugs?"
Nisa stepped out of the doorway and stood right behind Compa, "What a beautiful gesture of love and camaraderie! I will humbly accept!"
Even IF and Gust had shown up at the door once they heard the words 'Heero' and 'hug' in the same sentence, "Well, if Heero is offering… I guess I can accept it."
"Gust would like hug as well. Group hug!"
Before he knew it, the entire group of girls had already crowded around Heero for a hug. It had started out as an innocent gesture from Neptune and had now become something ridicules thought up by the party.
The Gundam pilot could do nothing but stand there watching the girls hold onto him until he cleared his throat to get their attention, "If you all are finished, I will be going now."
Once he had been released from their grasp, Heero made for the center of the city and left the girls to finish up their daily routine and preparations before heading out for the dungeon where they might find the Key Fragment.
Heero had retreated into his thoughts as he walked toward the center of the city, his mind running back to what had transpired just moments ago. Normally if Heero had a problem, he would keep it to himself unless it affected the group in some way. Not only that, but Neptune had somehow been able to tell that it was bothering him, despite the fact that he didn't show any sort of sign that would suggest as such.
Try as he might, the Gundam pilot couldn't figure out how it was that the girl had been able to see through him. Had he spent so much time in this world that his walls were coming down? Or was Neptune just naturally able to sense his distress?
As Heero continued to dwell on the matter, a familiar disembodied voice was finding amusement in the mornings events, "(You've certainly become popular, haven't you?)"
The Perfect Soldier came to a stop, knowing that Zero was most likely teasing him once again, "And just what do you mean by that?"
"Well, you have this gaggle of girls around you most, if not all of the time, who have made it quite clear that they are interested in you. Not to mention those other girls that, while not a part of your little group, have shown a willingness to help you for… reasons."
Heero was wondering just what exactly Zero was getting at, "Is there something you want to tell me, Zero?"
"Don't you think this would be a nice place to live? Back where we come from, we had to live in the shadows with the others, never really able to live life. All we could do was fight, and hope that the fighting would come closer to an end. There is nothing left for us back there. But here, you have a clean slate. No one knows what we did, or who we are. No one has to be afraid of you… unless you start glaring at everyone."
The Gundam pilot knew that she was referring to Gamindustri in its entirety, not just Lastation. And he would agree that it was certainly a nice place to live. But that was the problem… it was nice enough for him to live as a person. How long would it take for him to screw that up? To end up destroying the lives up innocent people? It may not have happened yet, but Heero was determined to keep it that way, "...We can't stay here, Zero."
A moment of silence ensued after Heero's declaration. The teenaged soldier thought that his companion was gone until she voiced her disapproval, "Why are you fighting this? You have the chance to live a better life here than the one you had back on our Earth."
"Need I remind you that we came here to complete a mission? We're not here to plan for our future."
"...This is part of your problem. You're so focused on completing the mission that you can't see what you have in front of you now."
Heero could not believe they were having this conversation. Surely Zero knew WHY they couldn't stay here, "Neptune has enough to worry about as it is. The last thing she needs is to worry about whether or not her friends will be safe with a killer among them."
"Is that what this is about? Surely you have more faith in them than that. I believe that even if they knew what you were, or what you did in the past, it wouldn't change their opinion of you. And Neptune is always going to be worried about you. She feels very strongly about you. And whether or not you choose to admit it, I know you feel something for her… and the others. Why can't you accept these feelings instead of trying to push them away?"
"Because I can't afford to feel any emotions while on this mission! If I do, it would impair my judgment and could jeopardize Neptune's life!"
It was a good thing that there was no one walking the particular street that Heero was on, otherwise they would most likely assume that he was crazy and call the police. Zero knew that it was going to be difficult to get Heero to really open up to Neptune and the others, but she didn't think it was going to be THIS bad, "You don't really believe that, do you? Heero, this isn't the battlefield you know anymore. You don't need to toss aside your emotions for the sake of the mission. I've seen how these girls have helped you to get in touch with your human side, as well as your… male urges. Trust me, the time you have spent with these girls now and in the future will do you a lot of good."
Heero couldn't comprehend just what exactly Zero was saying, "What are you talking about? Your not making any sense, Zero."
"Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. I've seen the displays of affection here and there. And I'm sure that you've experienced a certain… tightness in your pants, accompanied by an increase in attraction toward the opposite sex. Something that I believe you have experienced more with Neptune than any of the other colorful girls you have encountered. You need these girls just as much as they need you. The way I see it, the only reason you're resisting is because-"
"That's enough. Just drop it, Zero."
The Gundam pilot didn't want to continue this conversation. And while she didn't want to, Zero decided to drop the subject. "(Under that tough exterior, he really is a softy.) We have time before this mission is over. I only ask that you think about it."
Heero was left alone, with Zero presumably going back to what she had been doing since they had first arrived in Gamindustri; collecting data . The Perfect Soldier was left to dwell on the conversation he had just had with his partner on remaining in Gamindustri and how they couldn't stay.
While Heero was busy thinking about his conversation with Zero, a certain raven haired CPU was walking up the street behind him, her mind focused on the aforementioned boy, "(What has gotten into me? Ever since I met Heero I've been acting so weird. I can't even talk to the guy without turning into a stuttering mess. Me! The CPU of Lastation! Why do I even care about what happens to him while he's with Neptune? He's just one human. It's not like it affects me in any way.)"
Of course, no sooner had she told herself that it was no consequence to her what went on between Neptune and Heero did she start to have a very pissed off look on her face. "(I still can't stand how Neptune just grabs onto Heero and leads him around wherever she damn well pleases! I bet that vile little witch does unspeakable things to Heero when no one is looking. I just want to beat her to within an inch of her life!)"
Lady Black Heart was pulled out of her thoughts as she walked right into someone, "Oops. Sorry about that-" Of course upon seeing just who it was she walked into, the CPU turned into, as she put it, a stuttering mess. "H-Heero! What are you doing out here?"
It took Heero a moment to remember where he was after being pulled from his own thoughts due to the collision. Once he had regained his senses the Gundam pilot turned to face the CPU of Lastation, "I apologize for what happened. I was… thinking about a certain topic that I have put little time towards."
"I know that feeling, believe me. I have so many things that I have to do, I just don't have time to focus on that one thing."
The CPU wasn't exactly sure what she should do in this situation. Black Heart honestly had not expected to run into the Gundam pilot, and didn't know what she should say beyond the little small talk sessions they would have. Remembering what he had left the safe house to do, the Perfect Soldier turned back around, "I have something I need to do. If you will excuse me."
As Heero began to walk away, Lady Black Heart subconsciously grabbed the teenaged soldier's hand, "W-Wait!"
Both teens stood looking at one another for a moment, until Lady Black Heart realized that she was still holding onto Heero's hand. The CPU quickly withdrew her hand and looked away from the Perfect Soldier. "I was thinking… maybe you could come to the Basilicom with me. After all, I did invite you to come over. I've been meaning to talk to you about something."
Heero took a moment to consider the CPU's offer when he remembered his conversation with Zero not long ago. The Gundam pilot needed a distraction to get his mind off of the topic his partner had brought up, and thought Lady Black Heart's invitation was just as good as any, "Very well. I do have some time before we go to search for the area you provided us with."
With the Gundam pilot in tow, the CPU began the walk back to her landmass's Basilicom while planning her next encounter with the party, "(So they're going after that thing they were talking about. This time I'll do it... I'll defeat Neptune this time!)"
Once they had arrived at the Basilicom, Lady Black Heart beckoned for Heero to follow her into her room, "I hope you don't mind, but the thing I wanted to talk to you about was this game I recently bought. I'm having a little bit of trouble with it."
Just as Heero was about to open his to respond when a low growling noise drew the attention of both teen's to his stomach. The CPU of Lastation looked at the boy for a moment, "...Did you skip breakfast or something?"
"I had planned on gathering information in the city. While I searched for Intel, I was going to procure something simple for nourishment."
The CPU frowned upon hearing the Gundam pilot's reason for not eating, "(I'll bet this is Neptune's fault. She's too busy stuffing her own face to take care of Heero. The nerve of her.)" Lady Black Heart raised her voice in an effort to get the attention of one of the Basilicom employees. "Hello?! I have a guest here, and he hasn't eaten anything! I request that someone bring him something!"
Moments passed with no response of any kind. Lady Black Heart furrowed her brow as she looked around the empty Basilicom, "...I guess none of the staff are in."
"There is no need to concern yourself with my health. I can always return to the safe house to-"
The CPU dismissed Heero's proposal immediately. "Sorry, but I won't accept that. I invited you over. You're my guest, so I have to make sure you're comfortable while your here." Lady Black Heart raised her arm and extended her finger to point at the spot on the Gundam pilot's face between his eyes, a smirk forming on her face, "Consider this your lucky day. I'LL cook for you."
A degree of surprise had registered on Heero's face. The CPU of Lastation was going to cook for him? This did not go unnoticed by Lady Black Heart, who began to frown at the Gundam pilot's expression. "What's that look for? You don't think I can cook, do you?"
"It's not that. I just find it difficult to believe that this landmass's highest figure would invest time in pursuing the culinary arts. Not when your staff normally tend to your needs."
The CPU puffed out her chest as she began to swell with pride. "Of course. As the CPU of the greatest landmass in Gamindustri, it's only natural that I be able to do something as simple as cooking. I mean, I can only do everything. Now come with me. I'll make you the best food you've ever had."
As the two teens made their way to the kitchen, a bewildered look made it's way on Lady Black Heart's face as her mind was processing what was going on, "(What am I doing? I only invite Heero over here to chat and help me with that game. I never said anything about cooking for him! Not that I have a problem with it or anything… I just never planned on it is all. And why am I talking to myself like this?! It makes it seem like I have issues.)"
The moment they entered the kitchen, Lady Black Heart immediately went about retrieving pans and preparing breakfast for the Gundam pilot. Heero had sat down at the kitchen table, his mind running back to the conversation he had had with Zero prior to his run-in with Lastation's CPU, "(Why would Zero bring up something like that? I can't imagine what is going through her mind right now.)"
Before Heero knew it, a plate of food had been placed in front of him, "I hope you don't mind what I decided to make. I don't know what you like, so I made something simple."
Of course, Lady Black Heart saying that she didn't know what kind of food Heero wanted was a lie. She knew that the Gundam pilot would eat anything, and that simple foods would appeal to his appetite. The plate consisted of the same breakfast items that Compa had prepared for Heero: bacon, eggs and pancakes. Unlike Compa, the three different breakfast items had been put in separate places, an indication that the CPU believed in having her work presented in an orderly manner.
The food looked and smelled good, which left Heero to wonder if it tasted just as such. Picking up the fork that Lady Black Heart had placed on the plate, Heero plunged the silverware into the scrambled eggs and pulled a small clump of the yellow and white mass away before putting the fork in his mouth.
Taking a moment to chew his food, the Gundam pilot marveled at the taste of these otherwise ordinary eggs. Heero then cut off a sizable portion of the pancakes with his fork and inserted the staple breakfast item into his mouth. The texture of the pancakes were spot on. Soft enough that they could be cut up with ease, but not so soft that they were doughy or would simply fall apart. And the taste was impeccable. Naturally, pancakes on their own weren't all that tasty, but these were an exception and the syrup only added to the savory experience.
After sampling the eggs and pancakes, Heero set down his fork momentarily to pick up a piece of bacon off the plate. The strips of meat had been cooked thoroughly, as was evident by the fact that the bacon didn't dangle all over the place between his fingers and because there was very little grease on it. Taking a bite out of the strip of bacon, Heero was met with a satisfying *crunch*. Heero put the piece of meat back down on the plate and looked over each of the breakfast items. Everything had been cooked to perfection, "(Compa is quite the accomplished chef, however… Lady Black Heart's cooking far surpasses her own.)"
Lady Black Heart had been watching the Gundam pilot intently as he tasted the food she had cooked for him. Since all Heero did was sample them and not show any sort of response, the CPU wasn't sure whether or not he had liked her cooking, "So… How is it?"
Heero shifted his attention to the goddess. "Your skill in the culinary arts are exceptional. Though, I guess I shouldn't expect any less from you."
Hearing the Perfect Soldier praise her cooking, the goddess couldn't help but swell up with pride. "Naturally. Like I said, I can only do everything. If I couldn't do something as simple as cooking I couldn't be the CPU of the greatest landmass in Gamindustri. Now, eat up. I can't have my guest walking around with an empty stomach."
Allowing his need for food take over, Heero began to consume the food prepared for him by Lady Black Heart. The CPU of Lastation couldn't help but smile as she watched the Perfect Soldier eat the food that she had cooked for him, "(He likes it. He actually likes the food I made! Honestly, I was a little worried that I didn't cook it all properly.)"
Of course, shortly after praising herself for cooking an edible breakfast for the Gundam pilot, Lady Black Heart looked away as her face became flushed. "(Wh-What's wrong with me?! I don't care what Heero thinks about my cooking! I-In fact, I hadn't even planned on cooking at all! I just got him to come over so he could help me with that game and maybe ask him that question I've been trying to ask. The question I just can't seem to ask Heero because apparently everyone likes interrupting me every time I try to ask it.)"
As Heero consumed the breakfast before him, he couldn't help but wonder why Lady Black Heart, a goddess, would need to know how to cook, "(I can't imagine Lady Black Heart cooking her own meals on a daily basis. There must be some reason for Lastation's highest figure to take up such basic tasks.)"
The rest of the teenaged soldier's breakfast passed in silence. After finishing his food, Heero was taken to Lady Black Heart's room in the back of the Basilicom. Presumably for the original purpose he had came in the first place. "What exactly is this game that's been giving you so much trouble that you would resort to asking someone else for help?"
Lady Black Heart fired up the game console in front of her TV and picked up her controller, "It's this strategy game I've been playing. At first I was doing well, but then I hit a difficulty spike that I just can't seem to get over."
A goddess that could do anything (or so she claimed), and she was having trouble with a game? "Show me the problem first. I'll assess how you attempt to solve it and go from there."
From what the boy could tell, the game seemed to be a rudimentary military strategy game with the objective being to obviously defeat your opponent. The game mode that Lady Black Heart had picked already had the game parameters set, as well as what resources she could use. Heero quickly scanned the game map to see what exactly could be giving the CPU so much trouble. All of the battle's parameters were preset, and from what Heero could see, the CPU's own side was clearly superior to her opposition. A large force of weak enemies were in front of her own with a smaller force of ranged enemies in the back. "(She must not be accounting for something if she can't win when the odds are clearly in her favor. Lady Black Heart's forces could very easily crush the enemy front, then overwhelm the reserves and claim victory.)"
For the moment, Heero remained silent. If the goddess really was having trouble, she must have been doing something wrong. Of course, the CPU's opening move told Heero exactly that. Instead of going for the enemy right in front of her, Lady Black Heart was trying to get close to the enemies in the rear. "(...Well, this won't take long.)"
Sure enough, Lady Black Heart's in-game forces were caught in a pincer attack and, despite being superior to the opposition, wiped out. The raven haired goddess's face began to contort as the words 'You Lose' flashed across her TV screen. Lady Black Heart took a deep breath before looking back at the Perfect Soldier, "Well… Do you see my problem?"
Heero wasn't sure why the CPU couldn't see her problem, "I see your problem. My question is; why don't you? It's a simple problem with a simple solution."
The raven haired CPU made a pouty face at the Gundam pilot, "If it was simple, I wouldn't be asking you for help." Lady Black Heart thrust the controller out toward the boy sitting next to her. "If it's really so easy, let's see you do it?"
Folding his arms, the boy looked from the girl to the TV screen, "I wouldn't mind doing it. But are you sure you wouldn't? You strike me as the kind of person that likes to achieve victory for herself. I will give you instructions, and if you follow them, you will win. Do you have any objections to that?"
Lady Black Heart eyed the Gundam pilot for a moment before returning her attention to her TV, "Okay. I'll play along. So how do I win?"
"Instead of charging the enemy in the rear, focus on the enemies right in front of you."
The CPU looked at the Perfect Soldier as though he was out of mind, but did as she was told regardless, "(There's no way this will work.)"
As Lady Black Heart's virtual forces start fighting with those of the computer's, she noticed that the support type enemies in the back weren't attacking, despite being within range to do so. "What's going on? Is the game broken?"
Heero briefly shook his head before glancing at the goddess of Lastation. "Unless they have a flagrant disregard for the lives of their own, your enemies will more often then not hesitate to attack when the odds of injuring their comrades are high. You would do well to take note of this, as it is something that can be applied to actual battles."
As soon as the first wave had been crushed, the virtual forces under Lady Black Heart's banner decimated the remainder of the enemy. The CPU felt proud of herself as the words 'You Win' flashed across the screen, "Finally! I've been sick of looking at that same level over and over."
Had this girl really spent so much time on the same portion of the game that she was relieved when she hadn't even finished the game? "Was that all you needed help with?"
"Of course not! This one level was difficult enough that it gave me trouble, so I need you to help me with the rest of the game!"
Part of playing a strategy game was that it made you think. What was the point if he was just going to do all of the thinking for her? Still, Heero needed to get his mind off of his discussion with Zero, "Very well."
And so, the Gundam pilot and Lastation's CPU spent the better part of two hours on the game. Whenever the goddess was about to make a mistake, Heero would correct her, and explain the reason as to why she needed to change her strategy.
Before either of the teens realized it, they had already finished the game. Lady Black Heart fell back onto her bed as she breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally done."
Heero looked at the CPU as she lay on her back, "It would be best that you keep all of this in memory. While used for a game, the strategies that I taught you have been used in life combat." Because he had lost track of time, the Perfect Soldier shifted his gaze over to the clock on Lady Black Heart's bed stand to see what the time was, which read 12:30 PM. The Gundam pilot had to do a double take as he processed what the time was. "(Did I really spend two hours here? How could I have allowed myself to be caught up with a video game like that?)"
Of course when he thought about, Heero began to realize just why he became so hung up with the game. Unlike some FPS or RPG, he had been involved with a strategy game. While it was essentially a simulation, it actually made the Gundam pilot think. Maybe not as much as he wanted to for a war game, but it had been enough to take his mind off of his conversation with Zero from earlier.
And perhaps more than anything, Heero actually enjoyed himself. Sure he had originally planned to simply gather information on the increase in monster attacks instead of this, but he really did need to take a break from working when he could, "(Now that this diversion is over with. I suppose I should get back to work.) There's something I've been meaning to ask you, Lady Black Heart."
The raven haired CPU shot up from her lying position, directing her attention to the boy next to her, "Wh-What is it? (I don't believe it... is Heero going to ask me...? No, he couldn't be… could he? I mean, we spent a lot of time together alone just now.)"
"Has your landmass been experiencing an increase in monster sightings?"
Lady Black Heart inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. While she was slightly disappointed that Heero didn't ask the question she was expecting, she really didn't know how she would respond if he had. "Well, there have been more sightings and attacks recently. I haven't had any trouble getting rid of them, but the increase in activity is starting to scare the civilians."
Heero looked away for a moment in thoughtfulness, "(Looks like the situation here in Lastation is worsening as well.) Since you have finished your game, I won't take up any more of your time."
Before the Gundam pilot could open the door, the goddess of Lastation called out to the boy, "Wait a moment."
The boy looked over his shoulder at Lady Black Heart, who was fiddling with the hem of her skirt. The CPU looked at the boy for a moment before looking away, "So… I was thinking maybe you could come over again sometime. I mean, if you aren't busy."
Taking a moment to think about the CPU's proposal, Heero gave a brief nod, "I don't see any particular problems in regards to your request. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get back to Neptune and the others. We are about to search the area you suggested to verify whether or not the Key Fragment is there."
Lady Black Heart waved as the Perfect Soldier left her room, "Uh, yeah. Bye." Once Heero had left her room, the goddess sat on her bed in silence before realizing that she had forgotten to ask the boy a certain question, "Dammit all! I was so caught up with playing that game that I didn't ask Heero that question!"
The CPU took a deep breath to calm herself down before looking over at her game console. "I bought that game because I was hoping I could use it to have Heero come over and ask him my question without any interruptions, but… It was actually kind of fun." Taking a moment to stretch, Lady Black Heart looked out the window, a smirk forming on her face, "Well, I suppose I should get going. This time… I'll beat Neptune for sure."
Xxx
Heero had just stepped out of the Basilicom when a flash of pink entered his peripheral vision. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that what was looking at was Compa. The nurse in training ran right into the boy's chest and wrapped her arms around him while looking up at him with teary eyes, "Where have you been, Heero? We've been looking all over for you! I thought something terrible happened, like you were kidnapped!"
The boy raised an eyebrow at the pink haired girl in front of him, "You honestly thought I had been kidnapped?"
"Well, what about when those three stalker ladies had you? If that's not kidnapping, I don't know what is!"
Heero had to stop and think about that moment back on Leanbox. Because he knew what actually happened, Heero knew that it was just series of coincidences that led to what appeared to be a collaborative kidnapping. Of course, it was because Compa and the others didn't know the whole story that they had come to such a conclusion, and the boy knew that if he tried to explain what happened now, certain… complications would arise. "...I have taken steps to ensure such a situation does not happen again. Now, if you don't mind Compa..."
The nurse in training looked at the Gundam pilot for a moment before realizing that he was lightly pushing against her. Once she realized just how close her face was to his own, the pink haired girl immediately withdrew from the lone male party member. With her face as pink as her hair, Compa gave an apologetic bow, "I-I-I'm sorry, Heero! I didn't mean to invade your privacy like that."
As he watched watched Compa, Heero suddenly found himself thinking back to his conversation with Zero from earlier. Specifically on how his time with them would do him a lot of good, "Compa. While we have a moment, there is something I would like to ask you."
Compa watched the boy as she waited for him to ask whatever he had on his mind. Heero took a moment to gather his thoughts before proceeding. "How would you describe your relationship with everyone?"
The nurse int training looked at the Gundam pilot in silence for a moment before tilting her head to the side in confusion, "Huh? What do you mean?"
"(I should have worded that question in a manner that wouldn't have confused her.) What I mean is; are you happy being with the others?"
Compa smiled and gave a curt nod. "Of course I'm happy being with everyone. I'm happy when I'm with Nep-Nep and Iffy. And Gust, Lyrica and Miss Heroine." The pink haired girl began to look at the ground while casting glances at the boy in front of her, "And I'm… really happy to be with you too, Heero. Why do you ask?"
Heero found himself looking away from Compa. Not at anything particular, rather he felt ashamed of what he was going to ask. "If you had done… morally questionable acts in the past. If you had done things that would make you question whether or not those close to you would be safer without you… would you still travel with them? Do not feel as though you need to come up with an immediate answer. Take your time and thin-"
"That's a silly question. I'd wanna stay with everyone."
The boy looked at Compa for a moment. Didn't he just say to take her time answering the question? While he wanted to tell the girl in front of him that this was supposed to be a question that required some thought, Heero was rather curious as to what sort of answer Compa had. "I'm sure everyone has done something that they're not proud of. We all have something we regret. And I think that's all the more reason to want to be with your friends. Because no matter what, if they're really your friends, they won't care what you did in the past. They won't judge you or think differently about you. They'll accept you, faults and all, and help you become a better person now and in the future."
Heero's lips were slightly parted as he stared at Compa. Suffice it to say, he was surprised by the answer she had given. Once she noticed the Gundam pilot staring at her, the nurse in training began to worry whether or not she had given him a satisfactory answer, "I didn't say something wrong, did I? Please tell me I didn't."
With a brief shake of his head, Heero assuaged Compa's worries, "No. I was just surprised with your answer. In fact, there was no right or wrong answer to my question."
Before any more words could be exchanged, a familiar voice filled the air, "Good work, Compa! You found our most important party member! He wasn't kidnapped or nothing, right?"
Heero looked past Compa to see Neptune running up to the two with the rest of the party behind her. IF shook her head at the purplenette as she she immediately began to circle the Gundam pilot, as if to check whether or not he was all their, "Nep, that was only the one time. Seriously, you make it sound like Heero's as careless as you are."
"But Iffy, you know those stalker ladies are gonna come after him again! We got make extra sure Heero isn't kidnapped! Besides, I'm gonna need Heero if we're gonna find the Key Fragments."
Nisa was holding a fist in the air as her eyes burned with fiery determination, "Can you all hear it? The call of justice? There is evil yet to be slain, and as a keeper of the peace, it is my duty to answer the call! Let us find this Key Fragment item and take another step towards lasting peace!"
Lyrica and Gust watched the heroine as she went on about 'heroing', "I admire Nisa's drive, but does she have to be so dramatic?"
Heero watched the group of girls as the conversed, showing how energetic they were about the dungeon they were about to raid. Of course, the Perfect Soldier couldn't blame them. When they first started their search for the Key Fragments they made little in the way of progress and seemed to get caught up in all kinds of mishaps throughout the world of Gamindustri. Just when it seemed as though their search was nothing more than a wild goose chase they found the Key Fragment on Leanbox, which made the group suspect that maybe there really were more after all. And now, having won the Technology Expo and spoken with Lastation's CPU, the party was now heading to a dungeon that may hold the third Key Fragment. If that was the case, then they would only need to find the Key Fragment on Lowee before they would have all four. The group of girls were rightfully energized at the prospect.
Compa brought the conversation back to its original topic about Heero, "Anyway, Heero wasn't kidnapped by the stalker ladies again. But he asked me a silly question. He asked if we would still be friends if one of us had done something wrong in the past."
IF folded her arms and shrugged her shoulders, "I guess. I mean, we're looking for the Key Fragments despite not knowing about Nep's past. For all we know, she could be some kind of demon spawn or evil henchmen."
Neptune rapidly nodded her head, "Yeah, see? I could be a-" The purplenette stopped herself and looked at IF with disapproval on her face. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? I'm not a demon spawn or some ol' henchmen!"
"We don't know that, and neither do you. Look, the point is that we're all working together despite not knowing everything about one another."
Compa looked at Neptune and asked the; though the manner in which she asked felt more like she was just trying to prove a point, "Nep-Nep, do you care if Heero has done something bad in the past?"
The party's leader hands were on her hips and a broad smile made its way onto her face, "Nope. I mean, it's all in the past, right? All I care about about is what's goin' on right now. And right now Heero is my Destined Lover."
Heero just watched the girl's as they went on about how they didn't care what they all did in the past, and were instead focusing on working together to find the Key Fragments. Of course, Heero wasn't entirely convinced that they would think the same of him should they find out what he had done, but wanted to believe them, "For now, we should focus on the task at hand; finding the Key Fragment. I presume you all are ready?"
A few glances were exchanged between the party's members followed by brief nods. "If we have finished our preparations, then we should head for the mission area."
The party set out for the dungeon that Lady Black Heart had pointed out for them, confident that they would find the third Key Fragment they would need to free Histoire.
Xxx
The ruin the Lastation's CPU had described to the party was an ancient structure, and it showed. The exterior of the building was made out of stone, with cracks and damaged areas throughout its walls, and the interior was much the same, looking exactly like the ruins that the party had found the Leanbox Key Fragment in.
Nisa was frantically scanning the area around the entrance for signs of monsters, "Hmm… for area that's supposed to have strong monsters, it's quiet."
Heero had expected the lack of monsters upon entering the ruins, "There may be a lack of enemies now, but if this is anything like the location where we found the Key Fragment on Leanbox we can expect heavy resistance near the target."
IF had an irritated look on her face as she remembered the battle against the monster guarding the Key Fragment, "The boss that was guarding it was a pain. Things will be different this time."
Lyrica nodded in agreement, "Unlike last time, we have Gust and Nisa with us now. With all seven of us, we can beat the boss no problem."
Neptune's excitement was plain to see as her mouth formed a broad grin, "Don't forget, we got Z to help us, so that makes eight. I can feel it you guys, we're totally gonna whoop the boss and get that Key Fragment for sure!"
"I'm flattered that you would include me among your numbers, however, I cannot physically provide you with support. Moreover, if you are going to include me, shouldn't you include Histoire among your 'party members' as well?"
"We can't include Histy! She hasn't done squat to help us!"
The rest of the party looked at their leader as she shouted into the air, Compa being the one to ask 'why' she was shouting in the first place, "I know you're talking to Z, Nep-Nep, but what are you talking about?"
"Z is being all modest and stuff, saying we should be includin' Histy in the party if we're gonna count her. But we all know Histy doesn't help."
IF and Compa exchanged glances for a moment as they thought about which of the two people that they couldn't hear was more useful and could actually be counted among the party's numbers, "Well, Histy hasn't exactly done anything to help us even once. Z on the other hand has helped us on more than one occasion."
Lyrica, who was standing across from the brunette, nodded in agreement, "And anyone that's supposed to be Heero's helpers has to be helpful. Histy could afford to help out every once in a while."
Nisa had been listening to the conversation of Heero's 'helper' and began talking to herself in a hushed tone, "So my fellow hero in arms has a sidekick? Even I don't have one of those yet..."
The heroine glanced at Gust who was standing right next to her. When the young alchemist noticed the bluenette looking at her, she began to suspect that there might have been something on her face, "Is something on Gust's face?"
"How would you like to be my sidekick, Gust?"
Gust had a deadpanned look on her face. Seconds passed before she gave the heroine a response. "Gust is too busy with finding ingredients and alchemy to be sidekick."
Heero cleared his throat to get the attention of the group of girls before they could go any further off topic, "Before we proceed, I believe it would be best if we were to review our battle plan. I will go over a more detailed strategy once we reach the target, but I want everyone to be on the same page and know what their responsibilities are."
Casting a brief glance at Compa and Gust, the two girls held up bottles containing a colored liquid, "Gust and I made lots of Paralaxin in case the boss tries to paralyze us."
The Perfect Soldier shifted his gaze toward IF and Lyrica, the former waving a hand in a dismissive manner, "Lyrica and I have to get behind the boss once the fight starts. That's not exactly hard to remember. And should be easy enough for us to take care of."
Lyrica looked at the brunette with uncertainty in her eyes, "You thought the same thing when we fought the last boss that had a Key Fragment, and look how that turned out."
IF reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a bottle full of a blue liquid. "I'll admit I let my guard down, but we weren't sure what to expect. This time, I came prepared. This is a powerful restorative that will heal just about any injury." The Guild Moderatist frowned as she looked at the bottle. "The problem is that its expensive, and there's only one dose."
Finally, Heero turned his attention to Neptune and Nisa, the latter of whom thumped her chest with her fist, "Leave it to me. I shall face our foe head on! No evil can stand before the Keeper of Justice!"
"You realize that our job is to distraction the target so that the others can get into position. Until preparations are complete, we do NOT engage the enemy."
Neptune began to flail her arms in panic, "But what if the boss starts attacking us? You mean we're supposed to let him hit us, but we can't hit him back?"
Heero shook his head at the panicking purplenette. "We simply cannot attack the enemy on our own. We wait until everyone is in position before we strike. Meaning no heroics. For now, we need to focus on finding the target first."
"I will handle navigation so that all of you won't have to spend too long looking for the Key Fragment."
The party's leader flashed a thumbs up into the air, "Awesome! We got Z showin' us where to go, so we'll find the boss in no time!"
Heero turned his attention toward the path ahead of the party, "We should get moving. The sooner we find the target, the sooner we can retrieve the Key Fragment and leave."
With their priorities now in order, the group began their trek into the ruins. Despite being yet another dungeon with an absurd layout, Zero was already able to determine which way the party actually needed to go, "Follow the path you are onand take the first right passage you come across, as the other path leads to a dead-end. After that, continue down the second right most path you come across and follow it to the target."
Doing as they were told, the party advanced into the dungeon along Zero's projected path with Neptune and Heero leading them, as they were the only ones that could hear the Gundam pilot's helper. As soon as they arrived at the designated point where they were to go right instead of left, they encountered a 'Deadly Hornet', two to be precise. The monsters looked like the Killer Bee monsters the party had fought before, only the color of their bodies were red in color.
Neptune looked at the large insect monsters for a moment with a blank look on her face before looking at the party, "Is it just me, or have a lot of the monsters we've been fighting look the same? Y'know, like when game developers wanna make a newer, tougher monster, but don't want have to make a whole new monster? So they just beef up their stats, change their names and slap on a new coat paint and say done?"
Compa looked at the purplenette, tilting her head inquisitively, "Nep-Nep, why are you talking like this is a video game?"
"For all we know Compa, it could be."
IF folded her arms and shook her head at the two girls for going off on a tangent, "If you two are done, we should really focus on the monsters. They're just gonna get in our way if we don't take care of them."
While the three girls were chatting, Nisa had already taken the initiative, "Prepare yourselves, foul monsters! I, Nisa, the Keeper of Justice shall end your days of evil here and now! Behold!" The blue haired heroine jumped into the air for a brief moment, before speeding back down toward one of the insect monsters in front of the party. "Justice Kick!"
The first Death Hornet was sent flying straight into the wall at the end of the corridor before it knew what hit it. Once she landed back on the ground, Nisa spun on her heel and threw a punch at the second monster, sending it into the adjacent wall. Once she was done, the heroine faced the others with her hands on her hips. "Now is not the time for pointless banter of indecision. For now, let us press on and defeat the evils lurking within this dungeon."
A pink flash of light streaked past Nisa head and charred the 'Death Hornet' that was floating behind her. Apparently, the first monster the modest breasted heroine had dealt with had survived. Heero, who had armed his GN Sword, lowered the hybrid weapon, "We also cannot afford to be careless. We need to carry out our mission as quickly and efficiently as possible."
Neptune threw her arm out and pointed down the corridor, "Let's go bag us a Key Fragment! March!"
With their brief encounter with the monsters behind them the group returned to navigating the dungeon. The walk through the ruins was uneventful with the party following Zero's directions. Neptune had been excited upon entering the ruins, but now, two minutes after their first run-in with some of the dungeon's inhabitants, the party's leader was bored. "So, where are all the monsters? I was hoping for some mean monsters to jump out and get in our way so we could beat 'em up. This fetch quest is starting to get boring."
Lyrica looked at the preteen who seemed to be begging for monsters to assault the party, "Shouldn't we be happy that we haven't run into anymore monsters yet?"
IF rolled her eyes as she listened to the group's leader moan and groan, "If it's bothering you so much, why don't you run up ahead and warn us of any monsters? Or better yet, think of what we're going to do after we find the Key Fragment."
Neptune actually looked as though she was thinking when the brunette told her to think of what to do after the party had accomplished their goal. The purplenette's eyes began to shine as she thought of something that may as well have been farther off into the future than just what would happen after searching the ruins the group was in now, "What kind of awesome reward do you guys think we'll get once we find all the Key Fragments? I'm thinkin' we're gonna get paid lots for this!"
Heero looked at the girl out of the corner of his eye, "I sincerely doubt we are actually going to receive anything for completing our mission."
"Not with that attitude! You gotta think positive, Heero."
"I hate to interrupt you while you to seem to be having fun, but I felt that I should warn you that there may be someone else in the ruins with you."
The purple haired girl next to Heero started scanning the area in front of the party before turning around to see if anyone was approaching from behind them. "Is it somebody strong? Do you think we can get them to join our party?"
As the party began to make their way around yet another corner of the needlessly lengthy ruins, they found a few dead monsters lying in the middle of the passage they were walking into, "..Whether or not they can be convinced to join us remains to be seen. However, it is clear that whoever it is fairly well-versed in combat."
This only increased Neptune's hopes that they could convince this mystery adventurer into joining them, "This is like a high level dungeon, so they've gotta have a high level! We'll be even closer to finding the Key Fragment with a powerful new buddy!"
Neptune's enthusiasm got to Compa, as the pink haired nurse also thought about the prospect of another strong party member, "That would be wonderful. I just hope that their nice."
Before the two girls could discuss the matter any further, a large purple object stumbled into the corridor they had entered. The 'monster' as it were, was a 'Magitek Soldier,' and just based on the fact that it was constructed mostly of stone bricks and metal it was clear that it was supposed to be a golem.
The large stone monster's slow pace as it advanced toward the party was a dead giveaway that much like the stereotypical large monster in games, anime and manga, the monster wasn't built for speed. IF let out a huff as she watched the monster stumbled down the corridor, "Looks like whoever got here before us couldn't be bothered to get rid of this one."
Heero didn't care either way. If anything, it would do something about their leader's boredom, "We should deal with the enemy now. It will take less time to ex-filtrate the area upon finding the Key Fragment if we do." The Gundam pilot glanced over at Neptune, who looked as though she was chomping at the bit to do something other than walk in silence. "Neptune, you focus on getting in close in order to eliminate the enemy. Compa and Gust, you provide support from the rear. IF, you will provide backup for Neptune."
"C'mon people! Let's go go go!"
IF reluctantly readied herself for the battle, "Yeah, whatever. Look, just don't go blindly charging in. I hate having to clean up after you. Compa, please, and I will say it again in case you didn't hear me the first time, PLEASE try not to shoot at me."
The pink haired nurse's cheeks swelled from IF's implication, "Iffy, you say that, but you're the one that keeps getting in the way."
While the two girls were arguing, Gust had taken the time to mix some of her alchemy reagents together into an empty bottle. The concoction inside was a sickly green color and was constantly bubbling within its glass container, "Gust has prepared chemical for battle."
With their preparations complete and their bickering out of the way, the quartet made their way toward the hulking monster. Of course, despite IF telling her not to, Neptune immediately charged at the Magitek Soldier with the express intent of defeating it in one attack.
Before Neptune could actually get close enough to strike the behemoth, Gust threw her bottle containing what seemed to be a sinister concoction at the stone monster. The glass container shattered on impact and spread green liquid all over the front of the Magitek Soldier, steam rolling off the golem's torso as the corrosive substance spread, "Gust thought this would happen. Acid best item against stone monsters."
Sure enough, the acid was proving to be quite effective against the golem creature. It wasn't enough to get rid of the monster on its own, but the acid was eating away at its tough stone body, making it weak and brittle.
Despite the acid damaging its body the Magitek Soldier raised its bulky arm, which wasn't covered in acid, to strike the incoming purple haired girl. Compa lifted her, as IF put it, hilariously oversized syringe and fired at the lumbering monster's shoulder.
The bullet punched through the acid coated shoulder, and while it didn't take off the giant's arm, it didn't paralyze it, causing it to fall to its side. With one arm unusable the Magitek Soldier swung its one good arm at Neptune, only to have it blocked by IF. The brunette clenched her teeth as she held back the heavy stone arm, "Nep, hurry up! I don't want to get turned into a pancake!"
Neptune stopped for a moment when IF mentioned the word pancake, "Someone mentioned food! Is it time to eat?"
IF began sweating bullets as the golem monster applied more force behind its stone arm and forced the member of the guild onto one knee. "Dammit, Nep! Hurry the hell up!"
"Yeah, yeah. Hold onto your leafy ribbon, Iffy."
After being reminded of IF's dilemma, Neptune focused on the task at hand and delivered a swift blow to the Magitek Soldier's abdomen with her sword. Normally it would have taken more time and force for the saber to cut through the stone monster, but the acid had eroded its armor enough that it required minimal effort from the purplenette to slice the monster in half.
Neptune poked at the monster to see if it was dead, and once she was convinced that it wouldn't get back up, flashed a peace sign at the members of her party. "Am I, like, super strong? I totally beat that monster in one hit."
Heero questioned how Neptune thought she was suddenly stronger when clearly it was Gust's preparedness that resulted in the quick win, "Gust came prepared ahead of time. If anything, Gust is the one to thank for our quick victory."
Gust rubbed the back of her head, bashful from the words of praise. IF was wiping the sweat from her brow while casting an annoyed look at Neptune, "What the hell were you doing? I try and do one nice thing, and you almost let me get crushed!"
The purplenette scratched the back of her head and flashed a sheepish grin, "You say that, but with some of the hits you've taken, I think you might be a tank, Iffy."
"...I'm gonna punch you in a minute."
Lyrica moved to stop the argument between the two girls before it actually started, "C'mon guys, don't start fighting now. What matters is that you took down the monster and we can keep looking for the Key Fragment."
Heero stepped past the girls and over the now dead Magitek Soldier, "She's right. I don't think I need to remind any of you that once we find the Key Fragment here, there is still the matter of finding the Key Fragment on Lowee. We need to save time where we can and move on to the next objective."
Thankfully, Neptune and IF didn't get into another one of their arguments and the party resumed their search. Of course, not long after reaching the end of the corridor the party came upon a second Magitek Soldier, though unlike the first, this one had already been slain as was evident by its severed limbs.
Nisa's eyes were shining from the sight of the fallen monster, "It would appear that our mysterious ally of justice was here. They must be close by."
Heero knelt down next to the Magitek Soldier and examined it's remains, looking for anything that might tell him just what to expect when they find the person that did this, "I wouldn't go so far as to say that the individual is an ally of justice or mysterious. It's actually someone most of you have met."
Neptune assumed her thinking position while making a face that suggested that she was having difficulty understanding just what the disembodied helper meant, "So we KNOW who the mystery person is? Are you sure, Z? But someone that we know and isn't an all of justice..." The purplenette suddenly turned around and pointed at the party's nurse in training. "It's you isn't Compa?!"
Compa had a flabbergasted look on her face as the party leader pointed at her, "Wh-What? How can you say that, Nep-Nep? I'm an ally of justice like you guys!"
Lyrica looked at the pink haired girl with skepticism in her eyes, "But Compa… You tend to act really scary in order to get your way."
IF's face contorted into a frown as she threw her twp cents in, "And there was that time when you were doing our laundry and you were stuffing your face in Heero's clothes."
Neptune used the opportunity to take a jab at the party's nurse, "Like a pervert."
Nisa watched the exchange between the girls before turning to the young alchemist next to her, "Is what they're saying true? Is the one who I thought to be an innocent girl actually a demon in disguise?"
"Gust has seen all for herself. But Compa only acted mean to maintain order. Not to be evil."
The heroine folded her arms was contemplated what she had just been told. "I see. It is not easy for one who is just to willingly do bad things in order to do that which is right. She has my respect."
Heero gently shook his head as the girls (or rather Neptune) speculated that Compa was the one behind the deaths of the monsters that they didn't have to fight against. "Compa has been with us the entire time we've been here. Neptune, even you can't possibly believe that she could have done this."
Neptune looked at Compa with scrutiny in her eyes before dropping the subject, "Well, I guess Compa can't have done it. I mean, medics are squishy and don't last long on their own. And Compa's not all that strong anyway."
IF nodded her head, a rare moment of agreement between her and the party's leader, "And she gets scared easily."
Compa looked between the two girls, her cheeks swelling from frustration, "You two are being really mean..."
"We will know just who exactly it is that came here before us if we continue towards the target."
Putting their speculations aside, the party advanced further into the ruins. Meanwhile, a familiar snow haired swordstress was leaning against against the wall and was clearly waiting for something. Black Heart poked her head out from behind the corner of the wall she had been waiting behind before ducking back behind cover.
Black Heart stretched her arms out over her head before grabbing her sword, which was leaning against the wall next to her, "Heero said that I shouldn't waste my time or energy fighting every monster I find. Just to get rid of the ones I actually have to. That's probably why I kept losing to Neptune. I used up some of my strength fighting no name monsters."
Before she could make herself comfortable again, the swordstress her the sound of footsteps and the voice of a familiar purple haired girl heading her way. "(Things will be different this time. Heero told me all kinds of strategies I can use to make this fight go my way.)"
As the party approached the end of the corridor, the sword maiden of Lastation jumped out from where she had been hiding, "Hold it! You'll go no further than this… unless you take me down!"
The party had been told that the person that had entered the dungeon was someone they knew, but they had not expected, nor had they wanted to run into the girl in front of them. Neptune voiced her discontent at the seeing the sword wielding stalker, "Whaaaat?! Ohmigosh, we were so close to the Key Fragment! Are you seriously gonna stalk me forever?"
Black Heart didn't bother trying to argue with the girl about how she wasn't stalking her. Mostly because the preteen wouldn't listen in the first place. "This is my last attempt to finish you off. Who knows if you'll ever come back to Lastation after finding your Key Fragment."
Heero began to contemplate his earlier decisions to not attack the girl in front of the group, "(It seems like she's serious this time. If I had gotten rid of her sooner, we wouldn't have to deal with her right now.)"
What was supposed to be a moment of tension soon turned into yet another of the party's many wacky mishaps as Compa suspected that the swordstress wasn't really standing before them to get rid of Neptune, "...You're right. Didn't you really come here because you're just ind of sad and you'll miss playing with us?"
Black Heart flinched from the nurse's implication and immediately tried to play it down, "N-No! I'm here to settle this. This has nothing to do with my loneliness or other emotions I definitely don't have!"
...And like that, Heero could not take this girl seriously again. The Gundam pilot truly believed that the snow haired girl was serious about making good on her attempt at settling the score with Neptune. And yet here she was trying to pick a fight with the purplenette because she was feeling left out, "There are times such as now where I find it difficult to understand the thought processes of these girls..."
IF folded her arms as she watched Black Heart try to undermine Compa's claim that she was lonely, "Wanting to settle this is, itself, an emotion of sorts. Whatever. It's best to settle crap while you can."
Compa decided to quote her grandfather, though whether or not it was appropriate for the situation at hand was up for debate, "Well, 'cast no dirt into the well that gives you water,' right? If she wants to settle things, let's help her do that!"
Neptune began to push Heero toward one of the walls, obviously to keep him from getting involved in the battle, "Heero, you wait here while we beat up the stalker. After that, we'll get the Key Fragment and head back to town for some snacks."
Black Heart frowned as she took head count of the party, "(...Great. They added two more members to their party. No matter. Hopefully those strategies Heero taught me will even things out.)"
Heero stood against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting for the impending battle to be over, "If this is anything like our previous encounters, this shouldn't take too long."
IF looked over the other members of her party, "I don't suppose one of you has an actual battle plan other than just charging in?"
Neptune didn't want to bother coming up with a strategy, opting instead to just overwhelm the snow haired sword maiden with the party's superior numbers, "We don't gotta worry about a plan. We can just beat her up like we always do."
Nisa looked somewhat hesitant to gang up on one person, "Every fiber of my being tells me that this is not something that a hero should do, but this is to save the world..."
Gust wasn't too thrilled about the idea either, but made a brave face, "No other choice. We must fight."
Black Heart readied her sword, waiting for Neptune and the rest of the girls to make the first move, "(Heero said that the best thing to do is let my enemy make the first move. Shouldn't be too difficult to figure out what Neptune is gonna do. She literally just said it out loud.)"
Neptune, IF and Nisa ran at the sword maiden, leaving Compa, Lyrica and Gust in the rear. Since she already knew what the group of girls had planned to do from the get go, it took little effort on Black Heart's part to dodge or block the attacks that the trio threw at her.
When it was clear they were getting nowhere, IF shot an irritated look at Neptune, "Since you're so set on just winning with brute force, the least you can do is transform so we can finish this quickly."
"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on, Iffy."
Not wanting to get an earful from the brunette, Neptune used her HDD and transformed into her mature, more serious form. The purple haired sword maiden pointed the end of her sword at her opponent, "Let's make this quick."
The sword maiden of Lastation fought the urge to charge at the twin braided girl in front of her, "(I can't let myself get worked up. If I do, they'll all gang up on me, and then this really will be over quick. Think, Black Heart! What did Heero say to do in this kind of situation?)"
Xxx
Lady Black Heart and Heero were seated in front of the CPU's TV in her room, and the former was looking at the screen intently, "I'll go after the stronger one first. Then I can take out all the weaker ones afterward."
"That wouldn't be the best decision."
The CPU looked at the boy next to her, slightly pouty at having her idea shot down. "Why not? It these guys are weaker than me, so it should work."
Heero shook his head in response, "If you were working with more than just a single group, it would be the best course of action. The problem is that you only have one group of soldiers and are having to deal with two different groups of enemies. When you fighting against a weaker enemy, they will usually look for an opening in your defenses. Should you focus on the stronger of the two, it is highly probable that the weaker enemy force will attack you from behind."
Lady Black Heart frowned as she returned her attention to the TV, "Then what am I supposed to do? Go after the weaker one?"
"Yes, however, you don't want your enemy to know that you plan on eliminating the weaker of their forces first. Make your enemy think that you are focusing on the strongest of their front lines so as to lure the weaker enemy into attacking. Since you already know how they will attack, you can plan in advance how to deal with them. By the time they realize their mistake, it will already be too late."
Xxx
The white haired swordstress slowly shifted her gaze toward IF and Nisa, "(Neptune is easily their strongest, so the question is; which one of them is the weakest?)" Taking a moment to look over the two girls, Black Heart focused her attention on IF. "(...Her. She's the one who's going to attack me from behind once I go after Neptune. But won't she be in for a surprise. I just need to make her THINK I'm focused solely on taking out Neptune. I mean, technically I am, but I won't be able to until I get rid of her lackeys.)"
A smirk slowly formed on the girl's face, "(Those three in the back won't be a problem. As long as I stay close to Neptune and the other two, they won't even try to attack.)"
With her plan laid out, the snow haired girl charged at the three in front of her, "Ready or not, here I come!"
The clash of swords between Neptune and Black Heart signaled the start of the next round of the fight. Compa had lifted her syringe to fire at the sword maiden of Lastation, but the way she kept moving close to Neptune, IF and Nisa, it was too difficult to get a clear shot, "She keeps getting close to Nep-Nep and the others. Should I shoot?"
Lyrica bit her lower lip as she looked at the situation they were in, "It's no good. We're just as likely to hit them."
Once Black Heart began to focus her efforts on Neptune, IF began to circle around to her blind spot, "This is taking too long. I'll take care of it."
The brunette charged right toward the sword maiden, as was just about to connect with her katars, when she suddenly found her small weapons hitting Black Heart's large blade. The white haired teen had somehow been able to force Neptune back and focused her attention on IF. Black Heart couldn't help but swell with pride at having outwitted the girls, "I can't believe you fell for that so easily."
IF knew that one on one, she couldn't win against this girl… and Black Heart knew that as well, "Oh shit..."
Before IF even had a chance to get away, the snow haired girl knocked her weapons out of her hands and slammed the blunt side of her sword into the brunette's stomach, "Out of my way!"
The guild member was sent flying into Nisa, who had planned on acting as IF's support should her attack fail, and the impact of having IF thrown at her sent both girls to the floor. The brunette was holding her stomach as she sat up. "Damn that hurt… How did she know what I was gonna do?"
Black Heart took a moment to admire her work, "(I know Heero said I could use it in a real battle, but I didn't think it would work so well.) A gunshot brought the sword maiden out of her thoughts, barely dodging the bullet fired at her by Compa. "(Crap. I forgot I still have to deal with them. And I just lost two of the morons I was using as shields.)"
The snow haired teen knew things weren't going to go her way if she had to contend with Neptune AND the three girls in the back. As if on cue, Black Heart remembered yet another of Heero's strategies in her mind, "(If you find yourself having to face the enemy's front line and their support, your priority should be to use whatever cover you can find and deal with the support first. Should you not have any immediate cover, use what you have and make some. And if possible, try to lure any of the enemy's front line away from their support. It will make things less problematic if you can.)"
Black Heart looked for anything she could use to protect herself from the hail of attacks that Compa, Lyrica and Gust would throw at her soon as she got close, but their really wasn't anything for her to hide behind. It was then that the swordstress of Lastation notices the numerous cracks in the wall next to her. A well placed blow could knock down a portion of the wall, which she could use to hide behind long enough for Neptune to come after her, "(I'll just have to make some!)"
Grasping the handle of her large sword with both hands, Black Heart struck the wall with her blade with a single strike, causing pieces of the wall to fall to the ground. A pile large enough to conceal the sword maiden quickly formed and Neither Neptune, nor the other in the back could see the white haired girl, "Don't tell me you plan on running away? If that's the case, I'll just have catch before you get the chance."
Neptune quickly sped toward the side of the pile of rubble that her opponent was hiding behind. However, as soon as the twin braided swordswoman reach her destination, Black Heart had already ascended to the top of the pile of rubble and was making her way toward Compa and the others. "So that was her plan. How could I have been so careless?"
Neither Compa, Lyrica or Gust saw the snow haired girl coming until she was right in front of them. Compa aimed her syringe to fire, but the oversized medical appliance was kicked out of her hands before she knew it. Black Heart quickly grabbed the disarmed nurse by the wrist and swung her around once before tossing her into Lyrica and Gust.
The nurse in training rubbed her head, having landed head first into Lyrica, "Owie! That really hurt!"
Lyrica was lying on the ground with a dazed look on her face and Gust was on the ground underneath Compa trying desperately to get out from under her, "Compa is heavy. Please get off of Gust!"
Seeing the party in a state of disarray left Black Heart feeling exhilarated, "(This is going really well. I would have asked Heero to come over sooner had I known it would be THIS easy to beat down Neptune's party with those tips and strategies he taught me.)"
Before she could get caught up in self admiration, Neptune clashed with the white haired sword wielder. Black Heart had to hold her sword with both hands in order to keep the purple haired swordswoman from overpowering her, "You said you came here to settle things with me, but you've been going after my party instead."
The snow haired girl grit her teeth as she tried to fend off Neptune, "I just had to get rid of your lackeys so I wouldn't have to waste my time dealing with them. Now I can focus on beating you!"
Black Heart noticed something in the corner of her eye and caught sight of Nisa jumping into the air before rapidly approaching her in a dive with her right leg outstretched, "Justice Kick!"
Nisa narrowly missed Black Heart as she jumped back, causing the heroine to leave a sizable crater in the ground where she struck. The Keeper of Justice dusted off the front of her outfit before returning her attention to the sword maiden, "You're fast, I'll give you that. But evil will never escape the light of justice!"
IF finally showed up next to the two girls having recovered from her earlier injury, "I thought this was going to be a quick battle. When did she get so strong?"
Heero had been watching the battle intently the moment Black Heart had dealt with IF and Nisa, "(She may have increased her combat strength, but what is making this battle more difficult is the way she is conducting battle. Our prior encounters were shorter because both sides would simply aim to overwhelm the other, and with our superior numbers it made the task easier. But now it won't be so simple. Neptune, IF and Nisa comprise the front line with Compa, Lyrica and Gust providing fire support. She makes sure to stay close to the front line so that Compa and the others can't attack without taking the risk of injuring Neptune, IF or Nisa. She was able to identify IF as the weaker of the three that make up the front line and drew her into a trap, and lured Neptune away from Compa, Lyrica and Gust so that she would have nothing standing between her and our support. Our superior numbers gave Neptune and the others an advantage when fighting her, but with the way she's fighting now… she's turned their advantage into a disadvantage.)"
The battle was definitely lasting longer than Neptune and the others thought it would. Instead of the quick win they were expecting, the battle had been drawn out for ten minutes. With the exception of Neptune, the girls had sustained some injuries, with IF receiving the worst of it. The brunette had fallen into a number of traps and feints that Black Heart had set up, the Guild Moderatist now had several bruises along her arms and legs.
IF was down on one knee, rubbing her cheek with her jacket sleeve, "Crap… we're not getting anywhere with her. And she keeps pulling fast ones on me."
Nisa frowned as she observed the party's foe, trying to find some weakness they could exploit, "If were not careful, we may end up using all of our strength on beating her. We won't be able to fight the boss guarding the Key Fragment is that happens."
Black Heart was looking over the party, ant their looks of dismay told her that she was winning this battle, "I can do it… I can win this…!"
Unlike the rest of her party, Neptune was uninjured and not breathing hard at all. The purple haired swordswoman and used very little of her stamina throughout the course of the fight, and looking at Black Heart, who was breathing in and out at a fairly quick pace, she could tell that her foe was running out of steam, "I think this might just be over soon."
"You're right… this will be over soon. But this time, I'll be the last one standi-"
The snow haired girl didn't get a chance to finish as Neptune swung her sword at her. Black Heart blocked the first attack, but because she was drained of stamina her sword was knocked out of the way, giving Neptune an unobstructed path to land an actual blow. With one powerful swing, Neptune sent Black Heart flying and onto her back.
Black Heart picked herself up, rubbing the spot on her torso in a vain attempt to the soothe the injury, "Y-You just got lucky! I'm still going to win!"
Unfortunately, the fight wasn't going to end how Black Heart wanted it to. As soon as Neptune had forced her away, Compa, Lyrica and Gust had readied their weapons and opened fire on the snow haired girl. The barrage of attacks from the trio kept Black Heart pinned where she was, only able to defend herself. Once the attack ended, Nisa and IF took their turn to exact some revenge against the white haired teen that had been giving them such a hard time. Nisa delivered a swift back kick into Black Heart's shoulder, followed closely by a kick to the ribs by IF.
The sudden wave of attacks left the sword maiden disoriented, as was evident by the way she fell down to one knee. Black Heart shook her head in an attempt to get her senses back in order, "(What the hell's going on? They're forcing me back! Am I… losing?)"
Black Heart lifted her head and shot a glance over at Heero before returning her attention to the girls in front of her. "(No… I can't lose. I WON'T lose! Not in front of him!)"
IF had already moved to attack Black Heart once more, only to be stopped short by the large blade the swordswoman. Before Black Heart could go after the brunette, Neptune had already moved in front of her and knocked her sword out of her hands.
In one quick motion, the twin braided swordstress struck Black Heart five times across her torso with her blade and sent the snow haired girl flying onto her back. Black Heart tried to get back up, but as soon as she got back on her feet, she ended up collapsing onto her knees. There was no way for her to continue fighting.
Black Heart balled her hand into a fist and struck the ground, "Son of a bitch, damn it! I lost again! Why?! It can be nobody else but me… The True Goddess has to be me…!" The white haired swordstress shook her head, still not able to believe she actually lost. "(I did everything Heero said, and it was going so well! Where did I screw up? I must have missed something, otherwise I would've won!)"
Neptune looked at the fallen swordstress, curious about her talk of being the 'True Goddess' and how it pertained to her, "The True Goddess? Did someone tell you to defeat me in order to become that?"
The snow haired girl leered at the twin braided swordstress that had just beaten her. "It has nothing to do with you since you lost your memory. But…!"
"...Are you satisfied? The seven of us are a party, but next time we can do this one on one… if you want."
Black Heart was momentarily taken aback by Neptune's offer for a one on one rematch. While she wasn't in any condition to fight, she didn't hesitate to wave off the purple haired sword maiden's good will. "Sh-Shut up! I don't care about that. This isn't over! I'll pay you back for this someday. Don't ever forget that!"
The swordstress of Lastation made to get up and leave, however she found herself falling back onto her knees. Silence dominated the air as Black Heart stared at the ground in embarrassment. Heero watched the group of girls for a moment to see if they were going to do anything about Neptune's fallen stalker that she had decided to let go. When no one said or did anything, the Gundam pilot took it upon himself to remedy the situation, "If you are absolutely sure about letting her go Neptune, then I will address her injuries. You and the others should go on ahead. I will catch up once I am finished here."
Neptune looked back at the Gundam pilot for a moment, then at Black Heart before proceeding further into the ruins, "We'll leave this to you then."
Compa, IF and the others followed after the purple haired sword maiden, leaving Heero and Black Heart alone. As the girls made their way around the corner, Neptune suddenly stopped and stood against the wall, prompting the girls to look at her, "Nep-Nep? What are you doing?"
The beautiful swordstress took a quick peek beyond the corner she was hiding behind, "I want to make sure she doesn't try anything with Heero. Surely you all don't trust her with him alone."
Sure enough, they didn't. The rest of the girls hid behind the corner to watch the two in case Black Heart did something to the Perfect Soldier.
Black Heart was sitting on her knees, muttering to herself as she tried to figure out what went wrong during the battle that caused her to lose. Heero could make out some of what she was saying, and could tell she had taken the lose quite hard, "You wish to know what exactly it was that cost you the battle, don't you?"
The white haired girl looked at the Gundam pilot, still irritated at losing to her enemy, "Of course I do! I don't know what I did wrong! I should have won!"
"During our previous encounters you would focus your efforts on going after Neptune, which left you open to attacks from the others. This time, you focused on trying to incapacitate the others long enough to deal with Neptune. It was a sound plan, but it has one fatal flaw."
Black Heart didn't like to hear that not only had she made a mistake, it was bad enough that it actually cost her victory, "Enlighten me, then. What did I do wrong?"
"Since you came to fight Neptune alone, your ability to implement various tactics and strategies was limited by your own stamina. It was a simple oversight, but one that cost you dearly. You focused so much of your effort on dealing with Compa, IF and the others that you had no stamina left to fight against your real target. You lacked the endurance to continue fighting."
The swordstress of Lastation hung her head. Something so simple resulted in her loss. "To your credit, your ability to fight against all six of them at once was quite impress. If your lack of endurance weren't an issue, you may very well have won."
Heero's words gave Black Heart some solace. Even though she lost, she had come close to winning against her 'Destined Rival.' It was then that she felt Heero's intense gaze on her, sending a chill up her spine, "Before I tend to your injuries, I must ask. Are you Lady Black Heart?"
That question caused Black Heart to flinch. The snow haired girl shook her in denial, "O-Of course not! What would possibly make you say that? (Crap, has he figured it out? Calm down, Black Heart. He doesn't have any evidence to prove it.)"
"Those strategies and tactics you used against Neptune and the others. Lady Black Heart is the only person I have taught them to."
Black Heart swallowed hard as she tried to think of a plausible excuse for how she knew of Heero's strategies, "W-Well… I was outside the Basilicom when you were with Lady Black Heart. I happened to hear you talking about it with her, and how you said they could be used in a real fight. I thought I would try them out for myself. I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting much since you were talking about those strategies for a game."
Heero watched the girl in front of him. He wasn't entirely convinced, but chose to believe her for the time being. The Perfect Soldier pulled a medical kit out of his jacket pocket. It was a small kit for basic first aid. "I must ask that you hold still while I treat your injuries."
The teenaged soldier set about applying antibiotics and bandages to the girl in front of him. Heero had to wrap bandages around her right shoulder and left leg, and apply a band-aid to her left cheek. As Heero put away his small medical kit, Black Heart once again found herself wanting to ask the boy in front of her a certain question that she had failed to ask on so many occasions, "Hey…"
Heero directed his attention to Black Heart, who couldn't seem to look the Gundam pilot in the eye. "So.. there's a question I want to ask you." The snow haired girl's cheeks slowly turned a brilliant shade of red as she tried to ask her question. "What are your… preferences in..."
Because Black Heart was beginning to talk in a whisper, Heero couldn't hear what she was saying. Like every other time Black Heart tried to ask him this question, Heero brought his hand to her chin and positioned her face so that she was looking at him, "I've told you before that you need to look at me and speak clearly so that I can hear you."
"Wh-What are your preferences in girls?"
Silence filled the air as he looked at the girl in front of him, his facial expression suggested that he didn't quite understand the question, "...Would you repeat that?"
She had asked it. The question that had been nagging her for who knows how long. Black Heart was quite embarrassed about having asked the boy such a question, but there was no going back, "I-I mean… What kind of girl… do you like? Not that care or anything. I'm just sort of… curious."
This was a question the Perfect Soldier hadn't expected. Heero opened his mouth to respond, when he suddenly thought back to his conversation with Zero from earlier. Truthfully, he didn't know how to answer, "I… do not know how to answer your question."
Now it was Black Heart's turn to look confused. Even though it was a strange question the boy had answered her previous questions, why couldn't he answer this one? Heero cast his eyes to the ground. "I had always dedicated my life to fighting and completing the missions that were given to me. I always reined in my emotions so that they would not hinder me during my mission, and I gave little thought towards having any sort of relationship with another."
The boy then looked away as he thought about how he had lived before coming to Gamindustri, "However, recent events have led me to question the life I had been living up until now. And whether or not the way I had lived before now was actually as fulfilling as I had originally thought." Heero stood up and faced the direction that Neptune and the others had gone. "Unfortunately, I do not have an answer for you. But for all I know, you might be the kind of girl I like."
Black Heart's face took on an even darker shade of red before she took on her normal haughty attitude, "In your dreams! You can say that all you want, but I'm out of your league."
Heero began the walk to rejoin the other, leaving Black Heart alone. Despite what she had said to the boy, she was actually rather happy to hear him say that, "(I guess this means he has no exact preferences at the moment. I suppose he's open minded right now. In that case, I'll make sure that he sees me as his ideal girl.)"
The sword maiden thought about what she had just said before violently shaking her head, "Wh-What are you thinking, Black Heart?! You don't want to be his girl! I don't like him in that way one bit! I-I was just curious about his preferences, nothing else."
Heero rounded the corner to find the girls waiting for him. Neptune had her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at the Perfect Soldier, "You certainly took your time."
"I ended up being questioned after I finished performing first aid on her."
The girls had heard the question that Neptune's stalker had asked him, and it had piqued their interest. And of course, Heero's answer only fueled their desire to win the boy's affection. "We should return our attention to finding the Key Fragment. With the exception of the enemy that will guarding it, our path to the target should be clear. Neptune, it would be best for you to save what time you have left for using HDD for the battle. If something should go wrong, we will need something to fall back on."
Neptune complied with Heero's request, changing from her transformed state back to her usual energetic self. The purplenette couldn't contain her excitement about acquiring the Key Fragment that was just ahead, "All we gotta do is beat up the boss, nab the Key Fragment, and we'll be on our way back to the house for sweet treats to celebrate you guys!"
IF was dusting herself off as Neptune went on about how the party was going to celebrate once they finished their search, "We have to find the Key Fragment first. After that fight I'm pretty sure the rest of us are hurting… Except you and Heero."
Lyrica frowned as she looked at the party's enthusiastic leader, "Why did you make Heero sit out that fight, anyway? We could have used his help."
Neptune dismissed the cerulean haired songstress's complaint nonchalantly, "If Heero helped us, you know she would have been all over him, trying to steal him from us."
The group of girls couldn't help but feel as though Neptune was just making excuses, but they had seen Heero caught up in close physical encounters with Neptune's stalker, and couldn't deny the possibility that she may be right.
IF flinched for a moment before rubbing her arms, "Damn, I'm sore all over." The brunette reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the bottle she had been saving for the party's inevitable encounter with the Key Fragment's guardian. IF heaved a sigh as she looked at the liquid contained within the glass bottle. "I was hoping to save this until we found the boss… But I guess that's not an option right now."
IF removed the cork from the bottle and tilted her head back as she drank the restorative drink. Slowly, the bruises along her arms, legs and torso began to disappear. The Guild Moderatist stuffed the empty bottle back into pocket before the group continued into what little of the ruins their were left to explore.
As they neared the end of the corridor, Compa felt a chill run down her spine and instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, "Is it just me, or did it suddenly get colder?"
Neptune had a wicked grin on her face, and opened her mouth to reply to the pink haired girl's question, when IF abruptly punched the purplenette on the back of the head, "Don't even say it. The last thing we need is for you go scaring one of our healers when we're about to face the boss."
Neptune rubbed the back of her head as she shot an annoyed look at the brunette, "Killjoy..."
The party stopped at the end of the corridor as Heero pressed up against the wall to look beyond the corner. A Guard Vermin was positioned at the end of the corridor just ahead, "There's the target."
Nisa took a peek to see what sort of monster the party would be facing momentarily, "Truly an evil looking monster. I've never seen anything like it. And you're telling me this is guarding the item we need to save Gamindustri? If that is the case, we must defeat this evil with the utmost haste!"
"Heero, I feel it imperative to run this idea by you before you engage the enemy. Last time you dealt with this enemy, you didn't take into account the possibility that it may possess other abilities beyond what the first one was capable of. Instead of implementing your plan of attack, why don't you fight defensively first? That should allow you to gauge it's abilities and see whether or not this one is capable of anything that might hamper your attempts in eliminating it."
Heero didn't like remembering his last blunder and would rather not have a repeat of said incident, "I suppose that would be best." The Gundam pilot directed his attention to the group of girls who were waiting for the signal to attack the monster that was guarding the Key Fragment. "While we are on the subject of our plan, I believe I should tell you that I have had to revise our original strategy."
IF raised a questioning eyebrow, "Why? I thought it sounded pretty good before. Why change it now?"
"My original plan may have been sound, however, it factored in the restorative item you had brought along. As you have already been forced to use it, I needed to change part of the plan in order ensure we don't suffer any causalities or unnecessary injuries. The plan is more or less the same, the difference is that Nisa will be joining you and Lyrica once we put our plan into motion."
Nisa nodded her head in approval, "Part of a heroine's job is to ensure her comrades are safe and uninjured. I shall assist as best I can."
Heero looked back toward the Guard Vermin, which hadn't moved from its position since they had arrived. "Before we attack, we will need to fight defensively. We need to know if this enemy is different from the last."
Nisa and Gust wouldn't know about it, but Neptune and the others remembered their last battle for a Key Fragment, and how things quickly got bad. With a strategy in place, the party advanced toward the monster that was in possession of the item that they needed to save Gamindustri.
As soon as the party got close, the Guard Vermin charged straight at the party with its large key shaped blade held overhead. Since the party was fighting defensively until they knew what they were up against, Compa, Lyrica and Gust stayed in the rear while the rest of the party focused on simply dodging the attacks aimed at them.
IF in particular had it rough. Not only had the monster tried to poison her, but it had also tried to take the brunette's head off with one swing of it's overly large sword. The manner in which IF had to evade the attack made it appear as though she was in a life or death game of limbo.
Heero watched the monster and every action it made, looking for any new or otherwise different strengths and abilities it may have, "...It appears that there is no difference between this enemy and the previous one. If that is the case, we have nothing to worry about."
Neptune ducked under the Guard Vermin's blade as it took a swing at her, shaking her fist at the creature once she stood back up, "Watch it, bub! You're gonna hurt someone doing that!"
It didn't take long for the Guard Vermin to recover from it's first attack against, as the monster made a second attempt at slicing through the purplenette. Neptune blocked the attack with her saber, but the force behind the monster's blade was enough to her flying back onto her bottom.
As soon as she landed, Neptune began to rub her rear end, "Oww! My butt is super delicate! Your gonna gonna get it now!"
No sooner did she say that did Neptune notice volts of electricity arcing out from the Mech Sword Armas in her hand. There was a crack along the side of the beam saber, and the beam blade itself began to shrink in size until it was gone. A few seconds after the saber disappeared, a small cloud of smoke erupted out of the opening in the weapon.
Neptune looked at her weapon, waiting for the saber to come back out, but nothing happened, "Huh? C'mon, work!" Neptune shook the tube in her hand a few time and smacked the side of it to see if maybe she could get it to work. Of course, nothing the purple haired girl did would get the weapon to activate again. "Uhh… guys? I think my weapon kinda… broke."
Correction, there was something to worry about. Heero had not planned on Neptune's weapon shorting out on her in the middle of the battle, and it placed the girl in a bad situation, "Damn it… This is not the time for a weapon to break down!"
With her weapon now inoperable, Neptune was defenseless against the Guard Vermin, that appeared to be intelligent enough to go after the purplenette now that she had been disarmed.
Just when it seemed like the party's leader was going to be flattened by the Guard Vermin's sword, Nisa ran into the path of the sword and stopped it with her hands. The blue haired heroine kept the large weapon from falling on Neptune, her legs shaking from the monster continuing to force the blade down, "A heroine's duty is to protect the weak and innocent, but it also to protect her comrades when they are in danger!"
The modest breasted heroine turned her head to look at Neptune as her lips curved into a nervous smile. "Now, would you kindly move? I can't do anything while you're here."
Neptune scurried out of the way as Nisa held off the monster that threatened to crush them both. As soon as Neptune was out of the way, Nisa forced the large key shaped sword back before delivering a powerful kick that sent the monster onto its back.
As the monster recovered from being tossed onto its back, the party quickly regrouped and IF was the first to voice her complaints about the situation, "Heero, I hope you're finished watching that thing. With the way things are going I don't think we can stay on defense much longer."
Because Neptune had lost her weapon, they really couldn't afford to stay on the defense even if they wanted to. But Heero had seen enough to know that they could win the fight with the strategy he had proposed before hand, "I have seen enough of the enemy's capabilities. We can shift to offense now and eliminate the target."
Heero felt a tug on his jacket sleeve, and found the one that had been pulling on it was Neptune. The purplenette had a frown on her face as the group prepared to actually fight against the monster guarding the Key Fragment, "So, what am I supposed to do? That jerk broke my sword, and if I don't fight I won't get any experience points!"
If the party was going to defeat the large monster quickly they would need every member of their group to participate. The Gundam pilot heaved a deep mental sigh as her armed his GN Sword and removed it from his arm. "(Every fiber of my being and every ounce of my common sense tells me not to do this. But considering what we are up against, I can't take any chances.) Until we return to the city and procure a suitable replacement for the weapon you have lost… I will lend you mine."
Neptune's eyes began to shine as she took the GN Sword from Heero, "Ooooh… I get to use the totally awesome sword you're always using? Chian's sword was cool, but this one is WAY more awesome!"
"Just be careful with it. You could end up hurting yourself if you're careless."
Having just given his weapon to Neptune, HDD was the only means by which Heero could fight. Considering what they were fighting, the Perfect Soldier believed the Crossbone Gundam to be the most suitable for the job. After a brief flash of light engulfed his being, Heero was encased within the pride of the Crossbone Vanguard, "Let's make this quick. We've wasted enough time as it is."
With the appearance of the Gundam, the party put their plan into motion. IF, Lyrica and Nisa began to circle around to the Guard Vermin's back, while Heero and Neptune charged the monster from the front, supported by Compa and Gust.
The Crossbone Gundam reached the Guard Vermin in no time, crossing blades with the large monster using its Hi-Muramasa Blaster. At first, both combatants seemed evenly matched with the first clash, but with the second attack, the beam ports along the Crossbone Gundam's sword began to emit small pink blades that began to quickly melt down the key shaped weapon the monster was wielding.
Just seconds after Heero had cut through the Guard Vermin's weapon a bolt of lighting struck the monster in the back. Before it could recover from the electric attack, Nisa went flying through the air with her leg outstretched, "Face the power of justice, foul monster! Justice Kick!"
The heroine rammed right into the back of the monster, sending it crashing face first into the ground. Gust had mixed up her reagents and created yet another potion that was no doubt meant to inhibit the monster, "Wait for Gust to throw and do not miss."
Compa had a nervous look on her face as she waited for the alchemist to throw her concoction at the creature in front of them, "I-I'll try my best!"
As soon as the bottle containing the potion began to bubble, Gust threw it at the Guard Vermin and Compa shot the bottle once it was close enough, much to her relief. As the bottle shattered, the liquid contained with splattered across the monster's arm, quickly encasing the limb in ice until it was entirely see-through.
The Guard Vermin tried to do something about the frozen appendage, but IF drove her two blades into the block of ice and shattered the arm before moving out of the way of the incoming beam projectiles that Neptune had fired from Heero's GN Sword.
Five of the shots the purplenette fired actually hit, striking the upper torso and head of the monster and stunning it long enough for Heero to get in close again. The Crossbone Gundam swung it's large sword at the monster in order to break through its tough hide, but rather than a clean cut like the Gundam pilot had intended, the blade wasn't able to penetrate the armor, "(What the hell?!)"
With its beam emitters producing thermal blades along the Hi-Muramasa Blaster, the Crossbone Gundam should have been able to cut into the Guard Vermin's tough outer shell with ease. The small beam blades were even wearing down the monster's hide. As absurd as it may have sounded, it was as if the Gundam pilot had just suddenly lost his strength. "(What is going on? Surely if there was something wrong with me I would have developed symptoms or something that would have suggested there was something wrong with me?)"
After a few seconds, the Gundam pilot felt his strength come back to him, and went about his original task of cutting down the Guard Vermin's armor. Once the blade got through the tough natural armor, only the soft unprotected body kept the party from the object they were searching for.
Neptune hoisted the GN Sword III up and aimed it right at the monster's chest, "I got this!"
The purple haired girl ran at the monster with the blade extended out in front of her, and it took no effort for the sword's sharp edge to pierce the monster. A shrill cry escaped from the monster before it began to seemingly disappear into nothingness. Only once it was gone did a gold colored object fall to the ground where the monster had been. Neptune threw a fist in the air as she proclaimed the party's victory, "With a party as awesome as ours, there was no way we were gonna lose."
Nisa folded her arms and nodded her head in approval, "It was tough, but the forces of evil will always fall to those who fight for justice."
As the party breathed their sighs of relief, Heero was preoccupied with what had transpired a moment ago when he was unable to break the monster's defenses in one attack, "This may be a problem if it persists. I'll need to look into this so it doesn't slow us down."
Neptune was jumping up and down as she scooped up the Key Fragment and held it in her hands, "Goodie! We finally got the third Key Fragment! Yay, yay, yay!"
Compa looked at the gold object in Neptune's hands, feeling just as enthusiastic as her leader, "We need one more to save Miss Histy, right?"
IF folded her arms across her chest as she thought about why the party was gathering the Key Fragments in the first place before directing her attention to Neptune, "Just who is this Histy person? Your explanation is not unlike a coloring book, Nep."
Neptune stuffed the Key Fragment into her pocket before shrugging her shoulders, "Actually, I haven't heard from her in a while. But who cares, y'know?! It'll be a nice surprise for when we save her!"
Heero had yet to here from the disembodied voice that had asked for is assistance as well. Unfortunately, if there was some sort of problem on Histoire's end that prevented her from communicating with him and Neptune, then there really wasn't much they could do, if anything at all.
The Gundam pilot thought it best not to dwell on the matter for the time being. The party had just recovered the third Key Fragment and were one short from completing their objective, "We should return to our safe house for the time being. Now that we have the Key Fragment, we will need to make preparations to depart for Lowee. The Sky Harbor will connect Lastation with Lowee tomorrow, so we should have all of our equipment packed beforehand."
Lyrica stretched her arms over her head and let out a tired yawn "All I want is a good nights sleep. I'm tired."
Gust and Compa began to yawn as well, feeling just as exhausted as the songstress. Looking over the group, Heero could see that everyone was tired, safe for Neptune. The Perfect Soldier wanted to let them take a break from all the work they had been doing, but he wasn't sure whether or not something would come up that would disrupt their time off.
With their search for the Key Fragment a success, the party made their way back out of the ruins and toward the city to rest and prepare for the following day.
Xxx
After making sure the girls got back to the safe house, Heero headed back out to buy some alchemy ingredients, as per Gust's request. Having used Amazoo in order to purchase the items, Heero simply needed to go to Lastation's central park in order to retrieve them, as the items always arrived in Amazoo's mailboxes which they had set up around Gamindustri.
As the Gundam pilot was about to retrieve the items he had bought, a voice from someone behind him drew his attention, the reason being this person was clearly trying to get his attention, "Excuse me."
Heero turned around to find a rather short girl with somewhat pale skin and boyish-cut silver hair. She wore a near-formal black suit, 'near' because only the top was actually formal wear, being a button down jacket with two long tails and blue detailing on the inside, which complimented her aqua blue eyes. The rest of her attire consisted of black shorts with white detailing, black high socks and a pair of slip on black shoes with blue and silver detailing along the top.
The girl held a pen in one hand and a clipboard in the other and was looking directly at Heero, "I apologize for interrupting you while you appear to be busy, but I would like to ask you a few questions. If you don't mind, that is."
Heero looked at the girl for a moment, and could tell that she had no ulterior motives as far as he could tell, "...Very well. Though if I should you to be asking any personal questions, I will not hesitate to end this questionnaire."
"Rest assure, no personal question will be asked." The silver haired girl flipped through the papers on her clipboard until she found a blank form, then maneuvered her pen so that it was hovering over the top of the first black line on the sheet. "What is your name and occupation?"
"Heero Yuy. As for occupation, it would more or less fall under mercenary work."
The girl quickly filled out the first two questions with the information given to her by the Gundam pilot before asking her next set of questions, "Do you travel alone or with a group? And if so, how many people are in your group?"
Heero thought about how to answer that first question. Normally he would have said he was alone or working solo, but now… something about working alone just didn't have the appeal it use to. Not after he met Neptune and the others, "(Now I know I'm getting soft.) I work with a group containing six others. Though, that number is subject to change."
The girl had been filling out more of the form as information had been given to her, until he said that the number of his group members was subject to change, "Meaning?"
"The leader of my group has a tendency to recruit… interesting people. I have no way of knowing whether or not the number of members will increase or not."
Going back to her form, the girl only had one more question for Heero, "What is the longest period of time you have been on one landmass?"
"Because of our work, we move around fairly often, and are not in any one location for an extended period of time. The longest we have been in one locale is between 2 to 3 weeks."
After filling out the last question, the silver haired girl pulled a camera out from behind her back, took a picture of Heero, then stuck it to the form she had just filled out with a paperclip. Heero was rather curious as to why the girl had asked these questions in the first place, "May I ask why you were asking these questions?"
"It is part of my job. I can't afford to slack off, even when I'm on break."
Part of her job? What sort of job did this girl have that required her to be this diligent? "And what sort of job would necessitate this? And for that matter, who exactly are you?"
The girl stop looking through her papers to address the boy in front of her, "I am Kei Jinguji, Oracle of Lastation. That said, I am Oracle in name only right now. I was told to go on vacation until instructed otherwise. I will feel better knowing that I will at least have some of my work finished before resuming my duties as the Oracle."
That certainly explained the girl's diligence. Heero was actually impressed by how hard this girl was working, during her vacation no less, "Getting a head start on your work is wise, but you should know when to put down your work and take a break. You seem like a smart enough girl, so I imagine I don't have to tell you this."
Kei was just about to go back to her papers when she heard the Gundam pilot identify her as being a girl. The Oracle of Lastation looked up front her clipboard with a slightly surprised look on her face, "Normally people mistake me for a boy. How exactly were you able to tell that I'm a girl?"
"I could tell by your eyes."
An invisible blush creeped across Kei's cheeks, "My… eyes?"
Heero gave a brief nod to the diligent Oracle, "There is a certain clarity to them. Something that made it easy to differentiate your gender, despite your outward appearance."
Kei was slightly embarrassed to have someone focusing on her eyes, among other things. The girl cleared her throat as she reorganized her thoughts. "Your insight is certainly noteworthy. Now if you will excuse me, I have more work to do."
The Oracle of Lastation took off, leaving Heero standing next to the mailbox that contained the items Gust had requested. After retrieving the alchemy ingredients, Heero began to make his way out of the park, only to run into Lady Black Heart, who seemed to be deep in thought, "If I can just fix that minor issue… I should have no problem winning next time."
Because the CPU was busy talking to herself, she couldn't see the open manhole in front of her. Before the raven haired girl accidentally fell in, Heero quickly reached out and grabbed her, momentarily startling her, "You should be more careful, Lady Black Heart. You almost fell."
Lady Black Heart shook herself out of her momentary shock before addressing the boy, "Oh, Heero. I thought you and Neptune were supposed to be looking for that item of yours. A Key Fragment, I believe? Did you find it?"
Heero nodded in response, and while he wouldn't outright come out and say it, he was quite happy with the results of their search. Just when he was about to leave, the teenaged soldier noticed the band-aid on Lady Black Heart's cheek; her left cheek to be precise. The exact same place where he had applied a band-aid on the mystery girl he and the party had a run-in with. "...You appear to have been injured."
The CPU brought her hand up to her cheek where the band-aid was. "Oh, this? I was trying out some of those strategies and tips you told me early. I got kinda carried away, but it's no big deal."
Heero would have just written off the injury on her cheek as being a mere coincidence, were it not for the fact that he could also see the bandages wrapped around Lady Black Heart's right shoulder. And while he knew better than to ask her to lift up her skirt, he had a feeling that if he were to look at the CPU's left leg, there would be bandages there, too.
Of course, without any evidence there was no way for Heero to link Lady Black Heart to the girl that the party had run into while searching for the Key Fragment. Rather than press the girl for answers, the boy decided to hold off on questioning the CPU, not when he was in a good mood, "You need to take better care of yourself. Protecting your landmass and its people is important, however, your life should take priority."
Lady Black Heart looked away from Heero as he expressed his concern, at least in his own way, "I-I know. I just don't want to slack off and let my Lastation suffer from monster attacks. My people are too important to me, and I have to do all that I can to protect them."
Heero watched the girl in front of him. Truly she was a strong girl who cared very much for her people. As the boy began to walk past Lady Black Heart, the CPU felt a soft, warm sensation against her cheek that lasted for a brief moment.
Lady Black Heart's eyes widened and her cheeks took on a soft red hue in response. She turned in the direction the Gundam pilot was walking, watching his retreating form as she brought a hand up to her cheek, "Did Heero just k-kiss me?"
The CPU looked away bashfully as she thought about the boy kissing her. "No, he couldn't have… could he? I mean… it's possible. A-And he did say that… I might be the kind of girl he likes. Wh-What am I getting so worked up for? I mean, if he did kiss me, then it was just a harmless kiss on the cheek."
Lady Black Heart turned her attention back to Heero as he continued to walk down the street, a frown forming on her delicate face, "I can't believe Neptune gets to drag Heero around whenever she wants. He's too good for her. This just gives me extra incentive to get rid of her the next time I see her."
Xxx
Me: "Chapter 31 is now officially done! Damn did it take awhile to roll this one out."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter ACCC from Break Room) "It sure did. It was pretty long, too."
Me: "Yeah, but I'm sure our readers don't mind. If anything, they prefer long chapters as opposed to short, half-assed ones."
IF: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "I told you this was gonna happen. Did you get caught up with playing games again?"
Me: (Looks away) "Sh-Shut up! Yes, I may have played games a lot, but this was a difficult chapter. Not only did it feature a battle for the Key Fragment, but it also featured another important battle that shall remain nameless for the sake of the story. Though, I'm sure our readers out their know you guys were fighting against."
Neptune: "Well, duh. We were fighting against that plug suit wearin' stalker that wants to steal Heero from me!"
Me: "...Okay, sure. Let's go with that. Anyway, I ended up having to rewrite this chapter… several times, in fact. I got frustrated with how the chapter turned out before, but something about the way I wrote it this time just clicked. And I went with it until we have the end product here."
Lady Black Heart: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "It did take quite some time for you to decide how this. I just hope our readers enjoy it."
Neptune: "Lady Black Heart? What'cha doing here?"
Me: Lady BH here is an important part of the story, so naturally she'll be here with us from time to time."
Heero: "All of this aside, you should make a note to plan out how you are going to write out the chapter ahead of time. It will cut back on the amount time spent trying to come up with the content for the story."
Me: "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Lady Black Heart, would you mind wrapping up this chapter for us?"
Lady Black Heart: "Well, I guess I can. I mean, I have other, more important things I could be doing, but I suppose I can spare the time to do this."
Me, Heero, Neptune, and IF: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)
Lady Black Heart: (Turns to readers) "On behalf of the Author, I would like to apologize for the late update. Please read and review this chapter, and look forward to the next update." (Leaves ACCC through Left Entrance)
