Me: "Hello once again, my good readers. Before we wrap up the Key Fragment search, I thought we would take care of something."
White Heart: (Enters IC from Lounge) "You needed something? Whatever it is, it better be good."
Green Heart: (Enters IC from Game Room) "Hello? I was told that I was required for the next chapter of the story."
White Heart: (Glares at Green Heart) "What the hell are you doing here?!"
Green Heart: "I was asked to be a part of the chapter. What exactly are YOU doing here?"
Me: (Gestures to White Heart and Green Heart) "This is that something we're taking care. As I'm sure our readers know, we've had two chapter where we've had them 'go up against' Black Heart. So I thought it was only fair that we have a chapter where we pit these two against each other."
White Heart: (Pulls out axe) "I've been waiting for this. I hope you're ready to die, Thunder Tits!"
Green Heart: "You want to start a fight here of all places? Have you no respect for the readers? It looks as though I will have to correct your attitude here and now."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter IC from Break Room) "Hey, it's the plug suit ladies! I betcha they came here to try and steal Heero again!"
Heero: "I wish you wouldn't jump to conclusions."
White Heart: "Well, isn't this just fucking great?! At least I'll be getting rid of two assholes at the same time!"
Me: "Not so fast. Save it for the chapter. Right now, you have to read off the disclaimer. So… yeah, if you guys could get on that now, that would be great."
Heero, Neptune, White Heart, and Green Heart: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or any work pertaining to any of these franchises. However, he does own the idea of crossing over Gundam Wing and Hyperdimension Neptunia."
Me: "This is more or less a filler chapter, but we hope you guys enjoy it all the same."
Me, Heero, Neptune, Whit Heart and Green Heart: (Leave IC)
Ch. 34 Green VS White
It was the morning after the Extremist uprising, and the party was in high spirits. After the group had defeated the Overlord's messenger, the Extremists had lost their benefactor and were quick to scatter before their situation got any worse.
Once Lady White Heart had gotten a handle on the Guild, the situation on Lowee began to stabilize. Naturally, there were still a few members of the Extremists that weren't ready to admit defeat, but it was only a matter of time before they were forced to accept the reality that they had been defeated.
The party had been invited to Entremets by Lowee's CPU, and were on their way to the Basilicom. Considering that the goddess herself had sent the invitation, everyone in the group was expecting some good news.
As the party walked along the snow covered forest toward Entremets, Neptune and Compa were speculating what the CPU of Lowee had called them for, "Whatcha think she wants? Maybe she wants to throw a big party for us! With lots of good food and everything!"
Compa was thinking along the lines of a reward, rather than a celebratory party, "Maybe she'll give us some kind of reward."
While the two girls were tossing around ideas for their invitation to Lowee's main Basilicom, IF was looking down at her cell phone while occasionally tossing glances toward Heero, "How are you feeling? You're not sick or anything, are you?"
"I am not suffering under any strange conditions if that is what you're asking. Rest assured, after what happened last time I'm not about to hide any abnormal illnesses."
The battle from yesterday had served as a much needed wake-up call for the Gundam pilot. He might have gotten away with such recklessness back in his world, but here? Not only did hiding such strange and debilitating illnesses put him at risk, Neptune was also endangered by such decisions as well. It wasn't just Neptune either… the rest of the group could end up suffering from such actions, and it didn't help that he was taking a liking to the group of girls.
Heero shifted his eyes away. He wasn't looking at anything in particular. It was more like was just trying to avoid looking at any of the girls. "(I shouldn't allow myself to get attached to them… It will make saying goodbye that much harder.)"
It wasn't long before the group arrived at their destination. Upon entering the Basilicom, the party was immediately shown to the goddess' chambers. Lady White Heart had been reading one of her books when the door to her room was opened. The CPU stuck a bookmark onto the page she was on before closing the book and giving the party her undivided attention, "...Hello. Is this our second meeting?"
Try as she might, IF couldn't really see the young girl in front of her as a goddess, "I don't know if I'm just used to seeing you, or if it's your appearance… You never seem like a goddess."
Lady White Heart maintained her poker face, so it was hard to tell if she was bothered by what IF had said, or if she even cared. "...Well, that not-goddess wants to thank you for your efforts. So, here you are."
Compa had a stern expression on her face as she got onto the brunette for her blunt and rather rude comment, "Iffy, don't be rude to Ms. Goddess." The nurse in training returned her attention to the CPU of Lowee "We're sorry. What happened afterwards?"
"The Extremists… scattered and ran. It'll take some time to fix the Basilicom, but everything's fine."
The party had seen the aftermath of the Extremist's raid on the Basilicom. The exterior of the building was damaged, and the interior had been marred as well, though not quite as heavily as the outside. Knowing that the situation on Lowee had stabilized was enough to reassure Compa that things on Lowee would be back to normal, "I'm so glad! Your Basilicom will be up and running in no time. All is well!"
Lady White Heart sounded indifferent based on the tone of her voice, "Sure. Whatever. I've got time to straighten things up." The small CPU looked away from the party. Her face was a mixture of shame and embarrassment. "...I got to learn a lot about my land through this incident. I don't want to say it, but… thanks."
Compa waved off Lady White Heart's thanks. After all, it wasn't as if anyone had asked them to help with the matter of the Extremists or the Overlord's messenger. "Oh, please! It's nothing to thanks us for. We just did what we wanted to."
On the other hand, Neptune was hoping for more remuneration for the party's efforts than the goddess' words of thanks, "So you're thanking us for saving your life? That's all? It's okay to offer us money or items or information, y'know."
Heero wanted information from the CPU just as much as anyone else in the party, but he couldn't believe that Neptune was acting so greedy in front of the landmasses highest figure. For a brief moment, Lady White Heart had an irritated look on her face before responding to the purplenette, "...Right. I actually learned something about the Key Fragment."
As soon as the words came out of the CPU's mouth, the party's morale went through the roof. If what Lady White Heart was saying was true… If she really did know where the Key Fragment was, then the party wasn't going to have to search blindly for the item they had been looking for. "...Our Basilicom's network is rather wide. The Evangelist who manages information is gone, so I brought it here. Or, if you prefer something physical, I can give you money, or a picture with me. I won't smile, though."
As tempting as the money sounded, Neptune had enough common sense to ask for the information instead. "Ohhh! I'm sorry for being all greedy-weedy and stuff! We don't want money or a picture. Please give us the info…"
Heero inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. There was the chance that the party's leader would ask for the money instead of the info regarding the Key Fragment, and was worried that she would have chose that for their reward instead. Lady White Heart had also thought that Neptune would pick the money, as was evident by the brief look of surprise on her face, "...How admirable. Fine."
The CPU handed a collection of papers to Neptune that gave the location of the Key Fragment. Neptune couldn't begin to make heads or tails of the writing on the papers, a fast that was made clear by the confusion in her eyes. The purple haired girl smiled and nodded as though she understood what she was looking at, "Y-Yeah, this is great. Now we know where the Key Fragment is… I think."
Neptune held the papers out to Heero, "Why don't you hold on to 'em, Heero?"
Looking at the papers in the girl's hand and then the purplenette herself, Heero could deduce that Neptune was hoping he would take them before anyone began to question whether or not she was smart enough to understand what she was looking at. The Perfect Soldier took the documents from the amnesiac, folded them up, and slipped the papers into his jacket pocket, "If we are going after the Key Fragment, we should gather our supplies before heading out. We don't want to be caught unprepared."
With their objective now in sight, the party began to file out of the CPU's royal chambers. Heero and Neptune were the last to leave the room, and were stopped at the doorway by Lady White Heart, "...Wait."
Both the Gundam pilot and amnesiac turned to face the CPU once more. Lady White Heart walked over to the two, stopping in front of Heero. The young girl focused her attention on the teenaged soldier. "Heero, I wanted to… thank you for yesterday. What you said… it made me realize that I can't just try to fight every time something bad happens. I have to take my job as a CPU much more seriously. If I don't, this incident may happen again… and the damage could be worse."
From what Heero knew of the CPU, she had spent most of her time prior to the incident locked up in her room reading. With a lack of knowledge of her own landmass, there was nothing Lady White Heart could have done to prepare for the Extremist's raid on the Basilicom. The incident served to remind the CPU that there was a world outside of her room. That as the CPU of Lowee, she had a responsibility to protect the people of her land.
Heero could see the silent determination behind her eyes… she was serious about changing her ways, "There is no need for thanks. I was only carrying out my mission. Now, it is up to you whether or not there will be any real change to Lowee. But before anything can be done about Lowee, the thing that needs to change first is you yourself. We may not be around to save you the next time this happens, so you can't afford to lock yourself away in this room anymore, Lady White Heart. No one is going to be around to hold your hand and babysit you all the time."
Neptune was surprised at how far Heero was willing to take the conversation. Just calling her by the nickname she had come up with for the CPU was enough to elicit a negative response from her, "Whoa, do you hafta go that far, Heero? We don't wanna make her mad."
"No… he's right."
The purple haired amnesiac shifted her attention toward Lady White Heart. The CPU had cast her eyes down to the ground as her face contorted in anger. Lady White Heart was angry, but her anger wasn't directed toward Heero… it was directed toward herself. "I stayed here in my room and left everything up to the Basilicom employees. Because I was so lazy... I couldn't stop some damn monsters when they appeared right inside my home."
Before the CPU could go anyway further with her self loathing rant, Heero put a hand on her shoulder. The action prompted the young girl to look up from the ground and at the Perfect Soldier, "There is no point in dwelling on the past. What's done is done. You can't do anything about it. What you can do is focus on the here and now, as well as the future. You appear resolute in your decision to change yourself for the sake of your people. As long as you follow through with that decision to improve, Lowee is sure to improve along with you. You already know what you have to do. It falls to you to follow through and make it a reality."
Lady White Heart had heard something similar from the Basilicom staff, but hearing it from the Gundam pilot had a more profound effect on her. Certainly, the boy was quite inspirational, "...A-Anyway, I just wanted to… say thanks for yesterday." The CPU's eyes wandered away from Heero as she recalled the harmless kiss she had received the other day. "And..."
Neptune linked her arm with Heero's and pulled the Perfect Soldier away from the CPU, "C'mon Heero! There's a Key Fragment with our names on it, and we gotta go get it!"
As soon as the two exited the room the doors to Lady White Heart's chambers closed. The CPU stared at the double doors in silence. Her source of inspiration had been yanked out from in front of her while they were having a conversation. Lady White Heart's rage erupted and immediately began to vent in the otherwise empty room, "That damn bitch! Couldn't she see that we were having a moment?! You know what? That's it. I was trying to be nice. As much as I hate her, I thought I would let her leave with that Key Fragment thing since she helped save my landmass. But now? She's dead. She's so fucking dead!"
The furious CPU stopped her ranting to calm down and get her thoughts in order. "At least I won't have to deal with Thunder Tits and that dumbass with the pigtails while I'm getting rid of Neptune."
Unfortunately for Lowee's CPU, the Sky Harbor connecting Lowee and Leanbox was open, and she was going to have an unexpected and unwanted guest.
Xxx
As soon as the Sky Harbor was open, a certain CPU from Leanbox had passed through and entered into the Land of White Serenity. Once she had arrived on the snow covered landmass, Lady Green Heart began to scan the area in front of her, "If the information I received is correct, Heero should be here. But why would Neptune drag him all the way here? It's cold, unpleasant and that vulgar little girl is here as well."
The green haired lancer began to rub her arms in an attempt to generate some warmth. Because the CPU was in her transformed state, she wasn't exactly wearing much. "This place is too cold… I should have brought something to warm myself up with."
Lady Green Heart's cheeks took on a red hue as her thoughts shifted toward the reason she had come to Lowee in the first place, "Or… perhaps Heero could join me in a nice lodge and warm me next to a fire while we get to… know each other a bit better." After allowing herself to dwell on the idea for a moment, the CPU of Leanbox threw her head from side to side. "When did I start having such naughty thoughts? Still, I did come here to spend some time with Heero. If possible, I would like to avoid that vulgar child. The last thing I need is to listen to her spout off a constant stream of profanity."
Guild City was the closest settlement from where the CPU was. And considering she had no leads on the Gundam pilot's whereabouts, Lady Green Heart had no other place to start looking. The green haired lancer made her way toward Guild City with the intent to both find Heero, and get out of the cold weather.
Xxx
After the party's meeting with Lady White Heart, their first stop was the safe house. Before they could go searching the dungeon specified by the documents they had received, the group would need to gather the necessary supplies for their expedition.
Somewhere along the way back, Nisa had took off to 'answer the call of justice' and would be back shortly. So the party had to wait for Nisa before they could go search the dungeon. While the girls were gathering their gear, Heero was in the workshop, which was really the garage, giving a tune-up to the machines he had been using since he had arrived in Gamindustri.
The five suits were lined up in the middle of the work space, with the Gundam pilot carefully checking each individual machine. From the balancers that kept the suits upright, to the fuel pumps that fed fuel to the thrusters, to the weapons used by the powerful machines, Heero was meticulous with his check of the Gundams and the Exbein.
After checking the other four machines in his possession, the Gundam pilot arrived at the newest addition to his arsenal. The Nu Gundam was undoubtedly going to be a valuable asset as the suit was not only powerful, but versatile as well.
Heero just stood there and looked at the suit as memories suddenly began to race through his mind.
Xxx
Streaks of light and explosions dotted the vast expanse of space as a fierce battle between Londo Bell and The Sleeves was taking place around the asteroid Axis. Mobile Suit and battleship alike turned into glorious fireballs in quick succession as both sides vied for dominance.
Neither side was ready to give up, not when their objectives were in clear sight. For the The Sleeves, it was to drop the massive asteroid onto the Earth in order to create a never-ending nuclear winter on the planet. For the Londo Bell, it was to stop the asteroid from falling onto the Earth.
Due to the gravity of the situation, different groups and organizations joined in the battle to stop the colossal meteor from dropping onto the planet. While the regular soldiers fought against The Sleeves' main force, the Gundam pilots slipped past their lines and headed straight for Axis itself.
Even though the Gundams were powerful, it wasn't as if they were able to stop the large hunk of rock immediately. Even with The Sleeves' main force battling against the regular rank and file soldiers of the Londo Bell, there was still a sizable force of mobile suits protecting Axis. The fighting was particularly fierce around the massive thrusters that were propelling Axis toward the Earth and the hanger bays where the remaining Zeon forces were launching from.
Heero maneuvered the Wing Zero around the asteroid as he searched for Zeon mobile suits, knowing that they wouldn't be able to stop Axis without first suppressing the enemy forces. As the Gundam soared through the airspace around the giant asteroid, Heero was forced to evade an incoming beam rifle shot aimed at him.
The Gundam pilot turned in the direction of the attack to see a squad of AMS-119 Geara Doga approaching from behind him. All of the Gundam pilots that were participating in the battle to stop Axis found themselves getting into skirmishes with the MP model. Not wanting to deal with the group of Sleeve mobile suits any longer than he had to, Heero rotated the Wing Zero and fired the machine cannons at the incoming enemies.
Four of the mono-eyed suits scattered, while the fifth was pelted with numerous bullets, losing an arm an it's head before making a crash landing onto Axis itself. Even after dealing with one of the suits, there were still four more in front of him, and to make matters worse, five more of the mass production suit were approaching from overhead.
Heero frowned as he glanced at the approaching group. Sure he would easily be able to overpower them with the Wing Zero, but he didn't want to waste too much dealing with grunts, "The enemy's numbers make them a problem. It will be difficult to stop Axis from falling on the Earth while the enemy still commands a large mobile suit force."
Just then, one of the incoming suits was decapitated by a streak of pink light. Behind the second group of Geara Doga was the Nu Gundam piloted by the ace pilot Amuro Ray. As soon as the battle shifted to mobile suit combat, the White Devil of the federation had immediately started searching for the leader behind this attempted drop on the Earth.
Considering that the hero of the One Year War wasn't off on his own was a clear indication that whoever was the mastermind behind the Axis drop wasn't going to show himself unless the group of Gundam pilots shot down enough of the mobile suits protecting the large rock, "We won't find the one responsible for this unless we take out enough of their suits. We'll get a chance to strike back later, for now we need to thin the enemy's numbers."
The mobile suit melee continued between the two Gundams and the two groups of mass production machines. It went without saying that the Geara Doga were outclassed by the superior performance and weaponry of the Gundams. As the mobile suits traded fire with one another, another wave of the Neo Zeon's mass production suit approached to join the fray.
While both Heero and Amuro had successfully shot down the remaining eight Geara Doga that made up the first two groups, the second wave contained roughly twice as many of the mono-eyed suits than the previous two groups put together.
With their larger numbers, the Geara Doga encircled the two Gundams with the intent to overwhelm them from multiple directions. The Wing Zero and Nu Gundam had their backs against one another to keep their rear armor from being open to attack.
It wasn't as if this kind of situation was anything new to the Gundam pilots. Every Gundam pilot had been placed in a situation where they were outnumbered and surrounded by enemies at least a few times. It was just really annoying.
The Wing Zero drew its Twin Buster Rifle which were housed between its wings, while the Nu Gundam reached for its Hyper Bazooka with its free hand. They needed to take out the Geara Doga as quickly as possible, without killing the pilots. Naturally, the enemy pilots weren't going to make it easy for them, but it was a conscious decision that all of the Gundam pilots had made at that point in time. Enough people had already lost their lives to the fighting, and they didn't want to add to the already staggering body count.
A frenzied firefight quickly ensued as the Gundams took the initiative, opening fire on the Sleeve suits. While both the Wing Zero and Nu Gundam were able to avoid taking damage, the same couldn't be said for the Geara Doga. The mass production model units had either lost their limbs or had their head sections blown off, as regular soldiers just weren't capable of fighting without the main camera of their machines.
There were some shots that came dangerously close to inflicting critical damage to the weaker mobile suits, but the two pilots were able to effectively immobilize all of the surrounding Geara Doga without killing their pilots.
As the two finished mopping up the remaining suits, the two Gundam pilots found enough time for some friendly banter. Amuro cast a sideways glance from his seat in the Nu Gundam while keeping most of his focus on the Zeon mobile suits that were still operational, "Hey, keep it up! You're one hell of a shot."
Heero had certainly made an impression on others with his skill as a marksman. Of course, Amuro's marksmanship was nothing to scoff at, either, "No better than you."
Xxx
Heero pulled himself out of his trip down memory lane, returning his attention to the Gundam in front of him. Amuro Ray had created a powerful machine in the Nu Gundam, a genuine Newtype-use mobile suit.
It wasn't until after the battle from the previous day that Heero had gotten to take a good look at the machine, and found that it was different than what he had been expecting. While many people from the world Heero came from knew of the Nu Gundam, they didn't know that it's designer had actually created two different versions of the formidable Gundam.
The Perfect Soldier had obtained the variant of the Nu Gundam that had existed only as a set of blueprints until yesterday. At first glance it looked exactly like its sister unit, from its appearance to its armament and their placement. It wasn't until closer inspection of the machine that a person familiar with the Nu Gundam could tell the difference. Segments of the suit's armor could expand or be removed, and upon doing so revealed Psycoframe material underneath. Unlike its more well known counterpart which made use a standard Psycoframe, this version of the Nu Gundam made use of a nearly-Full-Psycoframe. In regards to its Newtype-use functionality, this version of the Nu Gundam was superior to the one Amuro had used during the Second Neo Zeon war.
Unfortunately, this unit never saw the light of day in Heero's home world. While Amuro had created the two, ultimately it boiled down to how long it would take to construct the mobile suit. While the Nu Gundam with a nearly-Full-Psycoframe was superior, the process of implementing the Psycoframe material into the suit was not only expensive, but time consuming. In order to get a powerful Gundam built to fight against the Neo Zeon army the set of blueprints for the suit that required less time to work on was chosen.
Amuro was left with no choice but to shelf the second set of schematics for the second Nu Gundam, which was a shame since the ace point had hoped for that development of both Gundams would pan out. While the machine the White Devil had to work with had accomplished an impressive feat of projecting a Psycofield that moved the broken half of Axis away from the Earth, the unused model of the Nu Gundam would have done the same task much more easily.
Originally, Heero had thought that the machines he would unlock would only be those of units that had been built and had a proven combat record. The Nu Gundam he had come in to possession of had thrown that idea out the window. It seemed that as long as the suit existed in some way, even as just a set of blueprints, it could be made into an actual transformation for his use. Whether or not the Gundam pilot would unlock any more was anyone's guess.
As the Perfect Soldier continued to look over the Gundam, the door to the workshop swung open and Neptune walked in, "Heero! You in here?"
Compa and IF entered after the purplenette, with IF reprimanding the leader of the party, "Can you at least knock before barging in? People will think that you're uncivilized, Nep."
Neptune brushed off the brunette's comment. "It's our house, Iffy. Nobodies gonna judge me for barging in." The leader of the group then turned her attention toward the group of machines in the middle of the garage, "Whatcha doin', Heero? Fixing up your robot buddies?"
Heero cast a sideways glance at Neptune as she looked over the Gundams, "They don't need repairs at this time. I'm performing routine maintenance. If there is something wrong with the suits I want to know now while we're not in a combat situation."
Compa walked up to the group of machines as they stood silently in the middle of the workshop, "I'm sure Mr. Robot and his friends are happy to be taken care of."
IF raised her eyebrow as she gave Compa a questioning look, "Do you hear yourself? How can a robot be happy when it doesn't have any emotions?"
The bickering between Compa and IF drew Lyrica, Gust and Red into the garage, "What are you guys doing in here? Isn't this supposed to be Heero's work space or something?"
Neptune picked up a wrench that was sitting against the workbench, fiddling with the tool as she addressed the cerulean haired girl's question, "Well, we're just waiting on Nisa. And since we've already got our stuff, I thought I'd come and help Heero with his cool robots."
Heero wasn't sure that letting Neptune help him with the Gundams was a good idea. It had been clear throughout their travels that she wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, "What exactly do you know about maintaining a machine?"
The purplenette rubbed the back of her head as she replied to the boy. "Well… I don't really know anything about fixin' up robots, but y'know, you could show me how so I can help you."
While her honesty was appreciated, it wasn't exactly comforting to know that someone that lacked even basic knowledge of machine maintenance wanted to help work on the Gundams. IF seemed to sense Heero's distress, but rather than try to dissuade Neptune from helping the boy (which would have been an exercise in futility), IF offered up the rest of the groups aid, "If Nep helps out on her own, she might end up breaking something. We'll help out, too."
Gust wore a blank expression on her face as she looked at the Guild member that had so casually offered up her services in working on the Gundams, "Gust does not know how to work on machines."
Lyrica was in the same boat as Gust, having spent her time writing songs and singing for the masses, "And the only machines I've ever worked with are stereos and that kind of stuff."
Red was just as clueless as the others in regards to the maintaining of the suits, "It can't be that hard. Heero does it so easily."
Heero looked at the girls as they contemplated the idea of working on the suits. The teenaged soldier walked over to the workbench and picked up the toolbox placed underneath, "If you insist."
It was moments such as this that really showed just how much of an effect the time Heero had spent in the world of Gamindustri with these girls had had on him. The Gundam pilot could remember a time when he didn't want anyone touching his mobile suit… and the people he had refused to accept assistance from knew how to work on a mobile suit.
Yet, here he was allowing these girls to help him when they had never seen a mobile suit until now. Thankfully, none of the suits were in need of repairs. A quick check of each machine's systems and their structural hard points was all that Heero was checking at the moment.
After looking over each suit, Compa, IF and the others left the workshop to gather in the living room, leaving slightly more educated in regards to mobile suit maintenance, "Mr. Robot and the others must take a lot of work to fix when they're damaged."
"Well, what do you expect? They are robot after all."
Heero and Neptune were the only one left in the garage, with each of the mobile suits vanishing in a brief flash of light one after the other until the Nu Gundam was the only suit left. Neptune was sitting on the stool next to the workbench while kicking her legs back and forth, "Do you really gotta work on all of those robots? It's so much work, and you have five of them. You could all kinds of other stuff if you just worked on one 'em."
The Gundam pilot had been putting away his tools when Neptune had asked him if maintaining all five machines was really necessary. Heero stashed the box of tools in the corner of the garage before addressing the purplenette's question, "My mission is to protect you while we search for the Key Fragments. For that reason, I must make sure that all of the weaponry I have at my disposal is functioning at one-hundred percent efficiency."
Heero turned his attention to the Nu Gundam and noticed that there was something missing from the Newtype-use mobile suit. "...Neptune, would you bring me a paint brush and that can of paint next to you?"
Neptune hopped out of her seat to pick up the can of red paint next to the stool and a paint brush from off the workbench. Once she had retrieved the two items the purplenette walked over to Heero and presented the brush and paint can, "Here ya go. Whatcha' need these for, anyway?"
Heero set the can of paint on the ground before removing the lid and dipping the paint brush into the red liquid, "Adding something that's missing from this suit."
What the boy had noticed was that the Nu Gundam lacked the emblem of it's creator. While this machine may have belonged to Heero, he would at least pay homage to the Gundam's designer. Heero was precise with each brush stroke, making sure not to smear the paint or mess up any part of the emblems design. The end result appeared to be a triangle with one point jutting out further than the others and a unicorn head was protruding from the top most point.
The teenaged soldier repeated the same process of painting the emblem on the Nu Gundam's shield, making sure that it matched the one on the shoulder perfectly. Heero sealed the can of paint before putting it away and tossing the paint brush into the nearby trash can, as it was a cheap disposable brush, "Done."
Neptune looked at the boy's handiwork on the machine and was surprised by the detail of the emblem, "Whoa! Are you some kinda artist? This looks cool." The amnesiac turned her attention toward the Gundam pilot as he returned to his place in front of the suit. "You should draw me later! I bet you'd make a really good drawing of me."
Heero's eyebrow went up as he shot a questioning glance at the girl next to him. "Why would I do that? If anything I should be putting my time and energy into something more productive."
"Y'know, you don't have to work all the time Heero. You gotta relax sometimes. In fact, once we nab that last Key Fragment the first thing we're gonna do is snuggle up together in a blanket next to a fire with some hot chocolate."
The boy saw no reason to continue the discussion, mainly because it wasn't going anywhere. Of course, no sooner did Heero stopped talking to the purplenette about her proposed idea did she steer the discussion toward a more relevant topic, "By the way… what happens when we get the last Key Fragment?"
Heero opened his mouth to respond, but found himself stopping. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to Neptune's question, "Why do you ask?"
Neptune scratched the back of her head as she gave a nervous smile that said she didn't know what to do next. "Well, Histy only told us to find the Key Fragments. She didn't tell us what we were supposed to do when we found them. And we haven't heard from her in a while."
The amnesiac made a fair point. They had only been told to collect the four Key Fragments around Gamindustri and were given no other instructions beyond that. And not only had Histoire not contacted them in some time, but there was no way of knowing if she would convey any information to the group once they found the fourth Key Fragment, "Unfortunately, I don't know what we are supposed to do once we find the last Key Fragment either. All we can do is carry out our mission for the time being. We'll decide on a course of action after we have found what we came for."
Heero reached over toward the Nu Gundam and removed the beam saber stored on the suits left arm. The Gundam disappeared in the same fashion as the previous machines before the Perfect Soldier presented the weapon to Neptune. "At present, we can't procure a replacement weapon for you. Our primary method of acquiring weapons and resources is currently out of viable armament for you, so I will lend you this for now."
Neptune swiped the saber from the boy while gleefully prancing around the workshop, "Aww, thinking about me like a good lover should. I think someone's looking to score some more love points with me."
Yet another moment in which Heero found himself questioning his actions toward the purple haired girl. He gave her the weapon as a temporary replacement so she would be able to fight and defend herself, not so he could 'score love points.'
Before the Gundam pilot could retort, a shout drew the attention of the duo toward the door that led to the living room, "YOU DID WHAT?!"
IF was the one who had raised her voice and she didn't sound happy. The duo entered the room which the rest of the party had congregated to find the aforementioned brunette glaring at Nisa, who was holding her hands up defensively, "We waited for you so we could go find the Key Fragment, and you go and pull this? What the hell!"
The Keeper of Justice wilted slightly under IF's heated gaze, "As a heroine, I have a responsibility to protect the people of Gamindustri whenever they need protecting. They just happen to need protecting now."
As Heero and Neptune had only just entered the room, they were left out of the loop until the Gundam pilot got the attention of the arguing girls, "Would someone care to explain what the problem is?"
Lyrica had an exhausted look on her face as she explained the cause for IF and Nisa's arguing, "Nisa went and signed us all up for job requests without saying anything to us."
Compa would have sided with Nisa, were it not for the fact that the group had planned on searching for the Key Fragment that very same day, "Ms. Heroine, if we hurry and find the last Key Fragment the we won't have to worry about saving everyone."
Despite the protests of her fellow party members, Nisa remained resolute in her decision to accept the jobs posted by the townspeople, "And ignore the cries of the innocent? That is something I can't do!"
There was no reasoning with the rebellious heroine. It didn't matter what they said to her, Nisa was intent on carrying out the job requests she had accepted. Heero was hoping that this wasn't going to be a thing among the party, "We don't exactly have much of a choice in the matter. While I would rather search for the Key Fragment, this does give us one more day to make preparations."
A wide grin spread across Nisa's face upon hearing the Gundam pilot's decision to go along with the requests, "I knew I could count on your support in this matter."
The boy frowned as he directed his gaze toward Nisa. "I do not approve of your decision to accept these requests without taking it up with the group first. I ask that you refrain from such actions until you haven received permission from the team in the future."
Neptune was fuming over this development. She had planned her whole day around the party searching for the final Key Fragment. Once they found it, the purplenette had planned to celebrate by hitting every food vendor in the city. But now, she was going to be too tired from doing job requests to do that, "You're buying me lunch when we've finished these jobs, Nisa!"
Lyrica was just as upset, immediately siding with the party's leader on making the heroine buy lunch for them, "Me too! I had plans today, and now they're ruined!"
Nisa's face began to grow pale as the two girls demanded that she buy lunch for them, "You don't actually expect me to buy you food because of this, do you?"
IF folded her arms as she kept her sharp gaze focused on the Keeper of Justice, "And why not? You're the one that accepted these jobs without consulting us. AND you volunteered us to help out. The way I see it, this is the least you can do as compensation."
Feeling the collective, expectant gazes of her party on her, Nisa knew that she wasn't going to be getting out of this. Heaving a defeated sigh, the heroine resigned herself to her 'punishment' for volunteering their services. "It would seem that I have no choice. Very well… I'll buy lunch for everyone after we've finished the requests."
With the matter settled, the party filed out of the safe house and immediately made their way over to the board down the street. Nisa had signed them up for a few jobs, so they at least wanted to know what they were getting themselves into.
It didn't take long to find the jobs that Nisa had signed up for, as the requests required that they be completed that day. The jobs included looking for a specific item, clearing out a forest, and hunting a certain monster.
Neptune wore a bored expression on her face as she looked at the request to eliminate a specific monster, "A boss hunting quest? You really had to pick that one?"
IF was frowning as her attention was fixed on the extermination job request, "We have to clean out an entire dungeon? This sucks."
Gust was looking at the item fetch request and she looked as though she was about to cry, "This is item that Gust needs. This is a sad day indeed."
Red looked at the faces of each girl in the group before turning to the one that chose the jobs in the first place, "I think you might be really bad at picking out stuff for us to do."
Between Nisa's decision to handle job requests for the locals and knowing just what kind of jobs they would be doing, the party's morale had plummeted. As the disheartened group look over the jobs they had been signed up for, a familiar blue haired girl was watching them from behind a nearby bakery.
The Newtype's head was poking out from behind a barrel as she glared at Neptune, "Getting between me and my source of inspiration… I'll fucking kill you for that, bitch."
While the vulgar blue haired girl watched the party from behind her barrel, Lady Green Heart was walking up the street with her eyes roaming over her surroundings, "Let's see… apparently they live somewhere around here..."
The CPU soon found her gaze falling on the party as they stood in front of the board. Green Heart quickly ducked behind the nearest building in order to observe the group without being seen. "There they are. It didn't take long to find them at all."
Taking a moment to search her surroundings, Lady Green Heart saw no sign of either of the 'vulgar little girl' that was guilty of watching the group from a distance as well, "And that disrespectful child isn't around. It would seem that today is my lucky day. I just need to find some way to separate Heero from Neptune now."
With their day planned out for them, the party set out for the location of their first job at a slow pace, as most of the team wasn't feeling enthusiastic about. Unknown to the group, they were being tailed by two familiar girls.
Xxx
After leaving the city, the party had decided to deal with the item recovery quest first. Nisa stood right in front of the opening to the cave where they were to find the item that they had been tasked with retrieving, "This cave has an evil aura about it. There must be a truly vile monster within."
Lyrica couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, "She says that about every dungeon we find."
Heero looked down at the sheet of paper that described the job request, as well as what they were looking for. Apparently, the item they were looking for was a rare herb that only grew in a few of the caves around Lowee, making it rather rare. The Gundam pilot turned his attention to the cave entrance, "In order to cut down on the amount of time we spend searching for the specified item, it would be best to split up the group.
Almost immediately, Neptune latched onto Heero's arm following his proposed idea of splitting up the party, "If we gotta split up, then Heero's on my team!"
All of the girls excepted for Gust exchanged glances with one another before turning their attention to the purplenette to voice their disapproval, "Why do you always get to go with Heero, Nep-Nep?"
Neptune tightened her hold on the Gundam pilot as her fellow party members tried to pry the amnesiac away from him with their eyes, "Because we're Destined Lovers, obviously. We always have to be together when the team splits up."
IF wasn't going to accept that line of reasoning as an excuse, "No, you don't. You're just trying to monopolize Heero's time and keep him away from the rest of us, even when we need him for something important. Tell her, Heero."
If there was one thing that Heero had learned from being around this group of girls, it was to never get dragged into the middle of one of their arguments. It would just lead to more bickering and fighting, and one of them might end up getting hurt over such a meaningless argument, "There is no need for arguing. I already planned out how the group would split up in advance. Neptune, Compa and Nisa will form the first group, IF, Lyrica and Red will make up the second. The third group will be comprised of Gust and myself."
While the girls were disappointed with the group formations they weren't too upset, mostly because it was Gust that was going to be with Heero, "Well, I guess I'm okay with that. I mean, it's Gust. She's too cool to try and steal Heero from me."
Red clung to IF with a content look on her face, "I'm partnered with my wifey number one, so I can't complain."
Gust certainly was a safe choice, as she had more of an interest in reagents and money than romance. Neptune started walking off with Compa and Nisa following after her, "Let's get this over with. I don't like being in a group that ain't got Heero in it."
IF's group departed shortly after Neptune's, wanting nothing more than for the day to be over, "Someone remind me to punch Nisa later for this."
Once the two groups were gone, Heero exhaled. A long drawn out argument between the girls was the last thing he needed right now. Gust tugged on the boy's jeans to get his attentions, "Gust does not understand why others always fight over Heero. Only causes headaches."
The teenaged soldier glanced down at the young alchemist before turning his attention back toward the dungeon they had come to search, "I don't know what to tell you, Gust. For the time being, we should focus on the mission."
Heero and Gust went in after their fellow party members to find the herbs located within the cave and finish the request so they could go on and finish the other two jobs. The two arrived in time to see Neptune and IF's groups go off in different directions in search of the herbs, letting Heero know that they needed to search elsewhere.
With two of the four paths leading further into the cave taken, only two were left to choose from. And while Heero wanted to cover as much ground as possible, he didn't want Gust to have to go off on her own. Ultimately, the duo followed the path second from the left.
Heero and Gust carefully observed the rocky environment as the looked for the rare herb. It didn't help that they only had a vague description of the plant to go off of; that it was a sky blue color and that it had six leaves. A more detailed descirption would have been appreciated, "Considering that you wanted to acquire the item yourself, I can safely assume that you know what it is we're looking for, Gust?"
The young girl gave a quick nod in response. She knew exactly what they were looking for, "Yes. Herb grows in limited quantities and in specific locations. This makes herb very expensive."
It was supposed to be an expensive herb, and yet here they were searching for it just to turn it over to someone else and receive some menial reward. Just as Heero and Gust reached the end of the naturally formed corridor, a familiar blue haired girl stepped out in front of them with her face stuck in a book.
The Newtype, while engrossed in what she was looking at, wasn't so caught up in it that she didn't notice the two people in her peripheral vision. And of course, the girl had her attention focused on Heero, "...It's you guys."
Gust was fully aware of what this girl was capable of, and knew that if a fight broke out it could mean trouble, "What should we do? Should we call party?"
Heero had contemplated the idea, but knew that if the girl was really looking to start a fight she would have done so already, "There is no need. We should avoid unnecessary conflict whenever possible. Besides, we still need to locate the item we came here to find."
The Gundam pilot's first thought was to just walk past the violent girl without saying anything and avoid a confrontation. Instead, the Newtype stopped them before they could really get anywhere, "...I happen to be looking for something myself. How about it? Want to work together?"
At first Heero was skeptical about the blue haired girl's proposal. How did they know that she wasn't just going to turn around and stab them in the back while they searched for the herb? Allowing himself to dwell on the matter for a moment, the Perfect Soldier noted that she hadn't really showed any aggressive actions toward him for a while, and if she was after Neptune, then the whole party was there and they could stop her. "We will take you up on your offer… for now."
What Heero and Gust didn't know was that the Newtype wasn't actually looking for anything other than Neptune, but having the boy here and without the amnesiac clutching his arm, the blue haired girl was willing to put off going after Neptune for the moment in favor of spending time with her source of inspiration.
The trio ventured further into the cave in search of the rare plant they were looking for. As they delved deeper into the dungeon the Newtype inched closer to Heero, trying not to seem obvious about the action, "(Calm down, White Heart. Neptune is off somewhere else, and aside from the kid you have Heero all to yourself. Play it cool.)"
With the intent of learning more about the Gundam pilot, the blue haired girl opened her mouth to question Heero, only to stop upon seeing a familiar and very unwelcome individual in front of them. Green Heart had also ventured into the cave, though not for the same reason as White Heart. She was there for the sole purpose of finding Heero.
A smile formed on the CPU's face as soon as her eyes fell on the boy, "I never would have imagined I'd run into you in place like this, Heero. This must be fate, the two of us meeting like this."
While the CPU claimed that it was fate that brought about this encounter, Heero was starting to suspect that his run-in with both Lady Green Heart and the Newtype wasn't a coincidence. Meanwhile, White Heart was grinding her teeth as she glared daggers at the CPU of Leanbox, "(What the hell is this bitch doing here?! Can't she go bother someone else?!)"
Even though he didn't really have a problem with the goddess of Leanbox suddenly showing up, Heero wanted to finish up the job request before he listened to the CPU's reasoning for coming to the snow covered landmass, "I regret to inform you that I don't have time to talk at the moment. I will hear any inquiries you have after I have completed my current assignment."
The Gundam pilot was about to walk away, when Gust's eyes fell on the object in Lady Green Heart's hand. It was a plant that was a sky blue color and had six leaves; three on each side. The young alchemist knew that it was the herb they were looking for, "That is plant we are looking for!"
Heero shifted his attention toward the plant in the green haired woman's hand once Gust had confirmed that it was the item they were sent to find. Green Heart lifted her arm while focusing on the herb in her hand, "You came here looking for this? I found it a few moments ago and decided to take it, though I have no actual use for it."
"If you have no need for it, the would you consider giving it to us?"
Leanbox's guardian goddess considered giving the plant to the boy, but stopped herself from following that line of thought. It's not that she didn't want to help Heero, she just wanted to get something out of doing so. If the herb she had acquired was something he needed then perhaps she had a use for it after all. "I'm sorry, but I can't just give it to you." The goddess' lips curved into a sly grin, "However, I would be willing to trade for it."
The Gundam pilot wasn't sure just what Lady Green Heart was hoping to get from him. Clearly he wasn't carrying anything on his person other than the clothes he was wearing, "What do you want?"
Blood rushed to the CPU's cheeks as she disclosed the 'item' that she wanted for the plant, "I'll give you the plant, and in exchange… I want some time alone with you, Heero."
Upon hearing what Green Heart wanted for the herb, White Heart could not keep silent any longer, "Fuck off!"
The CPU of Leanbox shifted her attention from Heero to the blue haired girl that had just shouted at her, frowning as soon as she saw just who had spouted profanity at her, "Oh… you're here. I didn't see you there."
White Heart's eyes twitched as her hands balled up into fists. She was under the impression that the CPU in front of her had actually been ignoring her simply because she was shorted than the boy next to her. "You're so full of shit. Are you saying I'm short or something?"
"I said no such thing." The goddess' lips formed a smirk as she looked over the smaller girl. "I will say this, though… You are short in more ways than one."
Hearing Lady Green Heart say that caused something to break in the blue haired girl. There were a lot of ways that comment could have been taken, and for White Heart, she saw it as a jab at her chest size… a topic that was, for the most part, off-limits.
The green haired lancer redirected her attention to the Perfect Soldier, "So? What do you say Heero? A fair trade, is it not?"
Heero failed to see the reason as to why the CPU wanted time alone with him, but it did sound like a fair trade. He saw no reason to decline Lady Green Heart's offer. But before he could give the goddess his reply, White Heart gave her own response to the woman… and her voice was dripping with hate, "… I say you're fucking dead!"
Green Heart was going to throw a witty retort at the Newtype, but was cut short when she saw the young girl racing toward her with axe in hand. The CPU jumped out of the way of White Heart's before it could connect, resulting in a large crater on the ground. White Heart kept her rage filled gaze on the green haired woman while pulling her axe out of the ground. "Hold still, bitch!"
Leanbox's CPU armed her lance in preparation for the violent girl's next attack, "I will do no such thing. Certainly not for a brute like you."
A fight between the two was unavoidable at this point, and it didn't help that Lady Green Heart still had the herb in her hand. Gust looked at the blue plant with fear and uncertainty, "Gust is worried that plant may be damaged if they fight."
It would be a problem if the plant was damaged. There was no way of knowing if there were any more like it in the cave, and if there weren't then they would have to waste more time searching for a dungeon that provided the necessary conditions to facilitate the growth of the rare plant… and that didn't even factor in the time actually searching for it.
The violent blue haired axe wielder charged at Green Heart once again, the only thing on her mind being to crush and flatten the woman before her, "I'm gonna kill you, Thunder Tits!"
Lady Green Heart was forced to drop the blue plant in order to block to block the incoming attack from White Heart. Gust started waving and pushing her hands in the air as if it would somehow keep the two girls from stepping on the plant at their feet.
There were a few close calls, but the two girls began to take their fight into another section of the cave. Once she was sure that the dueling girls were far enough away, Gust scampered over to the sky blue plant on the ground and picked it up off the ground, "Gust has retrieved the item."
Heero cast a brief glance in the direction that the two girls had gone before turning around to head back the way they came, "It would be in our best interest to return to the others. The sooner we deliver the item, the sooner we can focus on one of our other assignments."
Both Heero and Gust took off in search of the party, leaving Green Heart and White Heart to settle their dispute. Leanbox's CPU did not have time to waste on the overly aggressive girl in front of her when Heero was close by, and she had possession of something he needed, "I have no time to waste no you. Once I exchange this-"
Lady Green Heart looked down at her hand, only to find that the plant was missing. The goddess quickly looked over the room, but couldn't see the blue plant anywhere, "Where did it go?"
"Hey, you guys found it! That's awesome!"
Neptune's voice drew the attention of the two feuding girls, causing them to stop what they were doing to see just what there mutual enemy was shouting about. Sure enough, as soon as they poked there heads out from behind the corner, Green Heart and White Heart saw the party congregated in the middle of the corridor… and Gust was holding the plant in her hands.
Nisa was grinning as she looked over the group, "That wasn't so bad, was it? We finished the request pretty quickly."
IF gave the Keeper of Justice the Evil Eye. Still not over the fact that the heroine had signed them up for the job requests without the party's consent, "I don't wanna hear that crap out of you. You didn't do anything to help us look for this plant."
Lyrica tried to ease the tension between IF and Nisa before the brunette thought about maiming the heroine, "Come on, guys. What's important is that we found it. So don't be mad."
Neptune pulled a cup of pudding out from her hoodie pocket and began to devour the snack item, "I betcha we're super lucky, today. I mean, you guys found it in no time."
"Actually, Heero and Gust encountered-"
Before Gust could finish, Heero had placed a hand on her shoulder. When the small girl looked up at the Gundam pilot, he simply raised a finger to his lips. It was a clear indication that she needed to keep what had happened to herself. "...Monsters. Heero and Gust found monsters protecting plant."
Heero had to support the fabricated story in a way that made it seem real, "While we had expected to encounter some resistance, it was still a waste of time."
IF briefly pulled out her phone to check the time before stuffing the device back in her pocket, "If we're finished here, then can we leave? We still have two more of these job requests to do."
The party began to make their way back toward the entrance to the cave, leaving Green Heart's plan to trade the plant for Heero in ruin. After a moment of stunned silence the CPU of Leanbox turned her angry gaze on the blue haired girl, "Now look at what you've done."
White Heart snapped her head around to look at the green haired woman, her face a mixture of confusion and anger, "The fuck?! How the hell is this my fault?!"
"All I wanted was some time with Heero. Nothing nefarious. But you had to act like a child and throw a tantrum. Now Neptune has both Heero AND the item he was looking for."
Just being near Green Heart was infuriating for the Newtype, so having to listen to her was really getting on her nerves… and it didn't help that she was being blamed for Heero's premature departure. "What the hell did you expect? You were hoping to get Heero somewhere so you could screw! Well not on my landmass you're not! In fact, I don't plan to let that happen ever! He's mine!"
The CPU was momentarily caught off guard by the young girl's particular phrasing of what her alone time with Heero would amount to. Shaking off her initial embarrassment, Green Heart turned the argument back on vulgar blue haired girl in front of her, "What could you possibly offer Heero? You have a short, volatile fuse. You have no chest whatsoever. And you are clearly incapable of going five minutes without spewing out that obscene language you use so often."
Hearing the lancer point out her flaws really got White Heart's blood boiling… especially the jab at her chest, "Are you mocking my chest again you damn bitch?! I'll murder you!"
Leanbox's goddess wasn't surprised by White Heart's outburst. In fact, she had anticipated that it would sound just like that. "Case and point. Someone like you has no hope of winning Heero's affection." Green Heart turned her back to the fuming axe-wielder, "You should give up now before you get hurt."
With that, the green haired lancer took off toward the exit of the dungeon. White Heart's body was shaking violently with repressed rage. Balling her hand into a fist, the blue haired girl struck the wall next to her. She had struck with enough force that her hand went through the rocky wall and caused a few of the stalactites hanging overhead to fall, crashing into the ground around the Newtype, "STUPID FUCKING BITCH! EGOTISTICAL, STUCK-UP ASSHOLE!"
White Heart was so angry, she was certain that she was about to pop a blood vessel. Having been taunted, mocked, and then told to give up on Heero really got under her skin… and it didn't help that she had already been in a bad mood.
The blue haired girl pulled her fist out of the wall as a monster roamed into the room, drawn by the shouting. White Heart turned her attention toward the unfortunate creature, causing it to freeze in place under her malicious gaze. With axe in hand, the small girl made her way toward fear stricken monster. "I'm really pissed off right now… And you're gonna help me vent all of this rage whether you want to or not!"
Xxx
After delivering the rare plant and receiving their miniscule reward for their efforts, the party immediately went to the location of their second job request. While they had been feeling good about completing the fetch quest in record time, the group was given another reason not to let Nisa pick up their job request, as they had learned of the value of the herb they turned over to the requester.
Even after arriving at the sight of their second job, IF was still holding that fact over Nisa, "I should make it a point to tie you down after every job from now on. Seriously, how could you not know the item we were after was valuable? We could have made a fortune off that thing!"
The heroine began to wilt under the brunette's constant nagging, "I told you I was sorry. Besides, shouldn't we be glad for the guy? His story about having lost his job and having nothing was really depressing. I felt bad for him."
"His 'story' was a load of crap. I could tell he was making it all up as he went. Clearly he was just waiting for a halfwit like you to take the job so he could sucker you into doing it for as little as he could get away with."
As IF continued to lay into Nisa for her lack of foresight, Heero observed the snow covered forest that they were sent to clean out. It went without saying that the forest looked identical to every other forest that the party had visited and it was starting to get a little tiring to see.
According to the information provide by the job form, monsters had recently started to make their nest in the area and was a source of concern for the local townsfolk, so they wanted the forest cleaned out as quickly as possible. While the form said 'recently,' the request had been made three days prior, so the party had no way of knowing just how many monsters they would have to deal with, "I believe it goes without saying that it would be in our best interest to divide into teams for this job assignment. We will use the same teams as the last job, only Gust will join Neptune's team and I will go in on my own."
Neptune was clearly disappointed with the layout of the teams, specifically how Heero was insisting upon going off on his own… like he did so often, "I don't like this setup. Why do you gotta go solo? Gust can be in Iffy's team, and you can be in our team, Heero."
Lyrica frowned at the purplenette as she purposed sending Gust to their team so she could have the Gundam pilot, "Why should Heero be on your team? You guys are the most reckless, so you should keep Gust and WE'LL take Heero."
"Is the meat shield talking back to the leader? Well, it's a good thing your opinion doesn't count."
As the songstress complained about being label a 'meat shield,' IF voiced her own complaints regarding the issue, "While I don't agree with Nep's idea of pawning Gust off onto us, I do think that you should join one of our teams. I know you're capable, but what if something happens to you?"
Heero knew that the girls would bring up the possibility that he risked putting himself in danger by going off on his own. They had proven themselves to be reliable and could conduct themselves effectively as a team when they weren't fighting amongst themselves, and it was because they were reliable that he could go his own way, "I acknowledge that there is some risk in operating on my own. However, should I end up in a situation where I can't hope to win, I'll be counting on all of you to help me. As you said before, we're a team. I need to rely on each of you now and then."
There had been a few instances where Heero's decision to withhold information nearly jeopardized his mission, as well as the lives of the girls he had been traveling with. And the last battle they were in had served as a much needed wake-up call for the boy. Heero couldn't afford to handle everything like he used to. He needed to let the girls help when things started to get out of hand.
Neptune leaned over towards Compa, whispering to the nurse in training so that IF wouldn't hear her, "(You hear that, Compa? If Heero gets in trouble and we save him, we'll score major points!)"
"(Do you really think so, Nep-Nep?)"
Even though she couldn't hear them, IF had a good idea what the two girls were talking about and she had been following a similar train of thought. The Guild Moderatist stuck her hand in her pocket and fished out one of her cell phones before handing it out to Heero, "If you're really going to go off on your own, you should take this. If something happens, don't hesitate to call."
As the teenaged soldier took the cellular device from IF, Neptune started laughing condescendingly. The brunette turned her gaze on the party's leader, not liking the sense of superiority she was giving off. "What are you laughing about?"
"Isn't it obvious, Iffy? This proves that I'm Heero's one true love. You need him to call you on a phone to know when he's in danger. But with my high level Destined Lover senses, I always know when Heero's in trouble."
IF just stared at the purplenette. Just when she thought the leader of the group couldn't sound anymore stupid, Neptune proved her wrong. Lyrica question just how it was that the amnesiac could make such a claim, "How do we know that you can actually sense when Heero's in trouble? And more importantly, why would that make you his one true love? I think you're just making this up."
Neptune frowned at the cerulean haired girl while stomping her foot like a child throwing a tantrum. "W-Well… you guys never asked about it! And it makes me Heero's number one lover because I say so, that's why!"
Red actually seemed to believe what the purplenette was talking about, her eyes reflecting a child's excitement, "I saw something like that in a movie once! I didn't think it was really real! Do you think maybe I could get it?"
Hearing the young girl inquire about Neptune's supposed ability to sense when the lone male party was in danger caused the purple haired girl to rub the underside of her nose with her finger, which only served to make her appear more vain. "Sorry, kiddo, but you can't get it. It's a super exclusive ability that only an awesome heroine with a Destined Lover can have."
The naive red head aside, the party didn't expect to get a straight answer from their leader, but they hadn't expected something so... convoluted. Moreover, it was clear that her answer carried an element of bias rather than fact. That alone was enough to dissuade the group from pursuing the topic any further, as well as ignore Neptune's claim that she was Heero's number one.
Heero decided to intervene before the girls went off on a tangent, "I will leave it up to your own judgment how you deal with the enemy. Just don't take any unnecessary risks."
Once he was sure that the group had returned their focus to the task of clearing out the monsters, the Gundam pilot took off into the forest. While he did trust the girls to be able to work together and assist him in the rare moments where he couldn't overcome the opposition, the main reason he felt it necessary to split up from the girls was because of who he had run into during their prior job.
Both Lady Green Heart and the belligerent mystery girl had shown up, and Heero had yet to verify whether or not the two would be a threat to Neptune. It was a situation that reminded Heero of the girl the party kept running into back on Lastation. Even though they had made it clear that they were hostile towards Neptune, their frequent failures had left Heero unable to view them as serious threats, and consequently, unable to show any killing intent towards them… another clear sign that his time spent in Gamindustri had caused him to grow soft.
Focusing on the more immediate problem, the Perfect Soldier scanned his surroundings for any sign of monsters. As Heero looked for his targets for the job request, a certain CPU from Leanbox was hiding behind a tree just ahead of the boy, watching him as he approached, "There he is. I may have been momentarily set back by that vulgar child, but now I have Heero all to myself."
Once the Gundam pilot was close enough, the CPU stepped out from her hiding place while pretending to look for something. "Ah, Heero. I never would have guessed that we would run into each other again so soon."
Heero stopped where he was when Lady Green Heart walked out in front of him. He couldn't understand why the CPU of Leanbox was here and not on her own landmass, "Lady Green Heart, why are you here?"
The goddess pretended to look hurt as Heero inquired about her presence on Lowee, "You don't sound happy to see me at all."
While Heero knew that the woman in front of him was harmless for the most part, he couldn't deny the fact that she was still powerful and simply being one of the four goddesses meant that she might choose to go after Neptune at some point. "I'm just doing my job. Protecting Neptune is my main concern, and if you are after her I will be forced to intervene."
Green Heart waved off the Gundam pilot's concerns. She could deal with Neptune another time, when she wasn't under Heero's supervision, "If that's whats bothering you, then you have no cause for concern. I have more important matters to take care of, and none of them involve Neptune." The CPU then assumed her place next to the Perfect Soldier, linking her arm with with Heero's. "Such as warming each other up. You're not wearing a coat or anything, and I'm feeling rather cold myself."
If she was feeling cold, shouldn't she just revert to her normal form so she would be wearing something that that actually kept her warm and not the revealing outfit that she had on now? "If body heat is an issue, you should wear something more appropriate for the weather."
"You sound displeased. Is there something wrong with us being this close?"
Lady Green Heart appeared to be avoiding the issue. Rather, it seemed as though the CPU was trying to come up with an excuse NOT to wear warmer clothing. Heero ventured further into the snow covered forest, now with Leanbox's goddess attached to his arm.
It was a strange turn of events for the boy… one that had occurred rather frequently. Every time he tried to go off on his own to speed up the party's progress with a job, he found himself being accompanied by one of Neptune's assailants. The frequency with which it accord led the boy to believe that it wasn't a coincidence, but he had no way of proving it.
And while Heero was deliberating these frequent run-ins with Neptune's 'stalkers,' Lady Green Heart was relishing this rare moment of alone time with the Perfect Soldier, "Is this not romantic, Heero? Granted, the scenery could be better. Perhaps we should find an inn after we're done here."
Before Heero could respond to the CPU's inquiry, the sound of a tree being uprooted drew the attention of the duo. Shortly after the tree fell over, a monster flew through the air and crashed into the ground with tremendous force. White Heart emerged from behind a snowbank with her axe slung over her shoulder, "That'll teach you to get in my way, shit for brains."
Having caught sight of the small girl, Green Heart was unable to hide her disdain. "If it isn't the irrational and overly vulgar child. Why are you still here?"
The aggressive blue haired girl swiftly turned to see who was verbally assaulting her and she found none other than Green Heart… with her arms around Heero. White Heart's tempered flared upon seeing the green haired woman in close contact with the boy. "You! Get your damn hands off him you harpy!"
Heero had noticed that the three girls that came after Neptune didn't care much for one another. They were openly hostile, and would take whatever chances they could to lash out at one another. But the animosity between these two was on a whole other level when compared to their interactions with Neptune or the girl from Lastation, "I realize it may not be my place to inquire, but is there some reason you two are this hostile?"
Green Heart addressed the boy's question while maintaining eye contact with White Heart, who seemed ready attack at the drop of a hat, "Let's just say that she has tried my patience on more than one occasion."
White Heart's eye was twitching with barely contained rage as she listened to the excuse she gave Heero for the palpable hatred between them, "What a load of crap. Do you hear yourself? When have you ever exercised patience, Thunder Tits? You've always been this way… you're all boobs and no brains. I guess that would explain why your landmass nearly came to civil war."
The voluptuous woman next to Heero flinched. A brief glance at her face revealed that the corner of her lip was twitching. Lady Green Heart was starting to lose her composure, "Pray tell, how did you come across such information? You've never been one to take interest in anything outside of your room."
"Unlike you, I'm not a complete shut-in. Maybe if you spent half as much time actually looking after your people instead of playing games it wouldn't have happened in the first place. I wonder how many people ended up paying for your carelessness."
Heero had expected some kind of verbal retort from Leanbox's CPU, but heard none. One second the boy felt a pair of arms around his right arm, the following second the warmth was gone and Green Heart had already charged at the blue haired girl with lance in hand.
A quick exchange of blows ensued that ended with neither girl sustaining injury. Having lost her patience with White Heart, the green haired lancer had taken to more aggressive action, "What nerve! Do not think that this will go unpunished. I will have you pay for your insolence."
White Heart was clearly itching for a fight, as was evident by the 'come get some' look on her face. "Did I touch a nerve? You can try and make me pay... and while you fail, I'll enjoy smacking the green off your bitch-ass!"
With their verbal exchange over with, round two started and both girls traveled further into the forest as they traded blows. And while they weren't able to land any hits on each other, the monsters that inhabited the area were caught in the scuffle.
The body count among the monsters rose at a dramatic pace as the two Hearts viciously attacked one another, seemingly hitting everything but their intended target. Soon the ground was littered with the bodies of every monster that had made their home in the area, and standing on the other side of their corpses were the two responsible for the carnage.
Both Green Heart and White Heart were fairly winded from their battle and neither one of them had been injured during their fierce melee. The short tempered axe wielder tightened her grip on her weapon out of frustration, "Dammit, hold still! I'll give you a quick death if you do!"
Leanbox's goddess worked to steady her breathing as her opponent ranted at her, "You realize that only gives me more incentive to defy you. Now I offer you the chance to surrender. Do so, and I guarantee you a painless death."
Heero arrived in time to see the two girls stare each other down. The Gundam pilot looked over the scattered bodies of monsters. It was easy to deduce that they had all gathered at this one location in order to procreate, and with all of them dead the party's job was essentially complete, "I don't think Neptune will complain with how the mission turned out. The problem now will be removing these two from the area before she arrives."
"See Compa?! I told you Heero was in danger! The weirdo stalkers are here to kidnap him!"
The two Hearts stopped their verbal attacks against one another upon hearing the familiar voice of a certain purple haired girl. They turned their attention toward a fuming Neptune, with Compa emerging from behind her, "It's the Nep-Nep stalkers! And Heero's here, too!"
"I already said that, Compa. Keep up."
Green Heart's eyes were tinged with uncertainty. The battle with White Heart had wore her down, and having Neptune there would complicate things, "What an unfortunate turn of events. I will have to withdraw for the moment."
True to her word, the CPU beat a hasty retreat before she was forced into fighting Neptune on top of White Heart. The blue haired girl shouted profanity at Green Heart's retreating form, "Hey! Get your sorry ass back here, you stuck-up bitch!"
As she was about to give chase a snowball struck White Heart on the back of the head, causing her to redirect her rage toward her aggressor… which happened to be Neptune. "What the hell do you want?! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
Neptune continued to give the axe wielder an irritated look, "What I WANT is to beat you up for trying to steal my Destined Lover!"
Nisa and Gust emerged from behind a set of trees and noticed that their leader was having a stare down with one of her mystery attackers, "What is Neptune doing?"
Compa explained the situation to Nisa and Gust while the party's leader continued to throw snowballs at the supposed kidnapper to no effect, "Nep-Nep sensed that Heero was in trouble, and when we got here the Nep-Nep stalkers were trying to steal Heero from us like they usually do. One of them ran away, but the other one is still here."
White Heart used her arms to shield herself from the flurry of snowballs that Neptune was chucking at her with wild abandon, "Stop throwing snowballs at me, you asstard!"
The purple haired amnesiac did not relent in her flinging of the fluffy projectiles, "No! Not until you go away!"
IF and her team emerged from behind a row of trees, drawn there by Neptune and White Heart's shouting, "What's going on over here? I shouldn't have to listen to Nep anymore than necessary."
Lyrica turned her attention to the axe wielding girl as she spewed obscenities toward the party's leader, "Isn't that one of the stalkers? Did she come here to try and kidnap Heero again?"
White Heart swat one of the snowballs back at Neptune with her axe before shifting her focus over to Lyrica, "I'm not a stalker, bitch! And I never tried to kidnap Heero! You just jumped to conclusions!"
Nisa listened to the exchange between the two. Because she hadn't encounter the girl before now and had not seen the alleged 'kidnapping' that Lyrica was talking about, the Keeper of Justice was quick to start judging White Heart, "Stalking is a pastime of evil, and kidnapping is a criminal offense! I cannot overlook this!"
Taking a quick glance in both directions, White Heart could see that Neptune's entire party had assembled… and that she couldn't win a fight against all of them, "Dammit… guess I don't have much choice."
The axe wielder decided to cut her losses and withdrew from the area, leaving Neptune to shout at her as she fled, "That's right, you run! And if I catch you tryin' to kidnap Heero again, I'll mess you up!"
Compa immediately ran over to the Gundam pilot to check and see if either of the two 'stalkers' had attempted to restrain him in any way, "Are you alright, Heero? Did they try to tie you up? Were you forced to eat anything strange that made you fall for them?!"
Heero was uncertain about the validity of the questions given to him by the nurse in training, but nonetheless endeavored to set her mind at ease, "I'm perfectly fine. I was not restrained in any way, nor was I forced to ingest anything."
Red was slightly disheartened over the mystery girl just taking off, "Aww, there goes a potential wifey."
IF looked down at the red headed girl as she complained about not getting know the girl or get her to be one of her 'wifeys,' "You're joking, right? She just tried to kidnap Heero to do who knows what to him! She's bad news."
As the brunette reprimanded Red for wanting to try and recruit the stalker, Neptune ran up to the lone male member of the party. Compa had been in the middle of here questioning when the purplenette came over, "You're lucky I've got these Destined Lover senses, Heero. She woulda taken you somewhere like a dark alley or a basement and had her way with you!"
Neptune's idea of what would have happen to him was certainly dark, but expected. Of course Heero knew it was unlikely that he would have been taken anywhere… but she didn't know that. Even if he were to try to explain the situation to the amnesiac goddess, Heero believed that it would only end up confusing Neptune, or she just wouldn't accept it as the truth, "I am capable of taking care of myself. There is no need to-"
The boy wasn't given a chance to ease Neptune's worries as she immediately cut him off. "I ain't gonna take this anymore! Those creeps think they can just come and steal my Heero from me? Well that ain't happenin'! Not on this Neptune's watch! From now on, you're not allowed to go off on your own anymore, Heero."
Heero had a rough idea of what to expect from the purple haired girl, but he hadn't expected her to take such a measure to ward off the 'stalkers.' "I feel that you are overestimating the threat posed by those two. There is no need to make such a rash decision."
Unfortunately, Neptune wasn't willing to budge on the issue, "Those whack jobs tried to kidnap you while we were separated! They might get you next time, and if my lover is kidnapped then I'll lose my spot as the heroine!" The purplenette turned to her fellow party members for support. "You guys agree with me, right?"
Considering that most of the group had seen their lone male member in compromising positions with the alleged kidnappers, it didn't take much to get the party behind Neptune on the matter, "Nep-Nep is right. You were lucky this time, but what if they actually get you next time?"
Lyrica quickly nodded her head in response, "We would be in trouble if they got their hands on you! I mean, if they made you fight against us I don't think we could win."
IF found such an outcome to be unlikely, but the idea of the Perfect Soldier being taken away was alarming, "I doubt we would have to fight Heero. Still, those creeps would probably try to have their way with him."
Just the thought of Heero being subjected to the whims and 'desires' of Neptune's stalkers caused the party of girls to shudder in fear with the exception of Gust, who couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that the strange women they kept running into wanted Heero, "Gust does not understand what party is talking about. And for some reason, Gust does not want to know."
With the majority of the party agreeing that Heero was not allowed to go off alone anymore, the group set out to report the completion of their job before finishing the third and final job of the day.
Xxx
White Heart paced around in front of the dungeon that Neptune's party was supposedly going to enter, as was stated on the job request. The young girl's face was red with anger, having run into Green Heart not once, but twice that day, "I can't believe that bitch is here on MY landmass! Who the hell does she think she is?! She acts like she owns the damn place! I should tear her a new asshole for that!"
Before she could get any more invested in her thoughts of physical violence, White Heart heard the voices of Neptune's group approaching. The blue haired girl quickly ducked behind a boulder before the party arrived at the entrance of the ruins.
Lyrica was complaining about how sore her legs were from all of the walking the party had done, "Please tell me this is the last job. I don't wanna walk anymore."
Nisa tried to make a brave face so as to hide her own exhaustion. She didn't want the rest of the group to know that she had gravely overestimated her own endurance, "I understand that you don't want to continue, but that pain your feeling is evil leaving your body."
The self-proclaimed heroine's attempt to brush off the complaint that applied to the entire party earned her the ire of the group's Guild Moderatist, "Okay, first of all, the expression is that the pain you feel is the feeling of weakness leaving the body… which is a load of crap. Second, I know for a fact that you're just as tired as the rest of us. And three, I'm trying very hard not to murder you and you are making that increasingly difficult, Nisa. So if you value your life, just shut up."
It was plain to see that the girls were tired from the continuous walking in to and from the job locations. The only thing that gave the group any solace at that moment, it was that their last job required that they deal with a specific monster and not all of them, "Our job is to eliminate a single target. So long as we focus on the one enemy, this job won't take long."
Hearing that the party was drained seemed to spur White Heart into attacking Neptune now while they were weak… that was until she noticed the party's leader was in her transformed state. White Heart took off into the ruins while making sure not to reveal her presence to the party, all while wearing her irritation on her face, "Seeing that bitch's face makes me sick. It doesn't help that Thunder Tits is here. This just makes things harder for me."
As Neptune observed her surroundings Compa inquired about her decision to use her transformation before even entering the dungeon, "Nep-Nep, shouldn't you wait until we've found the boss before transforming? You'll use up all of your energy if you transform now."
The swordstress looked over her shoulder at the nurse in training, "Those two strangers are roaming around, and we know that they will taken any chance they can to kidnap Heero. I'm not going to take any chances."
It was unlikely that the two stalkers would show up while they were in the middle of a job… was what the group of girls to think. Unfortunately, the party had gone on job requests before where they had experience unexpected run-ins with the mysterious women that came after Neptune with ill intent or Heero with the sole purpose being to kidnap the lone male party member.
And it wasn't as if they didn't have any evidence to back up the claim. Too many times had the girls found Heero in compromising positions with the stalkers, usually with the boy in extremely close proximity to them and physically handling them in a manner that left them jealous of the assailants.
The girls would have to ward off the stalkers while dealing with the monsters they were sent to eliminate. Just the thought of the Gundam pilot being forcibly taken from them was enough to overpower what feelings of exhaustion they had from before.
With their minds focused on finding and defeating the specified monster, the party entered the ruins. Heero first idea was to split up from the group in order to find the target monster sooner, however, Neptune linked her arm with the boy's as though she had read his mind, "You're not going anywhere. Those strangers always seem to have you in their clutches every time you go off on your own."
Compa latched onto the Gundam pilot's other arm while looking at him with fiery determination in her eyes, "Nep-Nep is right. You have to stay with us, Heero. Don't worry, we'll make sure to keep the stalkers away!"
Unlike her female companions, Gust wasn't interested in Heero the same they were, so was able to view their situation from a more objective standpoint… and was seriously questioning the validity of their claims, "Gust has not seen strangers try to kidnap Heero. Are you sure that Heero is what they want?"
IF could understand the young alchemist's skepticism, but knew that the party's lone male member was one of the reasons that the stalkers were after them, "Trust me Gust, we've run into them enough times to know."
While not entirely convinced, Gust decided to believe her fellow party members for the time being. Heero didn't see any feasible of getting away from Neptune. In her transformed state she was much stronger then he was, and wouldn't be able to free his arm from her the tight hold she had on him. As such, the boy saw no choice but to traverse the dungeon in with the group rather than split up and cover more ground.
As they ventured further into the dungeon, a chill ran up Lyrica's spine. The cerulean haired girl quickly looked around the narrow corridor while ducking behind IF, "I-Is it just me, or did it suddenly get cold?"
Neptune slowly scanned the area. She didn't see anything, but she could feel something or someone watching them, "We're being watched. I don't know who they are… but they can't have good intentions."
Lady Green Heart was observing the party from behind the corner of a wall with a frown on her face, "This could be a problem. Neptune and her little friends are all around Heero, and I might have to deal with that disrespectful child."
With her plans of spending 'quality time' with the Gundam pilot slowly becoming nothing more than a pipe dream, the CPU retreated further into the ruins while trying to think of a way to get the collection of girls away from Heero. "Well, as bad as this situation is, it could have been worse. I might have had to deal with that immature girl from Lastation."
Xxx
Black Heart was on her way back to the Lastation's capital city from a job request, when she suddenly sneezed. The snow haired girl rubbed her nose, a look of irritation on her delicate face, "Why do I get the feeling that someone's bad-mouthing me? It's probably that little brat from Lowee… or that cow from Leanbox."
Xxx
The party continued their trek into the ruins while looking out for who or what was watching them. Contrary to what they had expected, the dungeon's layout was rather straightforward and didn't contain any detours or distractions. What monsters the party found were already dead, either from blunt force trauma or from being run through with a stabbing weapon like a lance.
Neptune frowned as she looked over the varies monster corpses that littered the ground, "...Now I know those two are here. They're probably waiting for us to drop our guard so they can steal Heero."
Compa tightened her hold on the Gundam pilot in an act of defiance, "We'll never let them take Heero away! They're just jealous that he's our lover."
"That's it! I can't take this shit anymore!"
White Heart suddenly jumped out from behind one of the pillars that supported the ruins and stood in the middle of the corridor ahead of the party. Neptune narrowed her eyes at the axe wielding girl, who was glaring daggers at the purple haired swordstress, "So you've decided to show yourself. No matter how many times you come after us, we won't give you Heero."
Tightening her grip on her weapon, White Heart took an aggressive stance. "I'm not here for him. I'm here for your head, you bitch!"
Before she could charge the swordstress, a familiar condescending voice filled the air that seemed to aim at her, "You really are a barbarian. Who appears in front of someone just to proclaim their intent to kill that person?"
The voice was like nails on a chalkboard to White Heart's ears. She didn't like it or the person it was coming from. Turning her head to the right, the Newtype caught sight of Green Heart standing with her arms folded under her chest, "...What the hell are you still doing here? Unless you really wanna die, I suggest you fuck off."
As the two girls argued, the party alternated between looking at Green Heart and White Heart. They had expected the two to be working together, not fighting each other like this. Lyrica was the first to voice her confusion, "Umm… what do we do? They don't seem to be working together."
Compa was just as confused as the songstress. The heated argument between the two seemed to dismiss any possibility that they were in league with one another, and aiming to kidnap Heero together, "Maybe they aren't working together."
Unlike Compa or Lyrica, Neptune wasn't convinced, "It's clearly some kind of ploy. They want us to think that they're not working together so we'll drop our guard."
IF wasn't sure that was the case, "Are you sure? Maybe they really aren't working with one another."
The sword maiden looked at the Guild Moderatist out of the corner of her eye. "Do you really want to take that chance? I certainly won't."
Red looked past the warring Hearts to see a monster approaching them, "Hey, isn't that the monster we came here to beat up?"
While White Heart and Green Heart continued to fight, the monster that the party had been sent to eliminate, a Gold Dragon, began to approach. It wasn't until it was right next to them that the monster made its presence known, and even then both girls were so frustrated with the other that the creature's sudden appearance had done nothing to intimidate them.
White Heart swung her axe and struck the monster's neck, "Shut it, fuck face!"
The disoriented monster attempted to pick itself up, only to be struck in the head by Green Heart's lance, which penetrated all the way through the dragon's skull and went out the other side, "I will deal with you momentarily. In the meantime, be quiet."
Between the two attacks the Gold Dragon dropped to the floor dead. Having seen the two kill the monster was all the evidence Neptune needed to prove that the two were in fact working together, "Is that enough proof for you, Iffy? We should deal with them now, before they get to Heero."
From Heero's standpoint, the smart decision would have been to leave since the target monster was now dead. But apparently Neptune wasn't going to be satisfied until she had beaten the two girls into submission.
As the group of girls began to surround the two Hearts, their argument reached its peak, "There's clearly no hope of you changing your ways. I see no alternative but to erase you from existence."
"Well then bring it, you stuck-up bitch! Now's as good a time as any to kill you!"
The two were ready to start fighting with their weapons instead of just their words when they noticed that they were surrounded by Neptune's party, minus Heero and Gust. The purple haired swordstress pointed her sword at the two Hearts, "You can drop the act. You're not fooling anyone."
Green Heart stared at Neptune for a moment before responding. She wasn't sure just what the amnesiac was getting at, "Act? What exactly are you talking about?"
"It's obvious that you two are working together to kidnap Heero."
White Heart looked at Green Heart for a brief moment before looking back at Neptune, "Oh, come on! Even you can't be so damn stupid as to think I would work with her! I hate this bitch more than I hate you! And I REALLY hate you!"
The party's self-proclaimed Keeper of Justice interrupted the young girl, "Cease your lies, villain! You have been stalking others for too long, and now you shall be punished for your crime." Reaching into her pocket, Nisa pulled out a flask containing a bubbling liquid, "While I don't know what exactly is in this bottle, I can safely assume that it contains some kind evil stopping mixture. And you shall be the first to fall to its power!"
Gust looked at the bottle Nisa held in her hands, her eyes widening in fear. The alchemist quickly pat down her sides and checked her pouch as her face grew pale. Gust tried to stop the heroine from throwing the flask, "Do not throw potion! Experimental and very dangerous! Please don't throw!"
Unfortunately for Gust her words fell on deaf ears. Nisa threw the bottle at both Hearts and as soon as the glass container hit the floor, a large explosion ensued that tossed the girls through the air.
Heero was about to rush into the cloud of smoke to check on the girls, but two objects flew out and collided with him before he could get out of the way.
Because Neptune had some form of flight while she was in her transformed state, she didn't hit the ground like the rest of the group. She quickly scanned the area before heading in the direction that Heero was, "Heero, are you alright? Did they-"
The sword maiden stopped abruptly. As Heero tried to get up, his hands pushed against something soft and warm. Naturally the Gundam pilot wasn't expecting anything to be in the way of his hands other than air. It was when he opened his eyes that he saw Green Heart and White Heart in front of him… and he had a hand on each of their chests.
Both Hearts had only just regained their senses when the boy had inadvertently placed his hands against their chests. The two slowly looked down and as soon as they saw just where it was that Heero was touching them, they immediately withdrew from the Perfect Soldier while covering their chests.
While White Heart was too embarrassed to say anything, Green Heart looked away bashfully while commenting on the boy touching her chest, "There are people around… and for you to be so bold..."
The rest of the party emerged from the rapidly dissipating cloud in search of their leader and Heero. Compa bumped into Neptune, falling onto the ground while the sword maiden stood her ground, still glaring at the two girls in front of Heero. Compa looked up to see Neptune, quickly dusting herself off before speaking to the party leader, "There you are, Nep-Nep. Where are the others?"
Nothing came out of Neptune's mouth. She just continued to glare forward. The rest of the girls made it out of the cloud of smoke with IF complaining about Nisa's use of the explosive potion, "What the hell was that for?! Did you even think to check what was in that thing?"
"I thought it would stop the criminals that are stalking Heero."
Lyrica noticed Neptune glaring at the two girls as they face away from Heero. Sure they were their enemies because they kept coming after the party, but she didn't what it was that had made Neptune so upset, "Is something wrong? You look really mad..."
After glaring at the two Hearts for what seemed like an eternity Neptune finally responded, "They just tried to seduce Heero by making him touch their chests."
Compa did a double-take, unsure if she had heard the purplenette correctly, "Wh-What?"
Nisa's eyes began to burn as she directed her attention toward the two girls, "Does their foul deeds know no end? We must defeat them at once!"
Red looked over the collection of very angry girls who seemed as though they were about to commit murder, "Do we have to? Can't I make them my wifeys?"
IF looked at Red incredulously before replying, "No! Those two are bad news! They just want to have their way with Heero. The sooner we get rid of them, the better!"
Green Heart could hear the girls complaining and see the fierce looks they were giving her, "Oh dear… this doesn't look good."
White Heart had been looking at Neptune's group at the same time as Green Heart and was more troubled by the fact that she was nearly out of energy, "Shit! I'm almost out of power."
Rather than sticking around and receive a beating from Neptune and her party, Green Heart grabbed her lance and took off in the direction the party had come from. "I suppose now would be a good time to retreat. She who fights and runs away."
The Newtype quickly picked up her axe and gave chase to the lance wielding goddess, "Get back here! I'm not done with you!"
Both girls quickly disappeared down the corridor leading to the entrance to the ruins. Neptune had immediately taken off after them for the sole purpose of inflicting as much bodily harm as she could on the two girls once she caught them, "Don't think I'll let you get away with what you did!"
Instead of finding the two girls she was looking for, she found Lady White Heart and Lady Green Heart arguing in the middle of the corridor, "...This is all your fault, you stupid cow."
The blonde haired CPU frowned at the small girl, "How exactly is this my fault? You're the one who put us in this situation to begin with."
"Lady Green Heart? And Lady White Heart? What are you two doing here?"
The two CPUs stopped their fighting to address Neptune, "What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here, Neptune?"
Heero and the others caught up to Neptune as she answered the goddess' question. "We came here to complete a job request. But never mind that… did you see two strange women come through here?"
Lady White Heart looked down the corridor behind them, "...Well, we did see two people take off that way. Why do you ask?"
Neptune wasn't at all happy to hear that the two girls got away, "They move rather fast. Well, for their sake I hope they run as far away as possible. The next time they show up, I will crush them."
Compa inquired as to why two CPUs had shown up at the ruins, "Why are you two here? Are you looking for something."
Leanbox's CPU did her best to sound convincing as she explained their reason for being there, "Well, I ran into her by chance while looking for a town to stay at. But we got lost and wound up here. Now I just want to go back to Leanbox."
Heero noticed that Lady Green Heart seemed to be pleading the boy to play along with her eyes. Wanting to avoid any unnecessary fighting, the boy decided go along with her request, "The target has already been dealt with, so we have no reason to remain here. I will escort Lady Green Heart to the Sky Harbor while the rest of you report the completion of this assignment."
Neptune immediately took her place next to the Gundam pilot, "I'll go as well. If nothing else, I have to make sure those two girls don't come after you again."
Lady Green Heart linked her arm with Heero's free arm, delighted at the boy's offer to escort her to the Sky Harbor, "I leave myself in your capable hands, Heero."
Lady White Heart was glaring at the goddess of Leanbox while IF pulled out her cell phone for a moment to check the time before slipping back into her pocket, "Since it's along the way, we'll take care of getting Lady White Heart back to the Basilicom."
The two groups set out to escort the two CPUs before turning in their complete job request and turning in for the day.
Xxx
After Lady Green Heart passed through the Sky Harbor back to Leanbox, Heero and Neptune began the walk back to the party's safe house. The purplenette maintained her transformation even after they had left the ruins, though Heero could tell that just by looking at her eyes that she was starting to feel rather drained, "Today has been rather taxing. Nisa's abrupt decision to accept these jobs certainly didn't do us any favors."
The boy couldn't argue with that. With the time they had spent completing the job requests, the party could have located the Key Fragment and still had some time for themselves, "It may be best if we take the day off tomorrow."
Neptune gently shook her head. As good as the idea sounded, the group couldn't take a break just yet. "As much as I want to, we can't afford to take a break. Not when we know where the Key Fragment is. We'll take a break after we've found it."
Heero stopped and looked at the sword maiden. "If that is your decision, then I won't stop you. However, I will ask that you refrain from overextending yourself. I don't want you getting hurt just because we're close to completing our mission."
Neptune was appreciative of the boy's concern. The swordstress linked arms with the Perfect Soldier as they resumed walking, "I think I'll turn in early, and I'd like it if my Destined Lover would join me."
The Gundam pilot cast a brief glance at the girl as the continued down the snow covered path, "We're not lovers..."
While he said that, it lacked the strength of his earlier claims on the matter and Neptune clearly noticed, as was evident by the mischievous smile that graced her lips. "It's hard for me to believe that when your not being as resilient as you normally are. I think someone's starting to show how he really feels."
It took Heero a moment to process what Neptune was saying. The boy looked away in response, and the swordstress happened to notice that Heero's cheeks took on a light red hue, "Are you blushing, Heero? How cute."
Even as he frowned, Heero's cheeks continued to burn. Neptune stepped in front of the Gundam pilot, pulling him close until their faces were mere millimeters apart. At that point, Heero could feel the goddess' warm breath against his skin as could Neptune feel Heero's breath against hers. The amnesiac spoke in a voice barely above a whisper as the two maintained eye contact. "Don't worry. I promise not to tell the others. This will remain between us..."
Heero's thought process had been thrown out of whack. In that moment he couldn't think properly, and what little he could think about center around Neptune. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason he was frustrated that he hadn't closed what little distance their was between the two of them.
Neptune pulled away from Heero while taking a firm hold of his hand, "We should hurry. Compa and the others might get worried and start looking for us."
As Neptune led them back to the safe house, Heero could still feel is heart beating a million miles a minute. Try as he might, the Perfect Soldier couldn't figure out just how it was that she had gotten him to act in such a manner. Looking at her now, there was something mesmerizing… alluring about the girl in front of him. Heero remained silent the rest of the way as he pondered over what had just happened between him and Neptune... And whether or not he would be able to resist her advances anymore.
Xxx
Me: "Chapter 35, done. I wanted to make a little something extra before we wrapped up the Key Fragment search. And just in case people couldn't tell by the description we gave, Heero is using the Ka. version of the Nu Gundam."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter ACCC) "Why did you have to add two of the plug suit wearing weirdos to this chapter? This story is supposed to be about me and Heero findin' the Key Fragments, saving Histy and getting all lovey dovey. Like we were at the end of this chapter."
Me: "Well, this was a filler chapter, what did you expect?"
Black Heart: (Enters ACCC) "How come I had such a small part in this chapter? If you're going to put me in, I should at least get a bigger role!"
Me: "You're lucky you even got a part in this chapter. Deal with it."
Green Heart: (Enters ACCC from Game Room) "I am somewhat disappointed with how things turned out. I wanted more time with Heero."
White Heart: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "Hey, why did you add these two bitches into my chapter?!"
Me: "First of all, it's not YOUR chapter. Second, I wrote this one up the way that I did because we've made two similar chapters around the three of you. So stop bitching. Anyway, I wanted to upload two chapter, but chapter 36 went missing, and I didn't get a chance to put the title for the chapter on it. So instead of spending weeks trying to find it in my computer, we're just gonna redo it. Save ourselves some time." (Points at White Heart) "You get to wrap things up while the rest of us get back to work."
White Heart: "...Fine."
Me: "Okay people, back to work."
Me, Heero, Neptune, Black Heart and Green Heart: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)
White Heart: "...Read and Review this chapter, and look forward to the next update. Seriously, review the chapter you little shits, or I'll tear you a new asshole!"
Me: (Pokes head through doorway) "Don't threaten the readers, please. If you they'll probably leave and never come back."
White Heart: "I went to the time and trouble of appearing in this chapter. The least they could do is show their appreciation." (Leaves ACCC through Left Entrance)
