Me: "Here we are again. Good day, my good readers, and welcome to another chapter of this work of fanfiction. I wanted to take a quick moment to give a shout out to AzureDominion and Shen1412 for coming to pay a visit during my livestreams. It's nice to hear from others during this hectic time of ours. My decision to stay at home most of the time leaves me a little isolated at times."

Neptune: (Enters IC) "You're gonna give me back Heero, right? Pairings need two people, and I won't have an M Rated scene with anybody else."

Me: "Calm yourself, Nep. All in due time. After all, our heroine needs to have a really emotional battle against her one and only before things settle back into how they were before."

Neptune: "What?! You're gonna make me fight Heero?! I don't care if it's for the fans, that's messed up!"

Zero: (Materializes into IC) "While I understand the need for this, I do hope you won't go overboard."

Me: "You worry too much, Z. Anyway, after spending an unhealthy amount of time editing this chapter, I ultimately decided to scrap it and start over. Honestly, I think we're better off for it, since it came out better than what I had planned originally. And because everybody else is too busy to come out here, you two are all I've got to read the disclaimer. By this point, you should know what to do. Let's hear it."

Neptune and Zero: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or any work pertaining to any of the franchises."

Me: "We hope you enjoy the chapter. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to start work on the next chapter."

Me, Neptune and Zero: (Leave IC)

Ch. 49 A Desperate Battle

Cold. Exhausted. Frustrated. These were but a few words that could be used to describe Heero's state of being. For the past four days, the Gundam pilot had been made to attack the various checkpoints used by the Planeptune Defense Force to keep monsters from getting any closer to the capital city, all at the behest of Arfoire.

Clad in the red and ebony suit of powered armor in the image of the Gundam Epyon, the Perfect Soldier brushed aside all that resisted, be it members of the defense force that tried to take back lost ground or adventurers looking to claim the sizable bounty that had been placed on him because of Arfoire. While the boy had no control over his actions, he was still conscious of what was going on… that included how he had been forced to fight against the party.

There was no way the girls could have prepared for such a turn of events, nor could they have been prepared to fight against a suit that could see into the future. It was nothing short of a miracle that none of them had been seriously injured or killed.

As Heero thought of the disastrous state the party was left in, a voice that had become all too familiar to the boy filled the air around him, "It seems more of those foolish adventurers have arrived. They will soon learn the futility of facing me."

The sound of that voice was grating on the Perfect Soldier's ears. In his mind, it was no different than if someone were to scratch a chalkboard with their nails. It was the voice of Arfoire, and she was keen on quelling any attempts at resistance made against her.

Heero could feel his body moving involuntarily once again. Naturally, the Gundam pilot was Arfoire's go-to choice for suppressing any dissent against herself and the army of monsters she was creating. In no time at all, the Epyon beat down the pitiful resistance of the adventurers, rolled them up and tossed them aside as if they were nothing.

Once the adventurers had seen how powerless they were in the face of the Epyon, they beat a hasty retreat back to the city, some even dropping their weapons in the hopes of getting away faster. Arfoire laughed maniacally at the failed attempt to defy her, relishing in the despair she had caused. "Haaaah ha ha ha! That's right! Run! Scatter! Know that your efforts are futile! No one can stand in the way of Arfoire!"

Within the confines of his suit of armor, Heero was taking in labored breathes of air as the former goddess continued to laugh like a lunatic. Not once in the time that Arfoire had taken control of him had she allowed the boy to deactivate his HDD. Between the wound on his chest that he was certain had reopened and the extended period of time he had remained in HDD, the boy was physically drained, but that didn't stop Arfoire from using him to suit her own ends.

It wasn't just sleep deprivation or physical exhaustion that was bothering him, the Gundam pilot had come to miss his interactions with the party over the last few days. From Compa's sunny smile, IF's sarcastic wit and Lyrica's singing late at night, to Gust's request to help make new potions, Nisa's ridicules impromptu heroic spiels and Red's equally ridicules talks of acquiring one hundred wives.

There were also the more recent interactions with the CPUs that the Perfect Soldier had started to find somewhat fulfilling, such as Noire's attempts to prove to the boy, and to a lesser extent the other party members, that she was the best CPU in Gamindustri, Blanc's inquiry into what genres of books he liked, and Vert's discussions over the importance of tea, and the 'three sacred treasures.'

But perhaps most of all, Heero had come to miss Neptune. He missed how she would sneak into his bed late at night when she thought he was asleep. The warmth of her body against his. Her face that had seemingly been etched into his mind.

As bleak as his situation was, Heero knew there was at least one chance to end this. It was slim, but if the girls were able to use the projector to communicate with Zero… If they were able to use it for its other intended purpose, then Arfoire could still be stopped, "(It's a long shot at best. And they have to manage without my help. However… if one of them can use it...)"

Xxx

It was the day following the party's impromptu team building exercise, and the mood of the girls was noticeably better than it had been before. After the goddesses formed their alliance, the CPUs had immediately committed themselves to improving their horrendous teamwork with assistance from Zero, Histoire, and the other members of the group.

The task had proved far from easy, and there were moments where it seemed as though the CPUs would go right back to berating and threatening one another with violence. Yet somehow, they goddesses kept to their word, and slowly began to built something that actually resembled teamwork.

Within the party's safe house, Neptune was sitting on the floor of the garage looking up at the Wing Gundam, her legs tucked in and her arms around her knees. Of all the suits that Heero had come into possession of, it was the one he used the most and it was what gave Planeptune's CPU a sense of closeness to the boy during his absence.

Zero and Histoire entered the workspace normally used by Heero, coming to a stop as soon as they found the party's leader, "So this is where you were."

Neptune looked over at the manifestation of the ZERO System for a moment before returning her gaze to the Gundam in front of her, "Is everyone back yet?"

There was a hint of anxiety in the CPU's voice. She was clearly hoping that the girls had returned so they could finally start planning how they were going to rescue Heero. Histoire could see the Planeptune's goddess was eager to get the Perfect Soldier back, "They should be back any minute now. Just be patient a little while longer. (*^▽^*)"

Planeptune's CPU truly felt as though Histoire was asking for a lot, but there was nothing she could do but wait. As Neptune turned her attention back to the Wing Gundam, Zero noted the slight redness in her eyes that appeared to have been brought on by a lack of sleep, "...You've been having trouble sleeping these last few nights, haven't you?"

Neptune began to rub her eyes after Zero brought up the subject of sleep. It would be a lie to say that she didn't feel somewhat tired. The last four nights, the CPU couldn't go to sleep without at least two or three hours of tossing and turning, which left her with less time to sleep than she would have liked, "It's kinda hard to sleep without Heero here. I usually just sneak into his room when he's asleep, cuz' it's warm and cozy with the two of us."

Zero found it rather endearing to hear that Neptune had been sneaking into Heero's room in order to get her sleep. That, and that she thought the Gundam pilot had been asleep when she got into his bed, "You know, Heero wasn't entirely asleep all those times you climbed into his bed. I suspect the reason he hasn't kicked you out or said anything is because you've grown on him."

It was a little embarrassing to hear from someone else that her nighttime raids into Heero's bed hadn't gone unnoticed, and that the boy she had been sleeping with was aware that she had been doing it and even allowed it. Planeptune's CPU rubbed the back of her head while blushing furiously, "Aww... It's kinda embarrassing to hear you say that, Z. But it's nice to know Heero doesn't mind me sleeping with him."

Before her defeat at the hands of the other goddesses and losing her memories, Neptune really didn't take anything seriously. The CPU of Planeptune preferred to just sit around eating sweets, playing games and just goofing off in general.

Now, here she was focusing all of her time and effort on saving one boy who had slowly changed her over the course of her journey. If nothing else, Neptune took her relationship with Heero very seriously. Histoire still found herself surprised by the change, but was convinced that Neptune's feelings were genuine and had no further reason to question it, "Do not worry, Neptune. I'm certain that we will be able to rescue Heero."

The goddess of Planeptune needed all the support she could get in that moment. Be it the support of her fellow party members being there to fight with her, or the emotional support of the two girls here with her in the garage.

Zero found her attention shifting towards the location of the safe house front door. She could hear the door opening, which was a sign that the other members of the group had returned, "It would appear that the others have returned." The projection of the armored woman glanced over at Neptune before heading for the door. "Come to the living room, and we will discuss a plan to rescue Heero."

Both Zero and Histoire left the workplace of the party's only male party member to meet with the others. Neptune stood up off of the floor and dusted off the bottom of her hoodie before taking one last look at the suit of powered armor in front of her, "We gotta get Heero back. If I hafta spend one more day without him, I'm gonna go crazy!"

Neptune made her way into the living room to join the rest of the party for the planning session, having just returned from their shopping trip. Yesterday's team building exercises did yield the results the party had hoped for, but came at the cost of a large quantity of items that were used to make restorative items… perhaps more so than what would have been needed otherwise.

Among the items was a katana, no doubt intended to be a replacement for the sword Neptune lost some time ago. IF grabbed the sheathed weapon and tossed it over to Planeptune's CPU, "Here. Try not to break this one."

The party's leader caught the sword with both hands, unsheathing the sharp weapon to get a look at the blade before returning it to it's scabbard. Neptune's attention went to the grocery bag in Compa's hand, wondering why the nurse in training had gone grocery shopping already. The pink haired girl followed the CPU's attention, holding up plastic bag full of food, "I thought for dinner I would make something Heero would like. I hope that's alright with you, Nep-Nep."

It wasn't just Neptune that wanted to rescue Heero. Compa, IF… all of them had a vested interested in seeing the Gundam pilot returned to them. It was the reason that the four goddesses had put aside their past grievances and actually learned to cooperate with one another.

Taking one look around the room, Zero could see that the girls had prepared themselves as best they could for the battle to come. Whether or not those preparations would be enough remained to be seen, "Under normal circumstances, I would advise against facing Arfoire until the teamwork between Neptune and the other CPUs was better than it was now. Unfortunately, there are too many factors working against us to make that a viable option."

Based on the tone of Zero's voice, Nisa began to assume that their situation was worse than she had previously thought, "I know that Arfoire has been using Heero, but are things that bad?"

Because Neptune had destroyed the living room TV, the party had more or less been in the dark about the current state of the attacks against the Planeptune Defense Force. Even if they could see the news, it would no doubt be shown in such a way as to not induce fear and panic in the citizen of the Land of Purple Progress. "If you were to go off the news, the defense force has regained the territories they had lost from the attacks spearheaded by the Epyon. The reality is that the ground they have recovered is minuscule in comparison to the amount of land that Arfoire has taken."

As if that wasn't bad enough, Histoire brought up another painful fact that the news failed to broadcast, "Arfoire is also using the lack of resistance to create more monsters. The surge in monsters had made it all but impossible for the Planeptune Defense Force to take back the key areas around the capital."

The situation of Planeptune was quite grim. Each attack by Arfoire pushed the defense force back, and the increasing monster population ensured that even if the Planeptune Defense Force did reclaim any lost checkpoints, they will have undoubtedly lost ground elsewhere. "Also..."

Clearly there was something else to be concerned about, but the Tome of the Goddesses didn't want to speak on it. After taking a sidelong glance at Histoire, Zero picked up where she trailed off. "There is also the matter of Heero, and his current state of well-being."

There wasn't a single member in the party that hadn't been thinking about Heero's state of health as he did Arfoire's bidding. Obviously, something was wrong, otherwise neither Zero or Histoire would have brought it up.

Once she worked up the nerve, Histoire continued with what she was trying to explain to the girls. "By now, I'm sure the rest of you have come to understand how HDD works, what benefits it confers and the limitations of its use."

Having traveled around all of Gamindustri and witnessed it on more than one occasion, the human members of the party had become familiar with Hard Drive Divinity and what it was capable of. They were also aware of the fact that Heero's own HDD was very much different from that of the CPUs, as Compa pointed out, "We know it makes the goddesses really strong. Heero's is a lot different, though. He has Mr. Wing and all of his robot friends to transform into."

Lyrica, like the other members of the party, was curious as to why the CPUs were unable to use other transformation as well, "How come the goddesses can't use any other transformation? You'd think that if Heero can do it, they could as well."

None of the CPUs had an answer for the songstress. The reason they had it in the first place was so that they could change into their true forms and wield the full extent of their powers as goddesses. It was certainly a big difference between Heero's own HDD and that of the CPUs', but it wasn't the contrast that caused Histoire concern, "Heero has proven to be quite an exceptional case. His ability to use multiple transformations does make him more powerful than the CPUs in some sense. However… the drawback to using HDD is heightened due to his existence."

Given that the girls were looking at them with confused looks on their faces, Zero was left to assume that they were unsure of what Histoire meant about the drawback to using HDD, "Aside from the ability to utilize multiple transformation, the key difference between Neptune and the other CPUs and Heero is that unlike them, Heero is entirely human."

The girls were still lost as to what exactly the drawback to what had essentially been the ace in the hole for the party throughout their travels. Zero elaborated on what the fairy-like being was getting at, "HDD takes a greater physical toll on Heero, unlike Neptune or any of the other goddesses. This wasn't a problem before due to the fact that he has greater endurance than most. But now… considering that Arfoire has made him maintain usage of HDD for almost ninety-six hours, Heero is undoubtedly close to reaching his breaking point."

In addition to the threat that currently faced Planeptune, Heero was at serious risk of dropping dead from overexertion. Neptune refused to stand around and do nothing while Arfoire forced the Gundam pilot to charge straight towards his death, "Then why are we just standing around talking?! We gotta get out there and save Heero right now!"

Although she shared in the party leader's sentiments, Noire wasn't about to overlook the fact that there was still one glaring issue that could lead the group straight to defeat yet again, "And just how are we supposed to do that? There's still one problem we haven't addressed, and it's likely going to cost us again."

The ZERO System. That was what Lastation's CPU was referring to. The future predicting system had played a significant role in the party's defeat last time, and while they had worked on improving their teamwork, the group had done nothing to prepare for the other major factor that could result in another defeat.

Clearing her throat to get the girls' attention, Zero assured the party that they weren't entirely helpless on that front, "While the ZERO System employed by the Epyon will make this a difficult battle, we do have our own means to counter it."

A means to counter a future predicting system didn't sound quite so straightforward. And considering that said system was in the hands of Heero, the idea that they had a means to 'counter' it was rather hard to believe from Blanc's point of view, "...Just what do we have that can go up against it? The way I see it, we would need our own ZERO System to win."

Zero gestured to the projector on the living room table. Obviously, it wasn't just a device meant to project her image for them to see. "In addition to being a projector, this device also functions as a portable ZERO System. As you say, the only way to effectively counter a ZERO System is with another ZERO System."

They had a chance now. Before, the CPU's blatant hostility towards one another combined with the future seeing capabilities of the Epyon's ZERO System ensured their defeat. Now, the goddesses had set aside their differences AND the party had a ZERO System on their side. They stood a chance of overcoming the seemingly unbeatable Gundam pilot.

Before they could get their hopes too high, Zero had one more thing to discuss regarding the future predicting system… and that was the drawback to it's usage, "I will warn you now that this system is not perfect. Only someone with a particularly strong will can keep the ZERO System under control."

There just had to be a catch. The rescue they were about to attempt wasn't going to be easy, but to hear that there was some kind of flaw in the future predicting system didn't bode well. IF pressed the holographic woman for answers on what could happen if someone ill-suited were to use the ZERO System, "Just so we know, what would happen if someone without a strong will were to use it? Would it just not work?"

If it were just a matter of the system not functioning, Zero wouldn't have been worried about it. No, the consequences were much greater than that. "The system gathers any and all data that can influence the outcome of a battle and sends the information directly to the users brain. The human brain is normally incapable of handling the influx of raw data. As a result, anyone without sufficient mental fortitude may suffer a dangerous loss of control, temporary insanity, or even having their mind torn apart. In the worst case, use of the ZERO System by a weak-willed individual can result in death."

It was unnerving to know that such a powerful system had such extreme consequences if the person using it wasn't suited for it. As much as they wanted to find an alternative solution, everyone in the party knew that they weren't going to save Heero without taking some risks.

The only remaining issue was going to be deciding who would be the one to use the ZERO System for the coming battle. Obviously, they couldn't all use it when there was only one, and Noire wanted to know how they were going to determine who among them would be the one to face Heero, "So, how do we decide who uses it? Obviously, I could use it, seeing as I can do everything. I'm just asking in the interest of fairness."

Histoire had discussed the matter with Zero at great length, and had arrived at her conclusion on the subject early that morning, "After careful consideration, Zero and I have believe that a CPU would be the best choice to handle the system. And of the four of you, Zero has determined that either Neptune or Noire would be the best choice in this situation."

Under any other circumstances, Blanc and Vert might have taken issue with the decision. But given the reason of why they were using the ZERO System in the first place, the two goddesses were inwardly relieved. They didn't envy the goddess that ended up getting picked.

Zero focused her attention on the CPUs of Planeptune and Lastation, debating how she would decide which of the two would be given the daunting task of using the ZERO System to face Heero. Truthfully, she didn't want any of the girls to do this. Not just because of the mental strain they would be subjected to, but the emotional strain as well.

After a moment of weighing her choices in silence, the projection of the ZERO System wanted to hear the thoughts of the two CPUs that she was to choose from for the task ahead, "Before I make my decision, I want to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter. How do you feel about facing Heero?"

Noire wasn't too keen on the idea of fighting the party's sole male member for a number of reasons, chief among them being the fact that he was being forced to cause panic and destruction against his will, "Honestly, I don't like it. Arfoire clearly has it out for Gamindustri, and she's punishing Heero because she knows she can't beat us otherwise. I don't want to fight him… but right now, we don't have a choice."

Once she had heard Noire's piece, Zero shifted her attention over to Planeptune's CPU. "And you, Neptune?"

It went without saying that Neptune had serious misgivings about the coming battle. The purple haired goddess wasn't entirely sure she could go through with actually fighting the Gundam pilot, but knew she had to be resolute for his sake, "Heero is my Destined Lover, I don't wanna fight him. None of us do! But if we don't, Arfoire's just gonna keep using him to hurt people." The party's leader began to hang her head as she thought back to the incident from before the party went to recruit the other goddesses. "But I'm scared… that I'll screw up and hurt Heero again."

It seemed that Neptune couldn't quite let go of her guilt, which was a problem in and of itself. Her lack of enthusiasm was understandable and shared among the girls, and based on their answers, Zero knew that both Neptune and Noire were still emotional enough that they might lose control over the ZERO System.

As much as she didn't want to send either of them out, there just wasn't any time left. They had to act now before the situation deteriorated any further, "Common sense and rationale tell me that I shouldn't let any of you use the ZERO System under these conditions. However, we are short on time, and we have no alternatives."

Before Zero could weigh the two choices she had, Neptune volunteered herself for the job of facing Heero. "I'll do it. It's kinda my fault that this happened, so I gotta make up for it somehow."

The hologram looked at the party's leader for a moment before taking a glimpse at Lastation's CPU. Noire was casting a sidelong glance at her Planeptune counterpart, and there was a mixture of concern, irritation, and relief in her eyes. Noire was equally split between her concern with how Neptune was going to handle herself against Heero, her annoyance over Planeptune's goddess trying to upstage her, and her relief that she wouldn't be the one to raise her sword against Heero.

Zero returned her attention to Neptune, observing her face to discern what the goddess was thinking. For all her apprehension, Planeptune's goddess was set on bringing the Perfect Soldier back regardless of whatever risk she had to take. "If that is your decision, I'll allow it. We do need to make sure it is functioning properly before we begin the operation."

Neptune walked over to the table and picked up the portable ZERO System. The purplenette looked over the device in an effort to try and discern for herself how she was supposed to use it, but came up with nothing, "So… how do I use this thing?"

The lack of working knowledge of the portable system came as no surprise to Zero. After all, the girls had focused all of their attention on the atrocious teamwork between the CPUs, and didn't spend any time figuring out the intricacies of the ZERO System, "...There is a button on the bottom. Push it."

Looking underneath the device, the goddess of Planeptune found a button close to the array of buttons on the side. Neptune pushed down on the button, causing the two bumpers and the blue vizor on the projector to slide forward. "You will need to put these on so that the ZERO System can feed the combat data it collects to your brain once it is activated."

Blanc maintained a deadpan expression as she watched Neptune started to fix the bumpers to her head just behind her hair-clips, "...How do we know this will work? You need a brain for it to do anything, right?"

Neptune shot a half glare at Lowee's goddess for the insinuation she was making. "Ugh! Rude! Are you saying I don't have a brain?"

Lowee's goddess continued to wear an impassive look on her face as Neptune voiced her irritation. "You said it, not me."

While it may have seemed like Blanc was making a mean spirited comment, Histoire could see that the goddess from the Land of White Serenity was trying to work through the anxiety she was feeling at the moment in her own way, "Neptune, Blanc isn't trying to be mean. She is just as nervous about this as you are. (´;Д;`)"

Planeptune's goddess needed to remind herself that this was to be a group effort. And because she wasn't the only one fighting to save Heero, Neptune wasn't the only one that was going to feel nervous.

Brushing off Blanc's off-handed comment, Neptune returned her attention to the ZERO System in her hands and removed the vizor from the device. The vizor had a set of temples, one on each side that essentially made it a set of glasses. The goddess of Planeptune fiddled around with the eyewear for a moment while waiting for further instructions from Zero, "The power button for the ZERO System is the third button of the array. You will need turn off the projector before powering the ZERO System."

Unlike the first power button, the button to activate the ZERO System was unmarked. After pushing down on the first button the projection of Zero dissipated, and shortly after that Neptune pushed in the second power button.

The party's leader felt a tingling sensation on the top of her head as the ZERO System came online. An electronic reticle slowly appeared in the center of the eyewear on Neptune's face, and once fully online frantically darted between the members of the party that were in her field of view. Everything from the height, weight and weapon used by the girls that she could see were shown to Neptune as a stream of data, and Planeptune's goddess wasn't sure what to make of what she was seeing, "Uh… Z? What is this?"

"(This is the data that is being collected by the ZERO System. As I said before, it gathers any data that can influence the outcome of battle, no matter how insignificant it may seem. I will recommend that you wait until we have arrived in the mission area before actually using the ZERO System, as its use will take a great toll on you mentally.)"

Neptune pushed down on the second power button again, causing the data feed to come to a halt and the information on the vizor faded away. The goddess turned the projector back on, and Zero reappeared in the living room. Although the portable ZERO System was working, the armored woman was conflicted.

On one hand, the system was working and would prove to be an invaluable asset. On the other hand... the system was working. Meaning that Neptune was going to be putting herself at immense risk. While most of the girls were potential prospects for the Gundam pilot, Neptune was Heero's best chance at a new life once the mission to stop Arfoire was over, "(I can only hope that they both make it through this.) Given that Arfoire has more or less forced Heero to maintain usage of the Epyon, I believe it is safe to speculate that he is almost out of power. You may not have to actually fight Heero, just outlast him."

It wasn't much, but it did give Neptune some relief to know that she might not have to fight the Perfect Soldier. Zero directed her attention to the plastic bag lying on the couch. "You will need to be in close proximity to the ZERO System for it to function properly. I trust you acquired the item I mention?"

IF reached into the bag and fished out a piece of velcro of fair length. There were two small bars jutting out from the side of the portable ZERO System with gaps just big enough to accommodate the thin strip of fabric.

Neptune took the velcro from the Guild Moderatist and slipped it through the loops in the device before fastening it to her right thigh. As the CPU of Planeptune checked to make sure the portable future predicting system wouldn't fall off, Zero directed her attention to the other party members, "I hope all of you are prepared. Even with the system, this will not be easy."

No one in the group was expecting their rescue attempt to be a walk in the park. Setting aside the fact that they were trying to save the party's only male member, they would also have to contend with a deranged former goddess that was out to destroy Gamindustri and the hordes of monsters she had been creating to aid in her plans. Despite that, Noire had no intention of backing down, "I doubt anyone was expecting it to be easy. Let's just hurry up and get Heero back already."

It wasn't just Lastation's CPU that wanted to take immediate action. After the time spent improving their level of cooperation and gathering the necessary supplies, Vert herself refused to put off the rescue attempt any longer, "Arfoire is a clear and present threat, but we will only have peace of mind once Heero has been returned to us. That is why we must act now."

IF had just finished putting away a set of emergency restoratives into her pocket when Leanbox's CPU stated her intent to go after the Perfect Soldier. The Guild member began to check her recently sharpened blades as she reiterated the group's main objective, "I know everybody here, myself included, wants to put the hurt on Arfoire. But we need to put that idea on hold until after we've saved Heero."

Zero cut her eyes over to Histoire, as aside from herself, the tome was the only other source of information for the party, "Do you have any information on the movements of the defense force? We don't need anyone else getting caught up in this battle. Also, what is the possibility that Arfoire will be able to use that spell of hers again?"

A real concern for the party was whether or not any civilians or public servants would get involve inadvertently get caught up in the rescue attempt, which would have complicated matters. And even more pressing was the possibility that the former goddess would simply reuse the spell she had cast on Heero and place him back under her control yet again.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the attacks by Arfoire had been enough to force the Planeptune Defense Force to give up on ideas of retaking the ground they had lost and instead focus on protecting the land they still controlled, and as for her ability to take control of others, Histoire found that casting the spell wasn't quite as straight forward as one might think, "We won't have to worry about any bystanders getting involved. The defense force is consolidating their forces in the capital and at the checkpoints they still control. Regarding her ability to control others, it appears that a lot of advance preparation is needed to use it, which she has not done since using it. If we break her control over Heero, it will not be a simple matter of casting the spell yet again. (*^▽^)/"

After double checking the supplies, Histoire felt the party was as prepared as they could be for the battle. While she felt uneasy about their willingness to face Heero, the Tome of the Goddesses held onto the hope that the girls would pull through in the end. "If everyone is ready, we should depart. Arfoire knows that as long as she has Heero she can create monsters with impunity."

The girls began to head out the door after making sure they were as well equipped as they could be. Neptune was about to follow after her party, when she felt something against her shoulder. Looking to her left, the purple haired CPU found a hand on her shoulder and Zero with her arm outstretched. Planeptune's goddess had enough sense to know that she shouldn't feel any sort of physical contact from a hologram, yet the strong grip that Neptune felt on her shoulder was very much real.

In addition to the firm hold Zero had on the CPU, there was a certain intensity in the woman's eyes that would have locked Neptune in place even without having to physically hold her there. The manifestation of the ZERO System kept her gaze focused solely on Planeptune's goddess while trying to reassure herself that, despite the dire situation they were in, events would work out for the group, "Every ounce of my better judgment tells me not to do this. Not just because it is dangerous, but because I feel that Heero might not forgive me if something should happen to you. But… there really is no more time to find an alternative solution to this matter, and you may be the best option I can go with at present."

The party's leader wanted to say something to put Zero's mind at ease, but couldn't. Even now, Neptune still felt nervous, and felt that anything from her would sound like a lie. Zero continued as the goddess wordlessly looked at her. "In your current emotional state, the possibility that you may lose control over the ZERO System is high. Arfoire will most likely make threats or even harm Heero just to get to you. No matter what happens, you must not allow Arfoire to provoke you. The moment you let cracks form in your emotions, the system will take control… and you may lose yourself."

It wasn't a comforting thought, to be sure. However, Neptune already felt as though she had lost a part of herself when Arfoire took Heero away. She wasn't going to let the idea of losing control stop her, "I get that it's dangerous, but I can't let that stop me! Heero's my one true love, I have to do whatever it takes to get him back!"

For all of the talk that Planeptune's goddess had been lazy or thoughtless, Neptune was clearly anything but in that moment. Zero could tell that the goddess's feelings were beyond question, and she would stop at nothing for Heero's sake, "(Love really is a powerful thing. Heero isn't going to find a girl that loves him anywhere near as much back home.) I have nothing else to say, then. I will do all that I can to help with this task."

With the heart to heart discussion over with, Neptune and Zero left to join the rest of the group for what was to be their most difficult battle yet. Unbenounced to the pair, as they were leaving the safe house, the Wing Gundam started to move on it's own.

Xxx

On the floating island closest to the capital city of Planeptune, a collection of birds flew above the trees they had been perched on, having been frightened by the loud sound of rock and earth being destroyed.

Another group of adventurers had traveled to the island in search of the Gundam Epyon to collect the ever increasing reward on its head. However, after a brief battle with the seemingly unstoppable mobile suit, they were now on the run with a horde of monsters chasing after them.

Arfoire was standing on a plateau overlooking the wide open field in which she was creating more monsters for her army when the group of adventurers had shown up. Mere seconds after they had been forced to flee, the former goddess broke out into laughter at the failed attempt at hindering her plans, and would stop momentarily to cough before going right back to her manic fit of laughter, "I've been laughing so hard today. But then, why shouldn't I? These fools seem to come out of the woodwork to stop me, only to have their pitiful resistance crushed!"

As the former goddess cackled over the retreating mercenaries, within the suit of armor that was the Epyon, Heero was silently begging for the sweet relief of death just so he wouldn't have to listen to the fallen goddess anymore, "(...Please make it stop.)"

Based on their movements, the Gundam pilot had surmised that they had arrived on the island that was the closest to the mainland, and that didn't bode well for the capital of Planeptune. Arfoire's goal to conquer the outlying islands was now finished, and all that was left for her to do was spend time making monsters on the various islands before making her push on the major landmass. In three to four days, the former goddess would bring her plan to fruition.

The situation was bleak, and other than the one thing that the boy knew he had left behind before he ended up becoming Arfoire's slave, Heero didn't have much reason to hold out hope. Hell, he wasn't even able to contact Zero, so he had no idea whether or not the girls had figured out how to get the portable ZERO System functioning.

As Heero was mulling over the current situation that the Gamindustri faced, Arfoire had finally stopped laughing to look at the Gundam standing silently behind her. The fallen goddess's lips furled into a frown as she looked upon the mobile suit, taking issue with the fact that for the past three days the boy contained inside continued to fight her influence, "While I cannot argue with the results, I find it aggravating that you continue to resist. You should give up on any notions of those brats coming to save you. The CPUs have been fighting for thousands of years, there's no way they will suddenly stop just because they're in the same party."

While the Perfect Soldier was stuck having to stand in place and listen to Arfoire regurgitate her nonsense, the party approached the plateau from a nearby forest. The only thing keeping the group of girls from being spotted were a few trees and some bushes.

Blanc looked on as the former goddess was ranting at the Epyon, and while they weren't close enough to hear the former goddess, Lowee's CPU knew it was nothing good, "...There's that bitch. She's probably talking about us."

Noire was watching Arfoire with seething contempt in her voice, chomping at the bit to get revenge for their previous loss, "As much as I'd loved to teach her a lesson, we need to save Heero first… But, dammit! I wanna beat her black and blue!"

Just like her Lowee and Leanbox counterparts, Vert also wanted to met out some duly deserved comeuppance to the former goddess, "I, too, wish to deliver much needed judgment to that horrible woman for what she has done."

Not wanting to risk the trio of goddesses rushing out to fight Arfoire, Histoire brought them back to the here and now so the group could go over their battle plan, "I am glad you three are enthusiastic about saving Heero, but could you please focus? Simply running out to face them won't do us any good. (╯•﹏•╰)"

Remembering that they still needed a plan, the CPUs put their thoughts of revenge on hold and rejoined the rest of the group for the strategy meeting. Once she had everyone's attention, Zero began to lay out her plan for the rescue operation, "The conditions for this operation are far from ideal, but we have no choice but to work around them. In order to deal with the monsters in the area, we will need to break the group up into teams. Compa and IF will be in charge of Lyrica, Gust, Nisa and Red. We will need you to focus on pushing back any monsters that try to get to Neptune."

Nisa balled her right hand into a fist and slammed it into her left hand as she voiced their willingness to deal with the monster problem, "We just have to buy time for you to snap Heero out of it, right? Leave it to us!"

The embodiment of the ZERO System shifted her gaze over to the trio of Noire, Blanc and Vert. "The three of you will form a second team to provide support for Compa and IF's team and Neptune, should the need arise. Sorry to say, but you're going to have your hands full."

Having only spent one day on fixing their teamwork, the human members of the party were still worried about how well the goddesses would work together. Noire resigned herself to the task of pulling double duty, seeing as there was no way of knowing how a battle between two future predicting systems and a large gathering of monsters would play out, "Fine, I'll play support this time. But you better not screw this up, Neptune. We've only got one shot at this."

Neptune was painfully aware of the fact that there wasn't going to be any second chances if they failed here, which only strengthened the party leader's resolve to do her job the first time, "Don't gotta tell me twice. I'm saving Heero, whether that hag Arfoire likes it or not!"

While she was just as interested in rescuing the Gundam pilot as Neptune, Blanc wanted to know what their plan of action was should Arfoire decide to get involved, "...If that bitch becomes a problem, would it be fine if I pound her face in?"

It certainly was a valid concern. Would Arfoire interfere with their efforts to rescue Heero? It seemed unlikely that the former goddess would give up the tool that had been instrumental in quashing any and all resistance to her conquest of Planeptune's outlying islands.

Although the odds of the fallen CPU actually committing herself the battle was low, Zero knew not to dismiss the possibility of it happening, "Statistically, the odds of Arfoire participating in this battle is 13.874 percent. While the chance of it happening is low, that number is not zero, and anything can happen to change that number. Our primary objective is to rescue Heero, but should Arfoire obstruct our efforts in any way, you are free to engage at your own discretion."

The goal was to save the lone male party member, but Noire, Blanc and Vert were inwardly hoping that Arfoire would try to stop them if only because they wanted to get back at the fallen CPU. Finally, Zero directed her gaze toward Neptune, the member of the party with the unenviable job of facing off with Heero, "Neptune, are you prepared for this? Once the mission starts, retreat will not be an option, and you will have to focus all of your efforts on Heero."

Even if the purplenette wasn't ready for what was to come, there was no turning back now. Knowing that the only way now was forward, Neptune reassured the holographic woman that she was as ready as she could be in that moment, "Well, I'm as ready as I'm gonna be. I just gotta get out there and get my lover back!"

Histoire was still marveling at the considerable growth that Planeptune's goddess was showing, and slowly came to the realization that such a change had only been possible because of the Gundam pilot they were there to save, "Neptune, you really do care about Heero a great deal, don't you?"

Neptune was confused as to why the Tome of the Goddesses was suddenly bringing up the subject of her feelings toward Heero, "Well, duh! Why do you think I'm working my butt off here? Wasn't it obvious before? Get with the program, Histy."

Planeptune's goddess was very passionate about the Perfect Soldier, and it was only now that Histoire could see that. How Heero had accomplished the seemingly insurmountable task of changing Neptune from the laziest goddess to the most proactive was beyond the fairy-like being's ability to comprehend. The fact remained that Neptune was now prepared to move Heaven and Earth for his sake, as was made clear by the symbolic alliance between the four goddesses. "Although I am not the one who is in such a personable relationship with him, I can tell that Heero's importance to you cannot be overstated. All I can do at this moment is wish you luck, Neptune. (‐^▽^‐)"

Even if it was only emotional support, Neptune could take what she could before the party put their plan into motion. Turning her attention toward the wide open field just in front of them, and more specifically, the plateau on which her loved one was standing, Planeptune's CPU stepped out from behind the bushes with the rest of the group.

Arfoire had still been blustering at the Gundam Epyon when the party emerged from their hiding place. Putting her complaints to the side, the former goddess focused her attention on the group of girls. The fallen goddess had expected them to try and stop her, she just didn't expect them to make an attempt so soon, "If it isn't Neptune and her band of failed women. Did you actually come here to try and stop me from destroying Planeptune? Or are you here to annoy me yet again?"

As important as protecting the Land of Purple Progress was, Planeptune's goddess had already resolved herself to save Heero before saving her land, "I came her for my Destined Lover, you old crone! Give him back!"

For the former goddess, it was laughable to think that Planeptune's CPU was standing before her just for one person, and reinforced her belief that as long as she maintained control over the Gundam pilot, Neptune was powerless to stop her, "You think I'm just going to give my new servant back to you? I've made a lot of progress in regards to my conquest of Planeptune thanks to him. I might give you his dead body when I'm done with him, but until then… no."

Zero could feel the spike in emotion from Neptune through the second set of hair clips. If the party's leader started getting this emotional while the ZERO System was on, it could jeopardize the mission, "Neptune, I know you're angry, but you can NOT let her provoke you once the system is active."

Neptune was trying not to get worked up over Arfoire's taunting, but it was almost impossible not to when the fallen goddess was talking about leaving Heero as a corpse. While the embodiment of the ZERO System was calming down the enraged party leader, Blanc was free to voice her thoughts on the matter since she wasn't the one wearing the ZERO System, "...I don't think you quite get the situation you're in, bitch. We're taking him back, whether you want us to or not."

Only after hearing Lowee's goddess reiterate the party's reason for being there did Arfoire erupt into maniacal laughter, "Haaaah ha ha ha! After thousands of years, you've finally gone senile. Did you forget how easily I defeated you?"

Noire wasn't about to just stand by and take the verbal hits as they came. Especially when enough had changed between the group's prior defeat and now to warrant their rescue attempt, "You didn't beat us, Heero did! And this isn't going to end the way it did four days ago!"

Taking a step forward, Vert reaffirmed the stance that they would triumph over Arfoire and her evil machinations, "What you have done to both Heero and Gamindustri is simply unforgivable. It is past time that you faced judgment for your actions."

Even with all four of Gamindustri's guardian goddesses before her stating their intent to stop her, Arfoire continued to believe that they were as divided now as they were for the past thousands of years, "You still can't see the writing on the wall, can you? You've lost. No matter what the four of you do, your own hatred for one another will cement Gamindustri's demise."

The former goddess snapped her fingers, and the Gundam Epyon descended from the top of the plateau. Within the Epyon, Heero looked over the group of girls that he was to be forced to fight yet again. It was once he focused his attention on Neptune that the Perfect Soldier notice the object strapped to her leg, instantly recognizing it as the device Zero had requested that he construct, "(So… they figured out how it works. But can Neptune handle it is this question...)"

Not once did Neptune break eye contact with the mobile suit as it reached the ground, and a wave of anxiety washed over her. Heero wasn't going to be holding back during the battle, and his very life was on the line. Even though she had put up a brave front, Planeptune's goddess was still fraught with worry that she might not be able to deliver on her claims of bringing Heero back.

Compa could see the party leader's hand shaking and knew right off that Neptune was already imagining the worst case if she failed. The nurse in training grabbed the CPU's right arm, hoping that she could ease the goddess if only a little, "Nep-Nep... everything's gonna be all right. We believe in you. And I'm sure Heero does, too."

Neptune looked to her right for a brief moment before having her attention shift to her left when IF placed a hand on her shoulder, "Because you're carrying that future predicting system, you're the only one who can bring Heero back to us. There's no need to think about it. Just go and do it."

There really wasn't any need for Neptune to think about it. Hell, Zero herself had said that she didn't need to actually 'fight' Heero, she just needed to finish exhausting him. Once that was done, he would have to stop using HDD, and even Histoire had said that Arfoire couldn't immediately take control of the Gundam pilot yet again once the spell had been broken.

The time for thinking was over. Now was the time for action, something the purplenette had a penchant for in situations of indecisiveness. Neptune initiated HDD, knowing that her goddess form was more likely to maintain control over the ZERO System than if she were to fight in her human form.

Noire, Blanc and Vert followed suit, and before long all four Hearts stood before Arfoire. The former goddess had allowed the party to live for the sake of amusing her, but with her plan close to being realized she had no more reason to leave the girls alive, "It was amusing while it lasted, but it's time this game came to an end. Time for me to dispose of you!"

With a simple hand gesture from the fallen CPU, groups of monsters began to converge on the party from around the plateau. The human members of the party began to walk forward to meet the aggressors with Nisa cracking her knuckles and stretching out her arms in preparation, "It doesn't matter how many monsters you send against us. All evil will fall in the face of those who are just!"

Lyrica was about to speak up about the heroic spiel, but decided against it since they were going to be facing such a large gathering of monsters, "(Just let her have it…) This looks like it's gonna be difficult. We don't have to fight ALL of them, right?"

Were it not for the fact that Heero was fighting for Arfoire and Neptune was having to focus her efforts on the boy, it might have been possible for the party to fight off all of the monsters. But with their current strength IF didn't see that happening, "Even with three goddesses helping out, there's no way we're pulling that off. We just have to buy enough time for Nep to snap Heero out of it."

Despite not having the stressful job of going up against Heero, the six girls knew they were still going to have a rough job. Gust had brought along a tote bag with large quantities of reagents for items, most of which were for the creation of restoratives, and already the young alchemist was concerned that she still might not have enough for the task at hand, "Gust asks that everyone be careful. Brought lots of items to make potions, but might not be enough if party fights recklessly."

The revelation that there wasn't enough potions to go around if they dragged things out wasn't comforting to Red, who was particularly fragile when it came to physical abuse, "I guess now's a bad time to mention that I don't take hits very well."

As the team of six girls moved to intercept the incoming monsters, the quartet of CPUs kept their gazes focused on the object of their affections and reason they were there in the first place. Exhausted as he was, the Gundam pilot was still going to fight the party.

Green Heart was thankful she hadn't pulled the short straw in this case, finding the task of handling the swarms of monsters to be less stressful than having to fight Heero, "I will be honest… I don't envy you, Neptune. Having turned my weapon on Heero once before, I can say that it is a burden that my heart could not bare a second time."

Next to Leanbox's goddess, White Heart expressed her own desire for a quick resolution to the situation… while simultaneously stating her relief that she wasn't the one who had to take on the job, "Better you get stuck with the job than me. There's nothing to think about here. Just knock Heero out, so we can grab him and get the hell outta here."

Black Heart was in the same boat as her Lowee and Leanbox counterparts; wanting a quick end to the job with Heero being harmed as little as possible, and Lastation's CPU made sure that Purple Heart knew that, "Remember: I only joined this party because of Heero, so I won't accept any outcome that doesn't include him coming back alive. So don't you dare screw this up!"

After listening to the other goddesses, Purple Heart found their vocal 'support' to be rather unhelpful in what was to be her most emotionally trying battle, "...Your confidence is overwhelming me. For now, the three of you should support the others. If I need help… Well, I'm sure you'll notice."

The goddesses of Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox took to the air, and Black Heart took the time to raise one more issue concerning her rivals. "I'm willing to work with you guys, but I won't forgive any of you if you drag me down."

A back and forth ensued between the trio of CPUs as they headed of to assist their human companions, leaving Purple Heart and Zero to face the Gundam Epyon. Having to face the one she held closest to her heart was far from easy, and the swordmaiden of Planeptune didn't need the other goddesses to tell her that.

Taking a deep breath, Purple Heart steeled her resolve. There was no need to actually fight him at this point, just finish wearing him down. If Planeptune's CPU could manage that, Heero's servitude to Arfoire would be over. That line of thought was more or less on repeat in her mind.

Although the goddess of Planeptune was nervous, Zero remained confident that she would pull through in the end, "Cast aside all of your doubts and fears. Do that, and I believe that you will be a match for Heero in regards to controlling the ZERO System."

While Purple Heart was grateful for the actual encouragement, she was still no more enthusiastic about fighting Heero, "That's a little hard to do when I'm having to fight the one I love the most, Z."

There was still a bit of hesitancy in the CPU's voice, though it wasn't as if Zero didn't understand why. Purple Heart just needed one more push to finish emotionally preparing her. "If you truly trust Heero… love him, then believe in your own ability to overcome this. For in this very moment, Heero's future lies on the strength of your sword. And of your heart."

Zero's words served as a reminder as to what it was that Purple Heart was fighting for in that moment. She may have been the guardian CPU of Planeptune, but the Land of Purple Progress was in the back of her mind right now. What the goddess was fighting for was Heero's future; one in which he was no longer enslaved by Arfoire. A future in which she and the Gundam pilot could really make something of their relationship that had finally gotten off the ground.

Sticking her sword in the ground, Purple Heart maneuvered her hand to the device strapped to her right thigh. There was no room for indecisiveness or failure if she was to take the Perfect Soldier back. Pushing down on the power button for the projector, the swordstress sought to reassure both Zero and herself that they would win. "I know. Heero is the reason I'm here. If it weren't for him, I would have died long ago. Heero has saved my life more than once, and as his lover it's my responsibility to save him, regardless of the risk involved. Besides..."

Purple Heart pushed down on the second power button to activate the ZERO System. A tingling sensation spread across the top of the CPU's head as the future predicting system came to life. Just as when she first used the ZERO System at the safe house, various pieces of information gathered by the system were displayed on the vizor Purple Heart was wearing.

Planeptune's goddess ignored the data being displayed, instead focusing all of her thoughts and attention on the Gundam Epyon and the teenaged soldier contained within, "...It's not just Heero's future I'm trying to save."

Just as Heero's future was in her hands, Purple Heart's future was in his hands. If the Perfect Soldier died, so too would her future. Never in all of the time she had been alive had the CPU known such happiness as when Heero was by her side, and Purple Heart refused to lose that happiness because a renegade goddess forced the boy she loved to fight her.

With the ZERO System fully online, the goddess of Planeptune firmly grasped her sword and pulled it out of the ground. As the CPU finished preparing herself, Zero deemed it vital that she be made aware of one more crucial piece of information regarding the ZERO System, (While the ZERO System can show you every possible outcome to a battle, it places an emphasis on tactical thinking, and will disregard potential casualties in favor of victory. It relies on the user to provide the emotional balance to it's logic based thinking to make determinations regarding possible futures. You may experience a few of these future outcomes as hallucinations, so it falls to you to sort through the possible outcomes in order to find the one future you want.)"

Purple Heart firmly gripped her sword with both hands, knowing exactly what outcome she wanted for the battle. "A future with my love is what I want. That is why I WILL save Heero, no matter what."

After making her declaration, the swordmaiden of Planeptune dashed toward the mobile suit with blinding speed. The Epyon brandished its Beam Sword, and the brief clash between the two swords was the indication that the battle between the goddess and her human lover had begun.

Xxx

During the time that Planeptune's CPU had activated the ZERO System and started her battle against the Gundam Epyon, the rest of the party had already started cutting into the crowds of monsters. Rather than waiting for the monsters to come to them and simply push them back, the girls decided to take the initiative and charge into them. If they needed to create a diversion to draw the creatures away and buy time, what better than to punch through their lines and thin out their ranks from within?

Nisa was the first to break into the center of the first wave. Regardless of whether the monsters she was charging into were big or small, the Keeper of Justice kicked or tossed them aside all the same. Any monsters that the blue haired heroine didn't put down, were picked off by one of the other five human members of the party.

Whereas Nisa decided to simply bulldoze her way through the monsters, IF took a more methodical approach, ducking and weaving her way through the horde of monsters, while cutting down those that she knew she could get rid of with minimal effort on her part. Red followed after the brunette as best she could, but had to stop now and then to evade attacks that were sure to have left a mark if they landed. As for Compa, Lyrica and Gust, the trio did what they could to provide indirect fire without delving into the gathering of monsters, knowing that they themselves might get overwhelmed should they try it.

Upon their arrival at the heart of the first wave of monsters, IF and Red found Nisa staring down a Jyaki standing a few feet away. The Guild member turned to face the monsters that were still behind them, and at the same time posed a question to the Keeper of Justice, "I don't suppose you know how long we can keep this up. Even with Gust and Compa taking care of the healing, I'm not sure we can last all that long against these odds."

A timid smile crossed Nisa's face as she took the time to think about the present situation, not having bothered to think about it before charging in, "Honestly, I don't know. I'm kinda winging it right now."

IF had expected such an answer, but it still didn't inspire confidence. Finally reading the severity of the situation, Red hurriedly turned to face the monsters with IF, "So… what do we do? I mean, if we can't beat up all the monsters and our medics can't heal us for long, then..."

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where the red head was going with her line of thought. The charge into the enemy's ranks hadn't been thought out, and the party didn't really have much of a strategy, other than to just fight like hell.

There was only one thing the party could do given their situation, and that was to just hold out until Neptune brought the Gundam pilot back to his senses, "We do what we can. Fight off the monsters until Neptune's gotten Heero back. Then we run, I guess. So until then, we've gotta dig in and fight, ladies!"

Outside of the encirclement of monsters, Compa, Lyrica and Gust were waiting for the trio that made up their front line to come back out. As they waited, Lyrica found her attention shifting back to Purple Heart and the battle she was having with the party's sole male member.

Compa took notice of the underground celebrity's concern, and could understand her doubts. The nurse in training set her large syringe down and took the cerulean haired singer's hand into her own while trying to assuage her worries, "Don't worry, Lyrica. Just believe in Nep-Nep. I'm confident she can bring Heero back. Z is there to help her, too."

Gust offered up her own words of support, hoping to convince Lyrica to cast her doubts aside, "Gust can understand concerns. Neptune said she would bring Heero back. So Gust will believe in Neptune. Lyrica should too."

The songstress questioned why it was that she was overly concerned, when everyone else had ample reason to put their faith in the party leader. She was a goddess after all, so why shouldn't she have more faith as well? Lyrica gave a small smile, pushing back on her own lack of confidence, "Sorry. I'm just having a case of nerves right now. We've had bad stuff happen before and come out on top. This shouldn't be any different, right?"

In the air above the party and beyond the reach of the numerous monsters, Black Heart was weighed down with similar concerns. Lastation's goddess had her attention fixed on the battle between Purple Heart and the Gundam Epyon, and found herself constantly vexed over Heero's safety.

The shift in attention did not go unnoticed by Green Heart, who took the time to make a verbal jab at her, "If you're so worried, why didn't you take the system? You could have been the one to face Heero, if you had. Unless of course, this is your way of saying that Neptune is actually capable of something you are not."

Black Heart whipped her head back around to look at Leanbox's CPU. The snow haired girl was simultaneously embarrassed that she was seen worrying about the Gundam pilot, and annoyed that her Leanbox counterpart was insinuating that Neptune was able to do something that she herself couldn't, "As if! Anything Neptune can do, I can obviously do, and I can do it better! She just happened to take that ZERO System thing before I could show how much more capable I am than her."

White Heart wasn't exactly convinced, finding that the most likely reason why she didn't volunteer for the job was she didn't want to fight Heero any more than they did, "...You would be a lot more convincing if you weren't spouting out a load of shit."

It was another rare moment in which Leanbox's CPU actually agreed with Lowee's own CPU. "She is right in this regard. You should just be honest and say that you don't want to fight Heero. We won't think less of you for it. In fact, we understand how you feel." Green Heart then suddenly narrowed her eyes at the goddess of Lastation, knowing that there was another reason on top of that to explain Black Heart's worry, "...Of course, that's not the only reason you're so concerned, now is it?"

Black Heart didn't like the look she was getting. It was the look of someone that had some kind of dirt on the person they were looking at… in this case, her, "I don't know what you're talking about. We just need to exhaust Heero, and I was concerned that I might be a bit too much for him. There's no other reason."

The spearwoman of Leanbox didn't buy that answer. Not when she knew what the real answer was. "Z made it sound as though controlling the ZERO System would be a rather difficult feat to accomplish. Doing so would surely win Heero's attention… Something you haven't done since you stole that kiss from him when you joined this party, if Neptune's claim is true."

Lastation's CPU flinched and her cheeks quickly turned red, while White Heart had to do a double take over what she had just heard, "The hell?! When did this happen?!"

With cheeks still dyed a crimson hue, Black Heart tried to defend herself against the accusation, "I-It was Neptune's fault that it happened! I didn't plan on kissing Heero! A-And I definitely didn't enjoy it or anything!"

Green Heart was willing to accept the idea that Black Heart hadn't planned on the scenario occurring. What she wouldn't accept was that her rival from Lastation didn't enjoy locking lips with the Perfect Soldier, "I find that highly unlikely. What girl wouldn't want to kiss Heero? I think you're lying like you always do."

Regardless of whether or not the claim was true, the idea that two of her rivals had kissed Heero infuriated White Heart to no end, "I don't believe this shit! How is it that that both of you bitches are already at the point of kissing him?! This pisses me off!"

As Lastation's goddess continued in both embarrassment and vain to defend herself, Lowee's CPU had become so upset that she needed an outlet for the anger she was feeling. Remembering that she was there as part of a rescue mission, White Heart immediately cut her gaze toward the monsters below. They would be the unfortunate victims of her rage.

The guardian CPU of Lowee shot down towards the ground with her axe held overhead. As soon as the goddess hit the ground, chunks of rock were thrown into the air, and even a few monsters as well.

One of the creatures stepped forward to investigate the newly formed crater, but was soon greeted with White Heart's axe to its head. The heavy weapon split open the monster's head with little effort, and it soon fell dead at her feet.

Emerging from the crater she had made, White Heart continued to look pissed off as her eyes roamed over the gathering of monsters before her. "...You bastards are gonna help me vent this unyielding rage I'm feeling."

Green Heart pulled her attention away from White Heart to glance over at Lastation's CPU, and much like her Lowee counterpart, was upset with Black Heart, "You are my greatest rival for Heero's love, with Neptune coming in as a close second. I refuse to lose him to you."

Taking up her drill lance, the CPU of Leanbox followed after White Heart to deal with the hordes of monsters. Green Heart fully extended her arm and sped toward the first monster she laid eyes on. In the blink of an eye, Leanbox's goddess went from floating among the clouds to running through a monster on the ground within a split second.

After a moment of stunned silence, the monsters returned to the single minded task of crushing any resistance to Arfoire, letting out low, threatening growls as they surrounded Green Heart. The CPU of Leanbox pulled her lance out of the monster she had just impaled, not feeling the least bit intimidated as she prepared to dispose of the congregation around her, "You may be my closest rival, but you are still nothing to me. I will be the one to win Heero's heart in the end."

Black Heart was left shouting at the goddess from the Land of Green Pastures from above, not taking kindly to the open challenge that Green Heart was issuing, "I don't love Heero! And even if I did, there's no way I would lose to you!"

Looking over the soon-to-be chaotic mess the party was in, the CPU of Lastation took notice of a Gyuki lumbering its way toward Compa, Lyrica and Gust, who were trying to push the monster back by concentrating on it, but the large monster didn't want to go down.

Remembering that she still had her own job to do for the rescue operation, the goddess began her speedy descent toward the creature that refused to drop dead, "(If I screw up here, I'll never be able to show my face to Heero again!)"

The trio of Compa, Lyrica and Gust were forced to back up as the monster approached, and they were aware of the fact that they were also moving farther away from the rest of the party. Lyrica shot a quick glance over at Compa before returning her attention to the stubborn monster barreling towards them, despite the barrage of gunfire and guitar generated bolts of lightning, "Not to point out the obvious… but we're kinda getting pushed back. And the others probably need our help."

Compa was well aware that the others could very well be in need of their support, but there wasn't much they could do against the Gyuki, other than to keep firing until it finally succumbed to its injuries.

Lastation's sword wielding CPU quickly descended upon the unsuspecting monster, reaching it just as it had begun to wind up for an attack. Black Heart cleaved the monster in two right down the center of its body, leaving both halves of the dead creature to fall to the ground.

With the monster having been dealt with, Compa heaved a sigh of relief before extending her gratitude to Lastation's goddess. "That was close… thank you, Lady Black Heart."

Black Heart looked over her shoulder at the nurse in training for a moment before turning her attention back to the wall of monsters before her, "Just call me Black Heart. And you can thank me later."

Gust quickly went to work preparing potions for IF and the others, knowing that at least one or two of them would have a few bumps and bruises. As the business savvy alchemist went about her work, she praised herself for the deal she had made to buy the items for her craft, "Gust was quite lucky that shop was having sale on items. Bought synthesis items in bulk, and got nice discount."

Hearing Gust speak of her haggling to get reagents at a discounted price made Lyrica come to the realization that even when the fate of the world hanged in the balance, the bunny cap wearing girl wasn't going to spend any more than she had to, "(We could all end up dead tomorrow, and Gust is still being a penny pincher...)"

The moment she was finished mixing the healing potions, Gust looked to the cerulean haired girl to help her pass out the concoctions to those that needed them. "Lyrica, please help Gust pass out potions."

Both girls took off past Black Heart, while Compa stole a glance back towards Purple Heart, who was locked in an intense melee with the Epyon, "I hope Nep-Nep will be alright. Not that I don't trust her, but..."

Even though they had formed an alliance, Black Heart was still having trouble actually trusting Planeptune's CPU, or even Lowee and Leanbox's CPUs the way the rest of the party did, "I can't believe you're willing to put so much trust in her."

Compa was somewhat surprised to hear the snow haired goddess's bemused tone of voice regarding her trust in the party leader. The four CPUs had formed an alliance just yesterday, yet it sounded as though Black Heart still hadn't come around completely. "What do you mean? Don't you trust Nep-Nep, Ms. Black Heart?"

It was difficult for the swordmaiden from Lastation to simply dismiss the thousands of years of ill-feelings she had toward the other goddesses, and forming an alliance with them certainly wasn't going to be enough for her to completely set aside her distrust for them. "I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't trust Neptune. I don't trust the brat or the cow, either. The only reason we're working together right now is because we agree that Heero is more important than our years long fighting. It's one of the rare few things we all agree on."

To hear Black Heart tell it, were it not for Heero, the four goddesses might still be at each others throats, despite the clear and present danger that Arfoire posed to Gamindustri. The nurse in training was more than a little alarmed to hear such a statement, even more so since it was coming from one of the CPUs, "Do you… really mean that?"

Black Heart didn't even need to look to know that there was uncertainty and worry in Compa's eyes. She could already hear those emotions in her voice. Even though she didn't completely trust Neptune, she didn't completely distrust her either, "I'll say this much. It's more like I'm on the fence right now. If… and ONLY if Neptune brings Heero back alive… I'll consider putting a little more trust in her. But only a little."

While not perfect, the four goddesses' alliance was the party's best chance to save Gamindustri. If Purple Heart could make good on her claim that she would save Heero, then the other CPUs might just trust her enough to put aside their grievances to defeat Arfoire.

Turning around, Compa set down her syringe to cup her hands around her mouth in a circle and cheered for Planeptune's CPU. "You can do it, Nep-Nep! If anyone can save Heero, you can!"

The group's medic picked her syringe back up before running after Lyrica and Gust to continue their efforts against the vast hordes of monsters. Sparing a moment look over at the Epyon one more time, the swordmaiden of Lastation went to join the rest of the party as well in holding back the monsters until Purple Heart accomplished her task. "(Don't you die on me, Heero…!)"

Xxx

Frustration and contempt. That was what Arfoire felt toward Purple Heart as she watched the battle between Planeptune's CPU and the Gundam Epyon. Four days ago the red and black mobile suit had incapacitated the party in little time, yet here was the sword wielding goddess of Planeptune holding her own against her servant for the last ten minutes… and that fact was grating on the former goddess's nerves, "(What the hell is going on… Neptune should already be on her knees like before. So how is she able to stand against my servant?!)"

Arfoire had never bothered to understand what it was that gave the Epyon an edge over her enemies, which was why she was unable to comprehend what it was that allowed Purple Heart to fight the Gundam on even ground.

For her part, Purple Heart was surprised that she was able to stave off the mobile suit's attacks as well as she did. The goddess had honestly been skeptical regarding the effectiveness of the ZERO System, but the way she was able to perceive the incoming sword strikes or ensnares from the Heat Rod before they actually happened, and then block or evade them quickly put Purple Heart's doubts to rest.

Of course, it wasn't just the future predicting abilities of the ZERO System that was making the battle manageable. While the Epyon's attacks were both fierce and fast, they weren't comparable to the furiosity the Gundam had displayed during their first encounter. It was proof that the boy inside the armor was slowing down, and that Planeptune's goddess needed to work faster, "(I can do it… I was a little unsure at first, but I know I can do this! Heero, just wait a little longer. I'll end this before long!)"

With each strike, parry and failed attack, Heero was fast running out of what little stamina he had left. His movements grew slightly more sluggish as the battle went on, and the Perfect Soldier could feel himself fading in and out of consciousness.

Aside from the sound produced by the Epyon's Beam Sword and Purple Heart's futuristic katana, the only other thing Heero could hear was Arfoire's incessant shouting, "What are you doing? You defeated her with no trouble last time, so stop playing around and kill Neptune!"

Planeptune's goddess was about to break off from fighting Heero just long enough to silence Arfoire's unbearable, shrill voice, when Zero started speaking to her again, "(As much as I support your idea, I will ask that you focus on Heero right now. His vital signs are dropping at a rapid pace, so we don't have much time left to render him unconscious.)"

The mobile suit and goddess clashed once more, and Purple Heart sought to reach Heero, who she knew was nearing the absolute limit of his endurance, "Heero, I know you can hear me! I know you're exhausted, just hold on a little longer!"

Heero was just barely able to hear what Planeptune's CPU was saying. His senses were so disoriented that Purple Heart's face looked slightly distorted and her voice sounded as if it was muffled. Regardless of his worsening condition, Arfoire's spell rendered him nothing more than a puppet on a set of strings, and she would have him continue fighting until either Neptune died or he did, which ever came first.

As the battle dragged on, Purple Heart and the Gundam Epyon slowly began to move towards the party and the swathes of monsters they were fighting. The twin braided swordstress cast a quick glance over in the direction they were heading before having to snap her attention back to block an attack from the Epyon's Heat Rod. It didn't take a genius to figure out that things were about to get a bit more complicated for the CPU.

Xxx

Ten minutes of straight fighting felt like a long time to the girls when they were given no break in between the time they finished off one monster and had to move on to the next. Some in the group had taken count of how many they had disposed of, but stopped somewhere along the way when it was clear that they still had dozens, perhaps hundreds of more monsters waiting.

IF, Nisa and Red emerged from the swarm of monsters separating them from Compa, Lyrica and Gust. While Red had landed flat on her face in her bid to get away from the monsters as quickly as she could, IF and Nisa had fallen to their knees as they took in quick, heavy breathes. Each of the three of them had cuts, scrapes and bruises from the fighting, and would have to stop to get more healing potions from Gust to keep fighting... potions that would cut into the young alchemist's now dwindling supplies.

The Keeper of justice wiped the sweat and dirt from her forehead, starting to feel fatigued from the constant fighting, "I've been fighting monsters for a while now… but this is the first time I've fought so many at one time."

It wasn't just Nisa that had never fought such a concentrated force of monsters before. No one in the party, not even the CPUs had faced down such a large force of the creatures, and it was becoming frighteningly clear just how much of an uphill battle they were fighting. They had only fought through four waves of monsters since the time they had split off from their party leader, and there was simply no end in sight to the monsters Arfoire had created.

What made the situation more terrifying was that Arfoire had been going around attacking the various small islands around Planeptune after subjugating the party using Heero, meaning that all of the other islands the former goddess had visited more than likely had massive infestations of monsters on them, all being primed to attack the capital of the Land of Purple Progress at her command. Unless they dealt with Arfoire, no amount of monster slaying on their part was going to slow the inevitable assault on the capital city.

Pushing aside her own discomfort at the dismal situation, IF tried to use some of her sarcastic wit to keep herself grounded in the here and now, "I'm pretty sure none of us has ever fought this many monsters at one time. But after seeing the way you charged in, running right into a horde of monsters is something you obviously do regularly."

When Red finally lifted her head up off the ground, she caught sight of the two individuals that the rest of the party was there to prevent the monsters from reaching, and they were coming towards them, "Hey, so… we're trying to keep the monsters from reaching Neptune and Heero, right?"

It was an odd question to hear. Frankly, it was rhetorical. The rest of the party wouldn't be there fighting off the waves of monsters if that hadn't been the plan from the start. The Guild Moderatist kept her focus on the wave of incoming monsters as she addressed Red's question. "That's the idea. Why?"

Red looked over her shoulder at IF and Nisa while pointing towards Purple Heart and the Gundam Epyon that were approaching, "I'm asking cuz… they're coming this way."

The brunette was about to respond, when she suddenly stopped to process the answer she received. IF and Nisa turned their heads in the direction Red was pointing to find that Purple Heart and Heero were indeed heading in their general direction.

Nisa didn't like where the situation was heading. It seemed that despite their planning, the scenario they were trying to avoid was very much happening, "This wasn't part of the plan."

Compa, Lyrica and Gust arrived to treat the slightly weathered trio when the very thing they trying to prevent from happening. Lyrica paled slightly at the worsening situation before them, "That's not good… What do we do now?"

There wasn't much they could do, other than increase their efforts to push back every monster that posed an immediate threat to the rescue mission. IF dusted off the sleeves of her jacket and rotated her right shoulder to try and sooth the discomfort she was feeling, knowing that their job was now a lot harder, "I hope you girls aren't too tired. We're gonna have to fight harder now to keep the monsters off of Nep. Compa, go tell Noire and the others what's going on. We'll try and hold off the monsters as best we can."

The nurse in training switched between looking at the Guild Moderatist and both Purple Heart and Heero, both of whom remained in a deadlock even as they neared the seemingly endless horde of monsters. Compa turned in the direction of the three CPUs that were running amok through the ranks of monsters, "I'll try not to take too long. Do your best, you guys!"

As the pink haired girl went to inform the three goddesses of the new development, the rest of the party's human members prepared themselves for their now more difficult job. After consuming the contents of the potions Gust handed out, IF, Lyrica, Gust, Nisa, and Red threw themselves into the fray once more in an effort to protect Purple Heart from the monsters as she fought to break Arfoire's control over Heero.

Xxx

Histoire watched the battle unfold from behind the bushes the party had left her, and the Tome of the Goddesses feared that between the large force of monsters and how Arfoire overworked the Perfect Soldier, the party might not be able to pull through, "To think that Arfoire would be so cruel and vindictive. If this keeps up…! (,,꒪꒫꒪,,)"

As the fairy-like girl continue to dwell on the negativity of the situation, a mechanical noise coming from behind her drew Histoire's attention away from the battle. When Histoire looked over her shoulder, the Wing Gundam was standing just a few feet away.

Momentarily surprised, Histoire calmed herself when she came to the conclusion that Compa was the one standing there in the mobile suit. "You startled me, Compa. Shouldn't you be out there with the others?"

Silence was the answer that the small girl received for her question. It was only when Histoire stopped to remember that she had been watching the party as they conducted their rescue operation that she realized Compa couldn't have been there when she had just run off to get the other three goddesses, "Wait… if Heero is currently controlled by Arfoire, and Compa went to find Noire, Blanc and Vert… Who is the one controlling it? (*゚ロ゚)"

Still, there was no answer. The Wing Gundam kept facing toward the ongoing battle silently watching, waiting as events unfolded.

Xxx

Having gone from facing the Gundam Epyon on its own, to needing to worry about being attacked by the monsters that were present, Purple Heart suddenly found herself in a less than desirable situation.

As Planeptune's goddess tried to think of some way to gain the upper hand once more, she was forced to dodge an attack from a Beam Night behind her, while blocking another attack from the Epyon's Beam Sword.

With the battle starting to go downhill for her, Purple Heart consulted with Zero in the hopes that she could devise a way for them to turn things around, "I don't suppose you can think of a way to get us out of this, Z?"

"(The ZERO System prioritizes victory over all else. Because Arfoire wants you and the others dead more than anything, the Epyon System is disregarding any losses to the army of monsters Arfoire has created, and formulating strategies that will yield the highest possible chance of making that outcome possible. In our case, you wish to save Heero, as do the others. Meaning that we don't have many options, other than to wait for the other CPUs to get here and assist you, and leaving the monsters to the others per the original plan.)"

Almost as if she had heard her name being called, Nisa came flying through the air with one leg outstretched, kicking the Night Beam that had attacked the swordstress of Planeptune just seconds ago. The Keeper of Justice gave a two finger salute to the goddess while giving one of the heroic spiels that she had become known for, "Wherever there are monsters, the Keeper of Justice shall appear! This heroine will safeguard you until you have rescued our fellow hero-in-arms!"

Before Purple Heart had a chance to respond, the CPU found her attention shifting to a monster that had snuck up on her, only to be cut down by IF with a near perfect X shape mark left on its back from where she cut into it.

The brunette cast a sidelong glance at the heroine while making sure that she was facing the oncoming monsters, "WE'LL safeguard, Nep. I know that you're having some trouble against all of these monsters, Nisa."

Lyrica, Gust and Red regrouped with the duo and Purple Heart to stave off any further attacks from the hordes on their party leader. Gust reached into her pouch, pulled out a glass vial with a cyan colored liquid inside, and held it out to Purple Heart, "Try to make potion last. Gust only has three more, and they are meant for the other goddesses."

Planeptune's goddess took the potion from the young alchemist and removed the cork fastener. Just as Purple Heart was about to put the container to her lips, the CPU stopped to look at the Gundam Epyon. While the CPU herself was somewhat tired from the fighting, Zero had said that the Gundam pilot contained within was close to his breaking point. Heero was in worse shape than she was, and Purple Heart would rather the boy take it than her.

Zero already knew what was going through the goddess's mind, and had to stop her from following the line of thinking, "(Neptune, I know you want to give it to him, but Arfoire is not going to allow Heero to discontinue usage of HDD. No doubt because it is linked to her spell, and doing so would cause her to relinquish control over Heero. It's better that you use it, if only to ensure that you win this battle of endurance.)"

As much as the goddess wanted to tend to Heero, she had to accept the reality that nothing could be done for him until she had gotten him to use up the last of his stamina. Reluctantly, Purple Heart downed the liquid concoction, feeling rejuvenated shortly after the last of it had passed down her throat.

With renewed vigor, the swordmaiden of Planeptune charged straight for the Epyon. It was the first strike since the brief pause, and the mobile suit had actually been pushed back, despite blocking the strike.

Refusing to let up, Purple Heart quickly followed up with a series of blows that left the Gundam unable to mount a counterattack, and instead had to focus on blocking the attacks that were sure to inflict severe damage if even one was allowed to hit.

While the party's leader focused on pushing back the mobile suit, the five members of the party that were there concentrated on the monsters that looked like they might interfere with the goddess's efforts to undo Arfoire's control over Heero.

Red threw her frisbee at a Jyaki that had been about to take a swing at Planeptune's goddess with its club, striking the monster in the side of the head. The circular object didn't do much to harm the large creature, but did stop it long enough for Nisa to properly dispatch the monster with a series of punches followed by a very forceful roundhouse kick.

At the same time, Lyrica and Gust were supporting IF in her bid to slay a Light Dragon that had shifted its attention toward them. The Guild Moderatist rushed the reptilian creature as bullets and bolts of lightning from Lyrica and Gust kept it in place.

When IF reached the Light Dragon, she lunged at the monster's neck with the intent to put down the dragon as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for the Guild Moderatist, the Light Dragon started throwing its head around in an effort to avoid some of the attacks, resulting in IF missing the monster's neck and instead slicing across the dragon's right eye.

A horrid screech filled the air as the Light Dragon threw it's head about violently from the pain. IF clicked her tongue as she looked over at her unintended miss, "Damnit! I messed up!"

It wasn't long before the monster turned its gaze on the brunette, eager to exact revenge for the loss of it's eye. IF braced herself for an attack, waiting to see if she would need to actually defend herself, or if the incoming revenge shot was something that she would be able to dodge.

Just as the Light Dragon started to rear its head back, the reptilian monster shudder. A split second later, a horizontal cut formed across the creature's chest cavity, followed by a diagonal cut that was accompanied by a voice from the other side of the monster, "Get out of my way!"

The dragon fell dead after the second cut, with Black Heart standing on the other side of the deceased monster. IF breathed a relieved sigh as she relax her guard for the moment. "Thanks for that, Noire. You really saved me there."

Lastation's goddess wasn't focused on the Guild Moderatist, instead scanning the area to find Purple Heart and the Gundam Epyon, "I noticed. Where's Miss I-had-one-job? I was told she somehow ended up over here."

During the time that IF had been dealing with the Light Dragon, both the party's leader and the Gundam had put significant distance between themselves and the members of the party to the point that the Guild Moderatist almost didn't see them, "Well… there they are. We're trying to work around it, but..."

Just as IF trailed off, what looked and felt like an explosion erupted a few feet away with a cloud of dirt and chunks of rock flying through the air. A figure could be seen walking through the cloud, and said figure was angrily ranting about her predicament, "Fucking hell, there's so many of these damn bastards here, it's a miracle I can get any shit done!"

It wasn't just the voice, but the sheer amount of profanity packed into one sentence that tipped IF off as to it being White Heart that was now there in attendance. Lowee's goddess shouted over her shoulder to Leanbox's CPU, who was apparently there was well, "Hey, Thunder Tits, get over here! Our, great leader couldn't do her damn job right!"

Rather than follow White Heart into the dust cloud, Green Heart had simply gone around to avoid any surprise attacks from monsters. The green haired lancer had her gaze fixed on Purple Heart and the Gundam Epyon, upset over her what she saw as wasted effort on her part, "Did we not agree that we would keep the monsters away from her? Why would she bring Heero here and risk jeopardizing our plan to rescue him?"

Compa emerged from the cloud of dust just as the other members of the party finished breaking through the line of monsters separating them from IF and the CPUs. The nurse in training wore an exhausted expression on her face, having waded through a large gathering of monsters to find the goddesses in the first place, "There are so many of them… How did Arfoire make all of them?"

IF could see that dragging out the rescue mission would only end poorly for them. While it would leave them stretched thin, the best option would be to have all four CPUs fight the Epyon, while the rest of them held back the monsters, "We can't hold them off much longer. We'll try and keep the monsters back, while you guys help Neptune. The sooner you grab Heero, the sooner we can run for it."

Even though the CPUs knew it wasn't a safe plan for the human members, it really was the best option in so far as rescuing Heero. Gust promptly fished the three remaining stamina potions she had mixed and held them out to the goddesses, "Gust believes you will need these."

While curious of the potion and what effect it might have on them, the CPUs knew well enough not to bother with twenty questions given the nature of the situation. After consuming the contents of the potion, Black Heart immediately took off in the direction of the Epyon, while Green Heart expressed her wish that IF and the others not overextend themselves while they were busy getting the Gundam under control, "Please don't do anything rash while we are gone, Iffy. If something were to happen to you and the others, rescuing Heero would mean much less."

Leanbox's goddess followed after Black Heart in the hopes of a speedy conclusion to their operation. White Heart tossed aside the empty glass vial while delivering her own assurances that they would get the job done, "...We'll try to get Heero back as fast as we can. Don't die while we're gone, or Heero will be pissed with us."

The axe wielding goddess of Lowee went to join her fellow CPUs in subduing the Perfect Soldier as the human members of the party formed a circle with their backs to one another, bracing for the inevitable wave of monsters.

Nisa spoke to Gust as she kept her attention fixed on the monsters advancing toward her, "How many potions do you have left, Gust?"

There was no need for the alchemist to look into her pouch, as she had memorized all of the synthesis ingredients she had brought and all of the potions she had mixed together, as well as those potions that she had doled out to the girls, "Gust only has three left. Not enough ingredients left to make more."

It was distressing to hear that there would be no more potions beyond what Gust had left, yet Red did her best to put on a brave face despite the news, "We're in trouble, aren't we?"

IF couldn't deny that without the support of the CPUs they would be in a real do or die battle, and that fact was making the brunette quite nervous. So much so that she was beginning to think that they might not actually make it this time, "Guys… if we don't make it, I just wanna say-"

Before she could finish, IF felt someone lightly hit the back of her head. Looking over her right shoulder, the Guild Moderatist found Nisa looking right back at her with her left arm outstretched and a confidant smile on her face, "Hey, don't you go saying goodbye. None of us are dead, and I plan to keep it that way. There are too many things left that I want to do both as a heroine and as a girl. Surely there is something you want to do that will give you enough reason to survive this."

Lyrica, who was standing on the other side of IF, chimed in to push back the thoughts of dread that were starting to settle in the brunette's mind, "And I thought I had some really dim thoughts on what was going on. If you die, who's going to be my rival?"

The surprise that IF felt was clear as day on her face, but she shook off her astonishment to make a sarcastic remark over the singer's display of confidence, "Where's this confidence coming from? Normally you ARE depressing when it comes to the state of the world."

IF found her attention shifting once more, this time to her right as Red tugged on the sleeve of her jacket. The red head was concerned with IF's show of uncertainty, unable to comprehend how she could feel such a way, "What's gotten into you, Iffy? When bad stuff like this happens, you usually just make some snarky and confident remark before going wifey number one and making the problem go away."

Slowly, IF realized she was letting herself get depressed over nothing. The Guild Moderatist ran her hands though her hair as she shook her head, as if that would somehow help to make the dark thoughts go away, "What the hell is wrong with me? I don't wanna die! I'm not about to! Not when I haven't kissed the boy that I like! Especially when I've had so many chances to!"

Compa had been focused on the monsters when the brunette dropped the bombshell that she had multiple chances to kiss Heero. The nurse in training immediately turned around to look at IF, incredulous as to what she was hearing, "What?! You've had more than one chance to kiss Heero? When? How?!"

It didn't matter to IF that she had more than one opportunity to kiss the Gundam pilot, what mattered was that she had passed on all of them, "The moments for them were appropriate, but I stopped because I was trying to think about how Heero felt. And that's why I've told myself that the next time I get the chance, I'm not passing it up. I'm getting that kiss!"

Seeing that IF was getting back some of her flare, Gust offered up her own words of encouragement, "Try to think of this way. Heero will be proud if party makes it through battle. Perhaps romantic moment will come once we get home."

After a moment of letting the words of the others sink in, the Guild Moderatist took a deep breath in through her nose before exhaling. Getting discouraged now was just asking for disaster. Having regained her confidence, IF addressed the girls, "Sorry about that, you guys. This is the first time we've face long odds like this without Heero or Nep to support us. I guess my nerves got to me for a minute."

None of the girls thought less of IF for the display of uncertainty, especially when they were all feeling scared. All that kept them from giving into despair was the knowledge that they were facing this trial with their comrades, that there would be no one left to stand against Arfoire if they fell, and above all else, that they were doing this to rescue someone that was more than just a member of the party to them.

IF did her best to lift their spirits in the hopes it would be enough to see them through what was undoubtedly their darkest hour yet, "I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that I want to see Heero again. There's things I want to say to him, things I want to do beyond just fighting monsters… Hell, after this is all over and we've defeated Arfoire, I wouldn't mind going on another crazy adventure like this with you guys! And there's no way in hell I'm letting some former goddess who's off her rocker and the monsters she's making stand in the way of any of that!"

The girls nodded in affirmation, each one of them wholeheartedly agreeing with IF's sentiments. Nisa reiterated their objective, while steering the group away from any reckless ideas, "We just have to keep the monster's attention on us until the CPUs can grab Heero. So just stick together and deal with the monsters you can. I know it might sound strange coming from me, but no heroics."

Hearing the last sentence from the Keeper of Justice WAS strange, but it did serve to underscore the fact that only by the six girls staying grouped together would they be able to hold out long enough for the reclamation of the lone male party member and eventually escape.

Keeping her eyes on the prize, IF reminded the girls that they weren't dying. Not here, and certainly not now, "We're surviving this. ALL of us."

Xxx

Purple Heart continued to pressure the Gundam Epyon, forcing it further back with no room to fight back. It was the goddess's hope that if she landed enough attacks in rapid succession, the Gundam would eventually exhaust its power on defending itself; thus forcing the discontinuation of HDD and freeing Heero.

After thirty seconds of relentlessly striking at the red and black mobile suit, Planeptune's CPU knocked the Gundam off balance. As the goddess moved to capitalize on the situation, she froze as the entire world around her dissolved into black.

Everywhere the CPU looked it was the same, a void that stretched out endlessly. Purple Heart wasn't sure how she got there, but started to suspect that it might have something to do with the hallucinations that Zero told her that she might see, and thus sought to determine for herself if that was the case, "Hello? Is anyone here?!"

The twin braided swordstress received no response. It was as if the void had swallowed up her voice. It was then that the CPU felt a presence behind her. As soon as Purple Heart turned around, a green thermal blade pierced through her chest. A shocked expression immediately formed on her face the moment the Beam Sword went through her body, and her eyes slowly traveled up the length of the beam weapon to the one holding it; the Epyon.

As the CPU of Planeptune tried to figure out how the Gundam had suddenly gotten behind her without her knowing it, a voice pierced through the void, shouting at the goddess of Planeptune, "Neptune, what are you doing?!"

Purple Heart was snapped out of her stupor by the familiar voice, and the moment she blinked the endless expanse of nothingness was gone, as was the Beam Sword in her chest. In front of Planeptune's goddess was Black Heart, who was holding back the Gundam from delivering what could have been a fatal injury to the distracted CPU.

After a moment of back and forth between the swordmaiden and Gundam, Black Heart was able to push the Epyon back, at which point White Heart and Green Heart arrived to keep the mobile suit busy. Lastation's CPU immediately whipped her head around to look at Purple Heart, her eyes boring holes into the goddess of Planeptune over her failure to subdue Heero when she had the chance, "What the hell?! You had him right there! You could've ended this here, and we would be on our way home with Heero!"

The party leader hadn't planned on missing the chance to bring an end to the battle, but she also didn't plan on hallucinating either. Black Heart returned her attention to the Gundam Epyon as it fought against the CPUs of Lowee and Lastation, wanting nothing more than to get the Gundam pilot back. "Since it's obvious you can't do this by yourself, we'll help you. Just don't screw up this time."

Black Heart went to assist the two CPUs that were fighting the Gundam, while Purple Heart stopped to consult with the disembodied helper that would surely be able to explain what had happened, "Z, what just happened? Why did I start hallucinating right when I was about to win?"

"(The ZERO System collects any and all variables that can influence the outcome of a battle. That includes your own combat abilities AND state of mind. As much as you claim to want to bring Heero back, you are still hesitant to inflict any real harm to him. If you hesitate for even a moment on the battlefield, you or someone else is going to pay for it.)"

She didn't want to admit it, but it was true. Purple Heart DIDN'T want to hurt Heero. Not when she had done so before. If she allowed herself to hesitate now, not only was she running the risk of Heero remaining under Arfoire's control, she risked someone in the party incurring serious injury, or even death. Trying to overcome her own reluctance, Planeptune's goddess raced after the trio of goddesses fighting to keep the Gundam in check.

For their part, the three CPUs were doing a significantly better job of restricting the Epyon's movements than the last time. Four days ago, their haphazard teamwork had left openings for the red and black mobile suit to exploit and contributed to their defeat. Now, even though it wasn't the best that it could be, the teamwork between Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart was such that there were no escape routes for the Epyon, forcing it to continue defending against the onslaught of attacks.

Every time it looked as though there was an opening, the Gundam would start moving to attack, only to reverse course on the action and raise its shield or Beam Sword to block as soon as another attack from a different CPU came.

None of the three goddesses was able to land anything beyond a glancing strike, but they were successful in keeping the Gundam bogged down so as to give Purple Heart the chance to find an opening.

White Heart leapt into the air, bringing her axe down for an overhead strike that was ultimately blocked. At the same time as Lowee's CPU tried and failed to hit the Gundam, Green Heart thrust her lance toward the green jewel-like sensor on the mobile suit's torso, only to have the Epyon drop its Beam Sword to grab the lance with its hand.

With both of the Gundam's arms being used to block the two CPUs, Purple Heart used the chance to rapidly approach the preoccupied Epyon. However, before Planeptune's goddess could follow through on her attack, she was assailed by another hallucination.

Just like the first hallucination, it was a vast expanse of black and nothing else. And just like the first, Planeptune's CPU could feel another presence from behind. Purple Heart swiftly turned around and thrust her sword towards the entity behind her, not knowing who or what it was that was standing behind her.

Only once her mind had caught up with her movements did Purple Heart realize that what she had thrust her sword into was the Epyon. The green sensor on the torso had one crack running down the center, while numerous smaller cracks formed along the edges of the insertion point.

The Gundam lurched forward before the glow of the eyes and chest sensor dimmed, and ultimately shut off. A red liquid ran down the CPU's sword and onto her hands, eliciting a horrified look from the goddess. The one thing that Purple Heart feared more than harming Heero… was killing him.

Fear took hold of the goddess as she looked at her now blood stained hands. The CPU tried to pull her eyes away, but was frozen in place, unable to move any part of her body. It wasn't long before Purple Heart started hyperventilating, believing that she had really just killed the boy she had been trying to save, "No… this can't be… Someone tell me this isn't happening…!"

"Dammit, what the hell are you doing?!"

Hearing the voice of another brought Planeptune's goddess out of her hallucinatory state. Beads of cold sweat continued to roll down the side of Purple Heart's face as she looked at her hands, which were no longer stained with blood. While Planeptune's goddess was recovering from the shock brought on by the hallucination, Black Heart rushed in to try and pick up the slack. Unfortunately, by the time Lastation's goddess was just a few feet away from the mobile suit, the Epyon had begun to retaliate, forcing both White Heart and Green Heart back in the direction of the oncoming CPU.

After pushing back the two goddesses, the Epyon retrieved its Beam Sword and put some distance between itself and the CPUs. White Heart turned her angry gaze on Purple Heart as she picked herself up off the ground, upset with Planeptune's CPU for her inability to follow through when the other goddesses were doing the work necessary to win, "I don't know what your deal is, but you better get your shit together! We're gonna lose if you don't!"

Green Heart provided a different reason for why Purple Heart's hesitance would prove costly to the party, "We formed this alliance for the purpose of saving Heero, but we are not the only ones fighting to see him returned to us. Iffy and the others are fighting right now, and the longer we drag this out, the more likely one of them is to get hurt. The time for indecisiveness has long past."

The CPU of Planeptune was still slightly pale from the hallucination she experienced mere moments ago. Luckily for her, Zero came to her defense on the matter of her inability to bring a swift end to the battle, "(My apologies. Neptune has started suffering hallucinations of possible outcomes to this battle. The last one was particularly unsettling, which is why she is starting to show real hesitation.)"

By 'unsettling,' Black Heart assumed that the future that Purple Heart saw fell along the lines of Heero meeting a tragic end. While Lastation's goddess shared in Purple Heart's thought process regarding the Gundam pilot, she knew that there was too much riding on the outcome of their rescue mission to allow inaction, "Yeah, that sounds bad… But if Neptune doesn't get it together, that future is going to be a reality! I don't plan on letting anyone dying because YOU suddenly got scared!"

Black Heart's assessment of the situation was candid, but did ring true, and Zero understood that the CPU was just trying to spur Purple Heart into action. "(Noire does make a point. Heero is going to have to take a few hits before he's finally worn out. I know you're against the idea, Neptune, but you just have to grit your teeth and bear it.)"

Zero was right; Purple Heart was against the idea of intentionally inflicting harm to the Perfect Soldier. As much as she detested actually hurting Heero, the swordstress of Planeptune knew that it had to be done, otherwise she risked losing him forever. Kneeling down to pick up her sword, Purple Heart gripped it with both hands while fighting back the internal strife she was going through. Knowing that there was no avoiding it, Planeptune's goddess braced herself for the harm she was about to inflict upon her human lover, "I'm sorry I have to do this, Heero… Know that I do this out of love."

The quartet of goddesses pushed their mutual feelings of reluctance aside as they charged the Gundam toward the red and black mobile suit. A series of coordinated attacks ensued that did more than force the Gundam Epyon back on the defense, the CPUs were able to knock the mobile suit off balance more than once, and Purple Heart was able to land a few solid blows to the Gundam's chassis.

Within the span of three minutes the battle between the four goddesses and the Epyon had gone from the outskirts of the monster horde to the plateau where Arfoire was still standing. The former goddess looked positively livid over the Gundam's performance against Purple Heart and the other CPUs, unwilling to accept that not only were the goddesses really cooperating with one another, but that the mobile suit that had so effortlessly dealt with the party before was now performing so poorly against them, "What the hell is this? This has to be some kind of fluke! They should be taking their last dying breathes by now!"

As the fallen CPU continued her tiraid, the four goddesses finally pushed the Gundam into a metaphorical and literal corner, trapping the mobile suit between them and the rock formation that Arfoire hadn't left since the fighting broke out.

Multiple cracks had formed along the Epyon's torso due to repeated blows from Purple Heart. Under normal circumstances, the transformations used by the Gundam pilot had regenerative capabilities, and cracks such as the ones lining Epyon's armor would have already started to close. The very fact that none of the damage was being repaired could only mean that Heero was on the brink of being out of power.

Black Heart rushed the damaged Gundam, covering the relatively short distance in no time and clashed swords with the weakening mobile suit, "Come on… snap out of it already!"

With the Gundam's Beam Sword being used to stop Lastation's goddess, Green Heart charged toward the Epyon with her lance thrust outward, knowing full well that the Gundam would grab the sharp tipped weapon, which was the reason she was going through with it, "We're almost there. Just a little more!"

At the same time that the lancer from Leanbox had mounted an attack, White Heart rushed in to keep the Epyon from using it's Heat Rod, "...This better do it! This shit is irritating!"

The Gundam blocked White Heart's axe with its shield, and was still able to catch Green Heart's lance before it could actually hit, leaving the suit in a helpless state now that it was having to hold back three goddesses.

Purple Heart swallowed hard as she looked at the precarious situation the Gundam pilot was now in, ignoring the various pieces of information being displayed by the vizor she was wearing to focus on the struggling Gundam, "I hope this works..."

Planeptune's goddess knew she wasn't going to get a better chance to land an attack that would incapacitate the mobile suit. Readjusting her grip on her sword, Purple Heart sped towards the vulnerable Gundam, and swung her blade across it's chest.

Pieces of the Gundam's armor went flying as the Epyon was struck with enough force to send it crashing into the plateau behind it. The light from the Gundam's eyes and chest sensor began to dim as it slumped over, giving the four CPUs hope that the battle was finally over. That they could now grab Heero and escape with the rest of the party.

Arfoire looked down at the beaten and battered Gundam, furious with the outcome of the battle, "I don't remember giving you permission to lose, servant. Perhaps you need some incentive to keep fighting."

The former goddess extended her hand in the direction of the Epyon, and seconds later, black electricity erupted from within the Epyon. There were no muffled cries of pain from the Gundam pilot as he collapsed to his knees. He was too exhausted to give any indication that he was in pain.

It was horrific to watch the former goddess essentially torture Heero for the outcome of the battle. He was beat up, exhausted, and was left to fight an impossible battle in such a state. All indications pointed to Arfoire's own arrogance and shortsightedness being the cause of his defeat, yet the fallen goddess was punishing Heero because of her failure.

Zero felt a surge of anger from Purple Heart as she watched her Destined Lover being punished for no reason, and the spike of emotion could lead to terrible consequences if left unchecked, "(Neptune, you need to calm down. I understand how you feel, but letting her provoke you will only make things worse.)"

For her part, Planeptune's goddess was trying her best to keep her rage in check, but Arfoire wasn't making it easy, "That's a lot easier said than done, Z. My lover is being tortured right in front of me."

Green Heart was outraged by the display of cruelty by Arfoire, finding it inconceivable that a goddess was capable of such evil, "What you're doing in unconscionable! I refuse to believe that someone capable of such barbarism can possibly be a goddess!"

White Heart likened the former goddess to the monsters they had been fighting; despicable and a threat to Gamindustri as a whole, "This old bitch is no different from those monsters she's been churning out! I say we kill her now and get this over with!"

Given that Arfoire was electrocuting Heero, seemingly to death, Black Heart saw that as the excuse needed to finally deal with her, "Z said that we could do something about her if she tried to stop us from saving Heero. I'm pretty sure trying to kill him counts."

Lastation's goddess darted right toward Arfoire, attempting to cut down the former goddess in one strike. Arfoire stopped her electrocution of the Perfect Solider to evade the sword swing, and promptly started running from the angry CPU.

Both White Heart and Green Heart joined in the pursuit of the former goddess, leaving Purple Heart with the Gundam that was still on its knees. The goddess wanted to approach the Epyon and check on Heero's condition, but those thoughts were dashed as soon as the suit began moving again.

Although its movements were slow, the Gundam Epyon was still intent on battling Purple Heart, meaning it was still under Arfoire's control. Planeptune's CPU didn't know what else she could do in this situation. By this point, Heero was most certainly close to death from exhaustion, and any more hits to the Epyon's torso would like cut right through the armor and into the boy inside, "Z… What am I supposed to do now? He can't take anymore of this!"

Heero's superhuman endurance was really working against them, and the embodiment of the ZERO System wasn't sure what course of action Purple Heart could take that wouldn't carry a severe risk to the Gundam pilot, "(I'm trying to think of something… Heero's endurance is really working against us.)"

Purple Heart braced herself as she watched the Epyon activating its Beam Sword once again, holding out hoping that Zero could come up with some kind of plan that could still allow them to get Heero back. The Gundam brought the thermal blade down on the goddess, who in turn blocked the attack with her own sword. In contrast to when the battle started, the Epyon lacked the strength it once had, and could no longer compete with the CPU in terms of power or speed.

In one swift motion, Purple Heart disarmed the mobile suit of the Beam Sword, sending it flying in the opposite direction. The CPU was about to begin the process of trying to remove the rest of the Gundam's armor, but the Epyon deployed it's Heat Rod and knocked Purple Heart's sword out of her hands.

She was too close to dodge the segmented whip, and without her sword the goddess had no way to actually block the attack. Purple Heart could only watch as Epyon raised its left arm as the Heat Rod began glow red. A single hit was going to be fatal to the CPU.

As the red and black mobile suit was about to cut down the goddess of Planeptune, the Epyon shifted it's attention to the left before the thrusters on it's back suddenly flared to life, propelling the Gundam away from the twin braided swordstress.

Purple Heart was about to question the Gundam's sudden decision to back off, when the answer suddenly took up her field of view. A beam of golden yellow light flew through the air right in front of the goddess, catching her off guard for a moment. There was only one thing she knew of capable of producing the blast of intense heat that passed through the air in front of her.

The CPU looked to her right, as it was the direction the beam originated from, and out of the forest came the Wing Gundam with its Buster Rifle held up. As the Epyon retrieved the Beam Sword it had lost, the multi-colored Gundam dropped the Buster Rifle and drew the Beam Saber from the compartment of it shield.

Both Gundams stared each other down for what felt like hours, but was actually just a few seconds. Then, as if someone had fired a starting gun, the two Gundams charged at one another with beam weapons at the ready. As soon as the two mobile suits locked blades, small bolts of electricity arced out in every direction from the point of contact. The Wing Gundam and the Epyon continued to look one another in the eye as they tried to push one another back, as if they were somehow communicating.

After her surprise from seeing the second mobile suit died down, Purple Heart remembered that she still needed to get to Heero herself. The goddess looked around before finding her sword in the ground behind her. Purple Heart wasted no time in recovering her weapon and returning to the battle. The Epyon hadn't been so caught up with holding back the Wing Gundam that it didn't see the CPU approaching, and promptly backed off before the goddess could take advantage of the stalemate.

The swordstress of Planeptune immediately clashed with the red and black Gundam with the intent of completely disarming it this time, but the Epyon had already anticipated that the CPU would attempt such a plan and adjusted accordingly.

Before she could grasp what was going on, Purple Heart found her leg ensnared by the Heat Rod, and was immediately lifted off her feet. The Gundam Epyon flung the goddess away to focus on the Wing Gundam that had been approaching from behind the CPU, and was ready to intercept the threat.

Instead of engaging the Epyon, the Wing Gundam went after the goddess that had been tossed through the air. Once the Gundam caught up to the airborne CPU, it looped its left arm around the goddess's waist and twisted its body around to land. Bits of rock and dirt were upheaved the moment the Wing Gundam touched down and skid across the ground on it's feet.

Not long after the pair came to a stop, the Gundam Epyon set upon them once more. There was to be no reprieve for either the CPU or mobile suit that was not under Arfoire's control. The Wing Gundam barely had enough time to block the downward strike from the Epyon's Beam Sword.

Purple Heart had to lift her arm to shield her eyes from the energy discharge of the two clashing beam weapons. The Wing Gundam fought desperately to keep the Beam Sword from getting to Planeptune's CPU, but with each passing second the thermal blade inched closer to one of its targets.

Recognizing the danger that they were both in, Purple Heart freed herself from the Gundam's hold before swinging her own sword against the Epyon's. The combined force of Planeptune's CPU and the Wing Gundam was enough to force the Epyon back once more.

Just when Purple Heart began to lose hope of the back and forth fighting finally reaching an end, Zero finally had a solution for the CPU that wouldn't involve the painstaking task of removing the entire suit from around Heero, "(I've analyzed the structure of the Epyon and have discovered an anomaly that may be the cause for this drawn out affair.)"

As long as it was something that she could actually do something about, Purple Heart was willing to entertain any course of action available, "I trust that it's something I can actually deal with. This has gone on for too long as it is."

"(Arfoire's spell apparently needs a focal point of some kind in order to maintain control over Heero. After scanning the suit, I have found that the Sky Eye on the Epyon's chest has been emitting an abnormal energy reading. And during the brief period when Arfoire was… punishing him, there was a spike in the energy reading. If you can strike with enough force to pierce through the sensor, that should break Arfoire's hold on him. However...)"

Purple Heart didn't need to wait for Zero to finish. She already knew what the catch was to the plan. "Heero is right behind it. And there isn't much room for error."

"(Three millimeters. That is how much space there is between the Sky Eye and Heero. You have to attack with enough force to pierce all the way through the sensor, but stop short of going any farther than that.)"

Three millimeters wasn't a lot of room. The goddess of Planeptune wasn't sure she would be able to moderate her strength enough to just pierce through the green sensor on the Epyon's chest. Doubt was beginning to take hold of the CPU, and she began to start questioning if her claims of rescuing Heero were nothing more than empty promises or over confidence.

Before fear could set in, the mechanical noise of the Wing Gundam behind her snapped Purple Heart out of her thoughts. The goddess looked over her shoulder to find the Gundam looking right back at her. Just looking at her.

The goddess already knew that there was no one inside the mobile suit, and it was moving on it's own when Heero was under Arfoire's control was something she couldn't comprehend. Planeptune's goddess knew that contained within the Epyon was her one and only, yet it felt as though Heero was right there with her in the Wing Gundam.

Somehow… Purple Heart wasn't sure why, but somehow, she knew everything would turn out alright. That was the feeling she got from looking at the Wing Gundam. The goddess began to feel less tense as she returned her gaze to the Epyon. She could do this. She WOULD.

Having spent thirty seconds waiting for Planeptune's goddess to make a move, the Gundam Epyon took the initiative and charged straight for her. The Wing Gundam in turn rushed to intercept the red and black mobile suit.

The two Gundams engaged in a ferocious melee with neither suit giving ground to one another. Discharges of energy filled the air as saber and sword clashed, and even as the two Gundams sought to overpower one another, Purple Heart retain a calm sense of being. The CPU leveled her sword as she closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on obtaining the outcome she wanted from the battle.

No fear or doubt was left in her mind. That one moment of feeling Heero's presence there with her was enough to erase all of it. There was no need to second guess the outcome, she need only grab it. The goddess's breathing slowed as she concentrated on her target. A single strike was all that she needed.

Then, after waiting for the right moment to present itself, Purple Heart's eyes snapped open. In an instant, Planeptune's goddess went from standing perfectly still to being right underneath the Wing Gundam and in front of the preoccupied Gundam Epyon, the tip of her sword pointed at the green jewel-like sensor on the red and black mobile suit ready to strike. The sound of Purple Heart's sword cutting through the air was accompanied shortly thereafter by her blade piercing into the Sky Eye of the mobile suit.

With the exception of the soft thrum from two beam weapons wielded by the Gundams producing any sound, there was silence. Arfoire, who had been spending most of her time evading the other three goddesses, took a moment to check on the battle between Planeptune's goddess and the Epyon. The lack of movement from the Gundam incited more ire in the former goddess, "I told you to kill Neptune. I expect results now!"

There was no movement, no acknowledgment that the Gundam had heard the fallen CPU's order… nothing. Having gotten no response, the irate former goddess extended her free hand with the intent of doling out another round of punishment to the Gundam pilot. "Your resistance will cost you dearly."

Arfoire's attempt to exert control over the Gundam was for naught, as there was no discharge of electricity from within mobile suit. The former goddess looked at her hand for a moment before thrusting it back out toward the Gundam Epyon, and still, there was no reaction to her hand gesture. Arfoire clicked her tongue in frustration, knowing that the only reason her powers no longer affected the Gundam was because her spell had been broken, "Damn… she just had to find a way, didn't she?"

The Wing Gundam's Beam Saber diminished in length before ultimately disappearing into the saber handle, and the multi-colored suit fell to one knee before disappearing in a flash of light. Purple Heart pulled her own sword out of the Gundam Epyon once the Beam Sword had also faded away.

The light from the Gundam's eyes and sensor dimmed and faded, signaling that it was truly out of power. It wasn't long before the Epyon collapsed onto its knees, and just as the Gundam began to fall forward, it disappear in another flash of light, leaving the exhausted Heero to fall to the ground.

Purple Heart dropped her sword to catch the Perfect Soldier, feeling an immediate sense of relief once he was secure in her arms. In that moment, it was as if nothing else existed in the world. The only thing that mattered to the goddess was the boy leaning against her.

While the CPU of Planeptune was focusing on the Gundam pilot, Compa, IF and the other human members of the party had found a lull in the monster's advance and used the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the hordes of monsters.

IF had accumulated a few more cuts and bruises from the fighting, as had the other members of the group. The brunette wasn't sure how much longer they would be able to hold back the seemingly endless waves of monsters, "I hope Nep's just about finish. We can't keep this up."

Compa had started looking around for the party's leader, and was relieved to not only find her, but the party's lone male party member with her, "Iffy, look!"

Looking toward the nurse in training before following her gaze, the Guild Moderatist felt some of her stress disappear upon seeing the Gundam pilot in the flesh, rather than in the red and black suit he had been in. "(It's about time.) C'mon, we're getting the hell outta here, guys!"

Lyrica, Gust, Nisa and Red knew that once IF had called for their retreat it meant that somehow Neptune had succeeded in rescuing Heero. The group of six wasted no time in beating a hasty retreat from the monsters to regroup with the CPUs.

Once they had become aware of Heero's rescue, Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart gave up their pursuit of Arfoire in favor of checking on Heero's condition. The girls all congregated around Purple Heart, hoping to receive some good news after all the fighting they had to do to reach this moment, "How is he, Nep-Nep? Is Heero alright?"

Planeptune's goddess had been so caught with simply getting him back that it wasn't until Compa had asked about his condition that Purple Heart noticed how cold Heero's body felt. She didn't even feel his breath against her body, which was starting to raised some red flags with the CPU.

Slowly, Purple Heart began to turn Heero around until his back was against her, and when the boy's face was visible, there were various reactions to the sight in front of them. The front of Heero's olive drab tank top and jeans were soaked with blood, his skin was noticeably pale, and his eyes looked dead.

The CPU of Planeptune felt her blood run cold as her hand slowly made its way down to the bottom of Heero's tank top. She didn't want to see what was underneath, but the goddess's hand seemed to be moving on its own.

As soon as Purple Heart lifted up on the blood soaked top, IF winced at the sight she had been greeted with and a slight feeling of sickness came over her, "That looks really bad..."

What had disturbed the group of girls was the wound on Heero's chest that had no only reopened, but looked as if it had widened. Upon seeing the injury that she had been responsible for inflicting upon him, dread began to set upon Purple Heart, believing that she had messed up yet again, "Z… did I make a mistake…? Is this my fault…?"

Zero found it highly unlikely that Purple Heart had not only injured Heero again, but that she managed to strike the exact same spot on his chest. The embodiment of the ZERO System was able to draw a more logical conclusion to the Gundam pilot's terrible state of health, "(That is not the case here. Based on the amount of blood loss, the wound must have reopened the day Arfoire took control of him. Combined with the constant strenuous physical activity, it's safe to say that Arfoire is responsible for this.)"

While the girls were still in a state of shock, Arfoire started berating the Perfect Solider for his perceived failure to carry out her orders, "Useless boy! Death is the only suitable punishment for those who fail to carry out my orders."

Just when it seemed as though Arfoire couldn't sound any more despicable, the former goddess had to prove that she could in fact stoop lower. White Heart whipped her head around and focused her hate filled eyes at the fallen CPU that was mocking the dying Gundam pilot, "What the fuck is wrong with you?! I've met some real pieces of shit, but you're the worst!"

Nisa denounced Arfoire as being something other than a goddess for her cruelty, "You can claim to be a goddess all you want, but I see you for what you really are; a demon! No goddess would condone this!"

As the rest of the party voiced their outrage and disgust over Arfoire's cruel and inhumane treatment of Heero, Purple Heart was staring at the blood that now stained her right hand. The former goddess had willfully disregarded Heero's health and well-being just to get to her, and now he was dying… if he wasn't already dead.

All at once, the anger Planeptune's goddess had been suppressing up until that point came rushing to the forefront of her mind. And the ZERO System showing the CPU new futures based on her shift in emotion.

From decapitation, dismemberment and piercing her heart to some truly dark methods of killing such as torture and disembowelment, Purple Heart was shown every possible future in which she ended Arfoire's life. It might not have been goddess-like to seek such a violent end to someone's life, but the goddess of Planeptune wasn't about to let this slide. As the CPU allowed such dark thoughts to swirl around in her mind, the information displayed on the vizor was replaced with lines of numbers that took of the eyewear in its entirety, with all of the numbers changing to zero, then forming the word 'Z.E.R.O.' soon after.

Once more, Zero detected the surge of negative emotion from Purple Heart and there was every indication that she was going to act on it. Fearing the worst, the disembodied voice tried to get the CPU to stop before she did something that she might regret, "(Neptune, deactivate the ZERO System, now! The system will take control of you if this keeps up!)"

Zero had been concerned that the CPU's emotional instability would make her more susceptible to being controlled by the ZERO System. What she should have been worried about was whether or not the goddess would voluntarily give control over to it.

Purple Heart had made a line in the sand regarding Heero, and Arfoire had crossed that line. The fallen goddess would pay for her transgressions, regardless of what the consequences were. And if the ZERO System could make any of the futures that she had just seen a reality, then Planeptune's CPU would willingly give the future predicting system control over her.

The goddess of Planeptune removed the vizor resting against her face and pressed her right hand against her eye, staining the porcelain skin around it with Heero's blood. Through gritted teeth, Purple Heart stated her intent to exact revenge, "Sorry, Z… but I can't do that. She has to pay for what she's done…!"

Arfoire mocked the goddess's claim that she would pay for her actions. From where the former goddess stood, there was little, if anything, the CPU of Planeptune could do against her now, "And how will you defeat me? My monsters stand in your way, and they prevent your escape. At the very least, you can die with your precious human lover, Neptune!"

Much to the dismay of the party, Arfoire spoke true. While they were not immediately surrounded, monsters were closing in on the group from all sides. But that was the least of Purple Heart's concerns. The only thing on her mind was making the fallen CPU suffer.

Using the last of her self control, the goddess laid Heero down before taking up her sword once more, while letting the blue vizor in her hand fall to the ground. Purple Heart hung her head as she stood up, the ZERO System taking full control over her in order to get to the former goddess. "I'm not going to defeat you…" As the CPU of Planeptune lifted her head to look at her enemy, her crystal blue eyes changed to a glowing gold, "...I'm going to kill you."

Compa was startled by the proclamation from the party's leader. Never had the CPU said anything of the sort to anyone before, yet here she was stating her intent to kill, "Nep-Nep…?"

Arfoire couldn't understand why, but a cold chill ran up her spine at Purple Heart's proclamation that she was going to kill her. The voice of Planeptune's CPU sounded cold, monotone even. Dismissing the claim as an empty threat, the former goddess waved her hand, ordering the monsters to attack the party, "Let's see you try and kill me when you're burning in hell!"

A sizable mob of monsters began marching toward Purple Heart at Arfoire's command. The goddess of Planeptune cut her eyes to the creatures advancing in her direction, maintaining a stoic facade as she continued tightened her grip on her sword, "You're in my way."

One second Planeptune's goddess was standing before a group of monsters, and the very next second she was on one knee a few feet behind that same group of monsters. Purple Heart stood up from her kneeling position and swung her sword in a downward motion, as though she was cleaning something off of it. Just after the swing of the goddess's blade, the entire group of monsters fell dead. Each monster had received at least three cuts, and fell to pieces… literally.

No one, not even the other goddesses had seen Planeptune's CPU actually swing her sword even once, and were stunned into silence by the display of speed. Purple Heart looked back up at Arfoire after dispensing with the monsters that did nothing to slow her down. With the ZERO System in control, there was nothing else on the CPU's mind, other than complete victory over her enemy.

The former goddess would not stand for the disrespect being showed to her by the CPU of Planeptune, not when she was supposed to be the one in control, "You dare defy me? Me, the one that gave you life?!"

Purple Heart kicked off the ground, reaching Arfoire with speed that was frightening even by the standards of a CPU, and slammed her sword against the former goddess's glaive. The swordstress of Planeptune bore into Arfoire with her now gold colored eyes, her emotionless stare hiding the unbridled rage that dwelled underneath. "It's not much of a dare, considering that I'm dealing with a coward."

Arfoire was seething from the insult thrown at her, fueling her desire to see Planeptune's goddess destroyed. "I'll teach you what happens to those that look down on Arfoire!"

There was no change in Purple Heart's facial expression. To her, any threat that came out of Arfoire's mouth was hollow and meaningless, "Fine then. Teach me something. And in return…" The goddess of Planeptune removed her left hand from her sword, reared her arm back, and punched Arfoire across the cheek, "I'll teach you what happens to those that harm my Heero."

The party's leader gave chase to the former goddess that had begun to ran away after being struck, leaving the rest of the group to watch from where they were. Lyrica picked up the vizor that the party leader had dropped and saw the string of zeroes that formed the word 'Z.E.R.O., and couldn't help but get ominous vibes from it, "Is it supposed to be doing this? It's a little creepy."

Compa was about to question the sudden shift in Purple Heart's demeanor, when a weak groaning noise on the ground pulled her attention away from the battle. Looking down, the nurse in training saw Heero's mouth move, though the movement was almost unnoticeable. Kneeling down next to the Gundam pilot, Compa placed the index and middle fingers of her right hand against Heero's neck. It was faint, but the pink haired girl felt a pulse, giving the nurse in training some degree of hope that Heero could still be saved, "Guys, Heero's still alive!"

Pulling their attention away from their rampaging leader, the girls returned their attention to the boy they had come to the floating island for in the first place. With the revelation that Heero was still alive, IF began to lift the boy have the ground, looping his left arm around her shoulders in an effort to support the boy's weight, "If Heero's still alive, then we need to get him out of here. Compa, give me a hand."

As Compa began to lift Heero by his right arm, the collection of bestial noises from the monsters advancing on the party were getting louder and closer. Looking from side to side, it was clear to IF that they wouldn't be getting out without a fight, not if they wanted to get Heero to safety. "I hope you girls aren't too tired. Let's head back the way we came, grab Histy, and get out of here!"

Black Heart stepped out in front of the group, prepared to meet the monsters head-on, "I'll clear a path. Just focus on getting Heero away from here."

White Heart and Green Heart joined their Lastation counterpart to cut through the monsters standing between them and their escape. Leanbox's goddess cast a sidelong glance at Black Heart, believing the swordmaiden of Lastation had another reason for standing against the monsters on her own, other than just clearing a way through, "Do you plan to face all of them on your own? Or did you want to be able to brag to Heero later?"

It wasn't just Green Heart that was suspicious of Lastation's CPU, White Heart also believed there was some ulterior motive behind Black Heart's decision, "...This bitch just wants to score with him. If she were to somehow pulled this off by herself, she'd flaunt it around. No doubt because she wants to kiss Heero again. Well, that shit's not happening while I'm here."

Lastation's goddess was embarrassed by the accusations. Sure, they were true, but she was genuinely focused on securing safe passage for the group as a whole. She just would have liked some kind of compensation for her efforts. Nevertheless, Black Heart pushed back on the suggestions made by the goddesses of Lowee and Leanbox, "Do you hear yourselves? I'm doing this so that we ALL get out of here! If it bothers you two so much, then you could help out."

Green Heart brandished her lance in preparation for their charge, having already decided on the course of action Black Heart was proposing, "That was the idea. We are more likely to succeed if the three of us cooperate at this juncture. It is what Heero would want after all."

The trio of goddesses dove into the line of monsters, carving through those that were in the immediate path of the human party members. As the CPUs went about their task, Nisa gave her assurances that the rest of them would focus on guarding Compa and IF, seeing as they were taking responsibility for moving Heero, "The rest of us will handle guard duty. You two just concentrate on moving as fast as you can."

Compa looked back in the opposite direction of where they were headed, worrying about Purple Heart and her decision to fight Arfoire by herself, "I'm worried about Nep-Nep. She was acting different then normal. Will she be alright?"

IF kept her attention on the path in front of them, more concerned with escaping with the wounded Gundam pilot, "Don't worry about Nep. I'm sure she'll be fine. We wouldn't be able to help her now anyway. I'm more worried about Heero right now, so let's do what we can."

Xxx

In the skies above the floating island, Purple Heart relentlessly chased after Arfoire, who tried in vain to escape from her. Once it was apparent that running away wasn't going to be an option, the fallen CPU turned to face Planeptune's goddess, "If you're that keen on fighting me, then so be it! I'll make sure you regret this!"

Each clash that ensued sounded like an explosion was going off. And each clash gave Arfoire another cut. One cut became two. Two began four and so on. By the time the two goddesses came to a stop, Arfoire's arms were littered with cuts.

The former goddess had worked up a sweat as a result of the fighting, and it was getting into her cuts, which brought with it a burning sensation that refused to let up. Trying to ignore the pain in her arms, Arfoire instead tried to figure out how Planeptune's goddess was overpowering her so easily, "What the hell happened to you? You shouldn't be this powerful!"

Whereas Arfoire was injured and winded, Purple Heart didn't look the least bit exhausted, nor did she have a scratch on her. Planeptune's goddess continued to focus her glowing eyes on the weary former goddess, feeling no inclination to explain how the ZERO System made the process off overwhelming her child's play, "I see no reason to tell you anything, other than that you are going to die here."

Arfoire detested how Purple Heart was looking down on her. There was no greater insult to the fallen CPU than to have a goddess that she had helped to create view her as inferior. Hoping to put Planeptune's goddess in her place, Arfoire planned to make her first attack a feint to lure in the purple haired goddess before dealing a fatal blow to the CPU. Raising her glaive above her head, the fallen CPU began to gather energy into a ball at the tip of her weapon, "You will pay for your insolence, Neptune!"

Under any other circumstances, Arfoire's plan might have worked. What she didn't know was that the ZERO System had already shown Purple Heart exactly what the former goddess was attempting, and had provide the swordstress with a number of ways to counter it. Naturally, she chose to follow one of the more violent options presented to her.

Instead of waiting on Arfoire to finish preparing her attack, Purple Heart immediately closed in on her before she had a chance to respond. One second was all it took for Planeptune's goddess to stop the former goddess from launching her attack. One instant that passed in the blink of an eye.

A sense of imbalance came over Arfoire, as if something wasn't quite right. Purple Heart was right in front of her, and it looked as though she had swung her sword, but the fallen goddess didn't feel any sharp pain anywhere on her body. Surely if the swordstress had attacked, then she would have felt something. So why did she feel as though something was wrong?

It wasn't until she began to bring down her right arm that Arfoire realized what was wrong. Everything from the elbow down of her right arm was gone. Purple Heart had cut Arfoire's arm off so quickly that her brain hadn't registered the injury yet. Even the blood cells in the stump that was now her arm had yet to realize they had been cut.

After five seconds of looking at the space where her arm was supposed to be, it finally dawned on Arfoire that her arm really was gone. As the reality began to sink in, the sharp pain from her now severed limb began to overtake Arfoire's senses, and blood finally began to rush out of the wound.

Besides the look of abject horror, Arfoire didn't get the chance to react to her lost limb before Purple Heart grabbed the former goddess by the face with her free hand, and plunge her sword into Arfoire's left shoulder, shoving the blade all the way through until the hilt stopped it from going any further. The fallen goddess screamed in pain, but her screams were muffled by the CPU's hand.

Even after cutting off one of Arfoire's arms and stabbing into her, Purple Heart still looked emotionless as she watched the former goddess writhe in agony. Try as she might, Arfoire was unable to pull the sword out of her shoulder, or free herself of Purple Heart's grip, "...Does it hurt? Are you in pain?"

With her sword still in Arfoire's shoulder, Purple Heart lifted the former goddess into the air. She wasn't finished with Arfoire yet. Nothing short of the former goddess's death would satisfy the swordstress. "I regret to inform you… That I'm not done with you."

Turning around, Planeptune's goddess threw Arfoire off her sword toward the forest the party had retreated into, promptly giving chase to the falling former goddess.

Xxx

After ducking into the forest, the party had focused their efforts on shaking the hordes of monsters that had followed after them. Once they had shaken off their pursuers, the girls returned their attention to actually leaving the island.

With the amount of time they had spend running, Lyrica was concerned that Heero might not have the strength left for the trip back to the mainland, "How is he? We spent a lot of time running from the monsters."

Compa could understand the singer's worries, yet despite the time they had invested in eluding the monsters, she could still hear faint breathing from Heero, "We should find someplace to stop and treat his injury. If we leave it open, Heero might not make it."

While she shared in Compa's line of thinking, IF didn't want to risk stopping until they were off the floating island full of monsters, "I agree, but not here. There are too many monsters around to make stopping an option. We'll have to wait until we get back to the capital."

As she kept lookout for any sign of monsters in the area, Nisa sought verification from Histoire that the group was heading in the right direction, "Histy, are you sure we're going the right way? I don't want to second guess you, but we're running short on time."

The Tome of the Goddesses was well aware of the fact that Heero could end up dying before the party made it back to the main landmass, and every second mattered, "Zero asked that I make a note of the escape route she planned before hand. If the information is correct, we shouldn't be too far from-"

An explosion interrupted the fairy-like girl. Everyone in the party stopped to see the large cloud of dust and debris rising into the air. Obviously, a monster couldn't have caused it, leading the girls to believe that Purple Heart and Arfoire were close by.

The sounds of battle drew closer as trees toppled over and birds were flying off to escape the acts of destruction. No one in the party knew just who was in control of the battles pace with all of the tree still there to obscure their view. It was when the sound of the ground getting pulverized stopped that the members of the party started to worry. What if Purple Heart had been struggling, and was now facing certain death?

There were a few members of the group that actually thought that their leader was in peril, but those ideas only circulated for a brief window of time before a few more trees were broken by an immense force, and a body came flying through forest into view.

It was Arfoire. The former goddess smashed into a tree that was along the path the party was taking to escape the island, and she was an absolute mess. Numerous cuts and bruises lined her body and face, and the sight of the fallen CPU with a missing arm provided some insight as to what Purple Heart was willing to do to her.

Arfoire struggled to lift herself up with the one arm she had left and as soon as her upper body was off the ground, Purple Heart descended from above, landing just in front of the former goddess. The fallen CPU froze upon seeing the CPU of Planeptune's visage, fear plain as day on her face.

Having listened to Arfoire bluster and make threats at both them and Gamindustri as a whole, it was startling to the group to see the former goddess seize up the way she was now. Gone was the bravado and condescension from before, replaced with unabated terror.

Purple Heart looked down at the fearful Arfoire, weighing how she would deal with the fallen CPU now that she was at her most vulnerable. The lack of movement and communication from her foe only heightened Arfoire's fear, causing her to lash out at the swordstress standing over her, "You… You can't possibly be a CPU! What the hell are you?!"

Planeptune's goddess allowed Arfoire to finish before plunging her sword into the back of the former goddess's hand, eliciting another pained scream from her, "...Your death."

Seeing Purple Heart torture Arfoire was alarming to the party. Even though the former goddess was evil, and may even have deserved it, the group knew that they shouldn't stoop to her level. Histoire floated past the other and tried to appeal to the goddess of Planeptune, "Neptune, there is no need to do this! She cannot fight anymore! ヽ ( ꒪д꒪ )ノ"

Purple Heart showed no willingness to remove her sword from Arfoire's hand, and continued to bore into the former goddess with her eyes while refuting Histoire's claim that what she was doing was not needed. "There was no need for her to manipulate Heero. To use him to terrify the people of Planeptune. And there was certainly no need for her to abuse him. Yet she did it anyway."

Compa didn't think she could take seeing Planeptune's goddess commit murder, even if it was because of cruel treatment towards Heero, "Nep-Nep, please don't do this. If Heero saw this..."

It was only after the nurse in training attempted to sway her while bringing up Heero's name that Purple Heart turned her attention to her party. "Why shouldn't I? She'll only cause more harm if I let her get away."

IF joined in on the attempt to dissuade the swordstress from going through with what she was planning, "Nep, I know she's a horrible person, and she's done some really terrible things… But there's no way Heero would want you to do this!"

Hearing IF raise an objection to killing had the opposite effect on Purple Heart. Instead of the CPU relenting, she began to question the party's allegiance, "Are you defending what she's done? After everything Heero has done for us, you would let her get away with this?"

Laced in the cold, monotone voice of Planeptune's goddess was a degree of hostility. If they were going to allow Arfoire to live after the damage she had done, then there was only one recourse. "If you are trying to defend her… that makes you my enemy. If you're my enemy, then I will be forced to annihilate you. Tell me, who among you is my enemy?"

A feeling of fear was cast over the girls as their leader asked if they were now her enemy. It seemed that any attempt at trying to stop her from killing Arfoire was viewed as betrayal, and was to be punished with death.

Hearing Arfoire make an attempt to escape drew Purple Heart's attention away for a moment. The goddess returned her gaze to the party, having determined that they might choose to turn on her at any moment, "I need to deal with this problem. Once I'm done with her, I expect an answer to my question."

Having given her warning, Purple Heart returned her attention to Arfoire, who was still struggling with the sword that kept her pinned to the ground. "Truthfully… I wanted to draw this out. I wanted to hear you beg for your life before I finally ended you." The swordstress of Planeptune pulled her sword out of Arfoire's hand, and before the former goddess could even think of running away, grabbed her by the neck. Purple Heart lifted her off the ground with one hand, and maintained a death grip that began to suffocate the fallen CPU, "But I know that the longer I drag this out, the more likely you are to escape… and I can't allow that."

Taking one step forward, Purple Heart slammed Arfoire against the tree in front of her. With the former goddess pinned and unable to escape, the CPU of Planeptune maneuvered her sword so that the tip was between Arfoire's eyes. Some of the hatred underneath her emotionless expression began to seep into Purple Heart's glowing eyes as she prepared to finish off the one responsible for leaving Heero on Death's door, "You took Heero's life. Now, I'm going to take yours."

The party could do nothing but watch as their leader prepared to murder the former goddess in cold blood Just as Purple Heart prepared to thrust her sword into Arfoire's head, Heero tried to call out to the goddess, "Ne...p...tu…ne..."

Heero's voice was very weak, just barely above a whisper. But it had been enough to reach Purple Heart's ears. Upon hearing the Perfect Soldier's voice, a shocked expression formed on the CPU's face, and the glowing gold color of her eyes receded until they had returned to the normal crystal blue.

Feeling the grip on her neck loosen, Arfoire used the opportunity to smack Purple Heart's hand away, and wasted no time in running into the forest to elude Planeptune's goddess. For as much as she wanted to go after Arfoire, Purple Heart placed greater importance on Heero and his well-being than getting revenge.

Planeptune's CPU quickly made her way over to the Gundam pilot, relieved that he was still alive. "Heero? Heero, please answer me!"

There was no response from Heero. What little strength he had gotten back had been used to bring the CPU back to her senses, and was back to hanging onto life by a thread. After having been silenced since the start of Purple Heart's rampage, Zero was finally able to speak once more, now that Planeptune's goddess had come back to her right state of mind, "(I sincerely hope you got that out of your system. I have strong reservations about your willingness to voluntarily allow the ZERO System to control you.)"

The CPU of Planeptune was ashamed of how she acted. She knew it was a bad idea to go through with it, but she simply couldn't help herself after seeing the state Heero had been left in, "I'm sorry… it's just… I couldn't forgive her for what she had done."

Zero couldn't entirely fault Purple Heart's decision, or dismiss it as something that only she would have done. Black Heart, her other possible candidate for using the ZERO System, for all her talk of not loving Heero, would most likely have followed a similar course of action as Planeptune's goddess. "(As long as you recognize your mistake, and don't repeat it… we'll end it at that. Heero wouldn't want you turning into someone like Arfoire.)"

Although she had made a mistake, Compa was relieved that the CPU was back to normal, "I'm just glad you didn't actually kill her. I'm not sure what I would have done if you had gone through with it."

Even IF was relieved at the outcome. Arfoire may have deserved to face judgment, but it shouldn't have been the way Purple Heart was about to deliver it, "You really had us scared for a moment. Heero was hard enough to deal with. I don't know how we would have stopped a goddess that could see the future."

Realizing that she had indeed threatened her party, Purple Heart tried to make amends for her actions, "Everyone… I'm sorry. I really let my emotions get the better of me, and I almost took it out on you."

As far as Nisa was concerned, the matter was already water under the bridge. There was no point in dwelling on the subject now that it was resolved, "Don't sweat it. We're all just glad you're back to normal."

Gust was also one not to dwell on the past, even if it was the immediate past, "Gust is happy, as long as party is happy. All's well that ends well."

Having witnessed the effects of the ZERO System, Green Heart was perturbed by the potential continued use of the future predicting system, "I know that Z wasn't joking about its effects… But to think it is capable of controlling a goddess. This system really is quite frightening. Even more so when you consider that Noire might have ended up with it."

Black Heart was in agreement with Leanbox's goddess… at least until she brought up the prospect of it being in her possession. At which point, Lastation's CPU was rather offended by the insinuation, "What the hell's that supposed to mean?! You make it sound as though if I were the one using it, I'd have a dangerous loss of control! I'll tell you right now, I wouldn't!"

After the brief discussion over the CPU of Planeptune and her blunder that nearly compelled her to kill, as well as the ZERO System itself, White Heart refocused the party's attention on the more pressing issue of Heero, "...If we're done here, then let's stop dragging our asses! In case you've forgotten, there's someone here that's dying!"

Remembering that the Gundam pilot still needed medical attention, the group of girls returned to navigating the final stretch of the forest that separated them from their way back to the mainland.

Xxx

Arfoire ran as fast and as far as she could from where Purple Heart was. The humiliation she felt over losing to Planeptune's goddess was overshadowed by the immense fear she had felt. The former goddess continued to run until it felt as though her lungs were burning.

After five minutes of running, Arfoire finally stopped, having gotten lost in the forest. As the fallen goddess struggled to catch her breath, her burning desire to see Neptune die was reignited. With virulent hatred in her eyes, Arfoire asserted that the goddess of Planeptune wouldn't be alive much longer, "Enjoy your victory while you can, Neptune. Enjoy it, and count the days until your life comes to an end. Soon, Planeptune will be no more!"

As she finished her declaration, the fallen CPU felt a sharp pain in her back that made it's way to her stomach. Arfoire looked down to find a set of blades protruding out from her stomach that were all too familiar. They were the sharp edges of the glaive she used, "You are quite right. Planeptune will be no more."

Arfoire slowly twisted her neck to look over her shoulder. Standing just behind her was Arfoire… not a doppelganger like herself, but the REAL Arfoire. The real Arfoire was there for one purpose, to dispose of the doppelganger that was no longer of any use to her, "You have served your purpose. I will not be needing you any further."

With that, the original Arfoire swiftly pulled her glaive out from the doppelgangers back. Just seconds after the sharp weapon was removed from her body, the fake Arfoire disintegrated into nothing, leaving only the original.

Having seen the state that her doppelganger was in, Arfoire couldn't help but be curious as to how Planeptune's goddess was able to reduce her to such a state. "I'm not sure how Neptune was able to pull that off. I suppose it doesn't matter."

A vindictive grin spread across the former goddess's face as she reveled in the knowledge that her plan to destroy Planeptune was nearly complete, and that there would be nothing stopping her from destroying Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox afterward, "All that is left to do is create an army of monsters to overwhelm Planeptune. Once the capital falls, Neptune will be no more! And the other landmasses will fall just as quickly!"

Xxx

Me: "Finally! Shit, I hadn't planned on it taking so long to put this chapter out. But, after stopping to look at the original write up, and comparing it to what I came up with here, I think both the chapter, and the story as a whole are better for it. And the silver lining is that the next chapter shouldn't take too long, since it won't be an action focused chapter."

Neptune: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "I'll tell ya what's not better, the fact that my lover was about to die by the end of the chapter! You didn't do that with the original!"

Me: "There's a lot I didn't do with the original. I didn't give you a Zero System to work with, I didn't make the overall situation more tense, I didn't let you go berserk, and I didn't let you give the Arfoire clone the beating she so richly deserved. That was why I was so disappointed with it, AND why I decided to scrap it and start over.

Zero: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "Try no to make this a habit. If you scrap an entire chapter worth of work simply because you're disappointed with it, this fanfiction may never get finished."

Me: "Don't say that, Z. I just wanted to make a chapter that I was proud of and that the readers wouldn't feel as though they had wasted their time looking at it."

Compa and IF: (Enter ACCC from Lounge) "Are you trying to give us a heart attack? Heero being nearly dead scared the crap out of me!"

Compa: "Couldn't you maybe not write a chapter that ends on such a dark note for us? We're all really worried about Heero."

Me: "Well, given how I've decided to lengthen the story, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to have the chapter end all sunshine and rainbows. There's gotta be some drama and tension, or it the work we put into the previous chapters will mean jack."

Noire, Blanc and Vert: (Enter ACCC from Game Room) "Tell me this is the only time you're gonna do something like this. Getting Heero all beat up like this is gonna piss some people off. Not that care or anything."

Blanc: "...I'm pretty pissed myself. Why couldn't you let me kick that bitch's ass?"

Vert: "I concur. Couldn't you at least discuss the matter with us before putting it in the story?"

Me: "No! If I brought the matter up to you guys, you would have shot it down. We need this to help round out the story. Now, I want to take a minute to address anyone that thought that this story was dead. Because the short answer is; no, it's not. I've said it before, I have invested too much time to let this story simply die off. Especially when this story is almost over. It's just that I've had to stop writing at times to try and work on my Twitch and or Youtube channels. Or because shit just happened."

Neptune: "Yeah! You gotta give me and Heero a happy ending! That's how these kinds of stories are supposed to go!"

Zero: "That certainly would be ideal. After the dark turn these past few chapters have taken, I'm certain everyone would like the story to end on a positive note."

Me: "Quite. Well, I believe it's time we brought this segment to a close so we can focus on the next chapter. But before we do I would like to have a last word with the readers. I know we're living in some dark times as of late, so I hope that my writing can provide some minuscule amount of comfort to you. Now then, Nep, I'll leave you and Zero to wrap this up for us."

Neptune: "Alrighty. But only because I've got Heero back."

Me, Compa, IF, Noire, Blanc, and Vert: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)

Neptune and Zero: (Turns to readers) "Please read and review this chapter, and look forward to the next update."

Neptune: "I mean, I've got my Destined Lover back! He's all beat up, but still! What's not to look forward to?"

Zero: "Well… the next chapter is going to be a bit slow, considering there won't be any of the action the readers seem to enjoy."

Neptune: "They'll just hafta deal with it. It'll ramp back up afterwards, it's gotta! Anyway, I need to go check on Heero. You can go back to playing with numbers and stuff if you want, Z."

Zero: "I can't help but feel like you're stereotyping. We should get back to work ourselves."

Neptune and Zero: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)