Stage 5. The Forsaken Sanctuary, Part III: The Goddess of Silver
[Neptune Acquired: Celestial Buster]
[Neptune Acquired: Nep Buster]
[Noire Acquired: Celestial Buster]
[Noire Acquired: Photon Buster]
[Noire Acquired: Photon Slayer]
Purple Heart wasted no time in disappearing and reappearing before Alastor with her swords at the ready. She swiftly swung down onto the demon, who barely managed to block her attack.
Alastor grunted, but quickly returned her attack with a counter slice. His eyes widened in horror when he realized that his attack had only managed to halt her sword. In fact, her sword was progressively closing in on his shoulder with each passing second.
Purple Heart's now silvery-white hair glittered in the dimly-lit room as her sparks flew from her sword. Shifting her footing, Purple Heart continued her relentless push, eventually getting the sword to loom right above his shoulder.
Alastor finally managed to slice to the side and narrowly managed to escape Purple Heart's attack. Had he not escaped in time, she would have easily removed his arm.
Purple Heart leapt behind him and managed to land a blow on his back. A stream of blood gushed out from the wound.
"Gah!" Alastor yelped. He immediately took to spinning on his heel and unleashed a heavy blow onto her katana.
Purple Heart cringed, but quickly extended the arm that was holding Noire's sword. When she did so, the small cylinder between the two blades on the sword slightly expanded and eventually formed the barrel of a cannon. She grinned as the barrel began to shine with energy.
Alastor's face twisted into one of annoyance. "I forgot, that sword's second power is-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence. While his arm was preoccupied with attempting to land a hit on Purple Heart, she swiftly placed the barrel of the newly-formed swordcannon in front of Alastor's abdomen and pulled the trigger that appeared on the handle.
Alastor screamed in agony as a stream of electrified, stardust-covered energy sent him sailing towards the ceiling of the room and eventually caused him to crash against it.
Vert and Blanc watched with astonishment. "When did she get that upgrade?" Vert asked Blanc curiously.
"Hell if I know," Blanc answered irately. Looking up at Alastor, she grinned to herself and summoned her axe. "But what I do know is that that cheeky bastard deserves a little payback," she muttered deviously.
Vert grinned as she summoned her drill spear. "I agree, let's join her shall we?" she replied in agreement.
The two immediately sped towards Alastor, who was still imbedded in the ceiling. Seeing their swiftly approaching figures, he managed to dodge their attack; however, he was unsuccessful in dodging Purple Heart's second blast of energy. This time he was sent flying into the wall with a loud CRASH!
Blanc and Vert hovered over to Purple Heart, who hadn't taken her eyes off of Alastor for even a second. "Got any more tricks you haven't told us about?" Vert asked teasingly.
Purple Heart eyed the two with a hint of interest before placing her hands over their abdomens. "Not really," she muttered as the two began to light flame.
Blanc's and Vert's eyes widened with shock and fear as Purple Heart's hands reached into their bodies. Blanc attempted to struggle and turned to Vert for assistance, but soon noted that Vert had already accepted her fate. Seeing this, Blanc nodded and did the same. When they finally burst into flame, their blue and green flames covered Purple Heart's body.
Alastor watched the spectacle from where he was embedded in the wall and muttered, "Well I'll be damned."
When she remerged from the flames, Purple Heart's eyes were now gold in color and her suit was glowing with a golden light. Purple Heart's katana's color scheme changed from black and purple to white and gold respectively. The pattern scene in the mural engraved itself onto the sword. She was the spitting image of the woman in the mural.
[Neptune Acquired Vert's Goddess Fragment]
[Neptune Obtained Blanc's Goddess Fragment]
[Neptune Acquired C-Trans: Vert]
[Vert Acquired C-Trans: Neptune]
[Neptune Acquired C-Trans: Blanc]
[Blanc Acquired C-Trans: Neptune]
[Neptune can now use Hard-Drive-Merge with Vert]
[Vert can now use Hard-Drive-Merge with Neptune]
[Neptune can now use Hard-Drive-Merge with Blanc]
[Blanc can now use Hard-Drive Merge with Neptune]
Looking down at Alastor, she asked, "Are you going to stay there all day, or are we going to settle this?"
Alastor shook his head and descended to the floor. He clenched a fist before muttering, "I have a physical body again. I should make use of that."
Overhearing his monologue, Purple Heart raised an eyebrow and descended toward him. "What?"
A black and red vortex suddenly appeared over their heads. Crimson bolts of lightning shot from it, striking random points on the ground below. Suddenly, from within the darkness the Gehaburn appeared before Alastor. He took hold of it, his crimson eyes trained on Purple Heart. "This is only a copy, but it should be strong enough to deal with you," he said with a stoic voice.
Purple Heart readied her swords and lunged for the demon, but this time she was met half-way. "What the?"
"My speed is near doubled with this equipped," he muttered darkly. He disappeared, appearing behind her and barely managing to graze her body suit, disappearing and once again reappearing. He continued this pattern for several strikes. There were too many attacks to count and Purple Heart was having a hard time keeping up.
She cringed as a gigantic barrier of golden energy burst forth from her body and sent Alastor flying a distance away from her. This time, he managed to stop himself from crashing into anything.
Purple Heart quickly dispersed her two weapons and this time summoned Blanc's axe and began to spin in circles with it. The axe began to enlarge with each passing cycle until it became a gigantic spinning blade of death. With her remaining arm, she summoned Vert's drill spear and made it spin in reverse, creating a vortex that was sucking any loose material and debris into the spinning drill and demolishing it.
Alastor attempted to hold onto what little footing he had before the vortex began to draw him towards the drill spear. He looked down to see Purple Heart continuing to spin the axe, while somehow keeping the drill spear steady. Glaring down at her he created a ball of fire and flung it down towards her, only to note that the flames got sucked into the drill spear.
Having noticed that her weapon was on fire, Purple Heart dispersed her weapons and leapt a distance from her opponent. Summoning her swords, Purple Heart kept her gaze trained on the demon.
Alastor gaped as a gigantic "N" appeared beneath her. She lunged at him and began to slice him multiple times. Neptune Breaker huh? he thought to himself quietly. How wrong he was.
Just when the final two blows should be struck, she hovered in the air and gathered a large amount of energy with her sword. Gripping the katana and the swordcannon, she swung them both and unleashed a huge x-shaped blade of magical energy that raced toward Alastor and engulfed him completely.
Alastor screamed in pain as the blast erupted around him. A pillar of golden light shot forth from the ceiling, broke through it, and continued on into the boundless sky.
[Victory!]
[Neptune Level Up! Level 12]
[Noire Level Up! Level 11]
[Blanc Level Up! Level 11]
[Vert Level Up! Level 13]
Histoire awoke with a start in a cold sweat. She panted heavily as she floated into the air. That was a horrible dream, she thought to herself quietly. Looking towards the tower where the Gehaburn lay, she sighed to herself.
I should have never programmed that sword into this world from that other Gamindustri, she thought to herself sadly. Suddenly, a golden pillar of light shot forth from the tower with a loud, BOOM, and continued on into the sky. Histoire gasped and floated a few paces backward. "No," she muttered in disbelief.
The small fairy immediately took to checking all of the girls' rooms, but found that only Rom and Ram were where they should be. This isn't good! she thought to herself worriedly. Without a moment's delay, she sped towards the tower of the Gehaburn.
Alastor lay on the ground, writhing in pain. Sparks of gold-colored electricity flew off of the demon. Purple Heart stood before him, blades at the ready. "Talk, why did you attack us?" Purple Heart asked seriously.
Alastor shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. I highly doubt you have all of your past memories. Go, get out of here. You need to leave before The Dark One arrives," Alastor answered cryptically.
Purple Heart raised an eyebrow. "Wait, weren't you just trying to kill me? Why are you trying to help us now, and what is this about 'past memories' and 'The Dark One?'" Purple Heart asked curiously.
Alastor shook his head. "You never could let things go, I'm sorry things turned out this way, Neptune. If things had gone better, maybe you wouldn't have died back then," he said to her sadly.
Purple Heart raised an eyebrow. There was more than one thing wrong with what Alastor had just said. The first was that he was being completely friendly, a huge change from his initially hostile behavior. The second was that his voice was now that of a woman's.
Alastor held his head and groaned. "The curse is probably weakening from my lack of energy. I'll revert to my true form for a short time. I highly doubt you'll recognize me though," he told her cryptically.
"Curse? What are you talking about?" Purple Heart asked.
Alastor didn't answer and instead chose to stare at the hole in the ceiling. Without a word, he rose to his feet and staggered toward the goddess. A violent flash of light blinded her, and when it faded a boy no longer stood before her. What stood before her was a girl with long, black hair and dazzling, silver eyes.
The woman struggled to remain standing and firmly gripped her shoulder. "I'm sorry I put you through that Neptune. The curse of the will of the Gehaburn occasionally affects my sanity," she said quietly.
Purple Heart stood there dumbfounded as four separate minds tried to process what had just occurred within her.
Blanc, Vert, Noire, and Neptune all stood alongside Purple Heart and viewed the image before them. "He, she, he genderbent into a girl!" Neptune shouted in a bewildered voice.
Neptune wasn't the only one confused and completely bewildered by the sudden turn of events.
"This isn't the manga about the kid who genderbends when hot water's poured on him!" Blanc shouted confusedly.
Vert crossed her arms. "Indeed, but I must admit that she's quite stunning," she said more to herself than to the others.
Noire however had a different train of thought. "Maybe I'm the only one who noticed, but did anyone notice that her color scheme is the exact opposite of Purple Heart's?" she asked curiously.
Vert shrugged. "It's probably some cheap attempt at yin and yang," she hypothesized offhandedly.
"Perhaps her power is the opposite of our own," Blanc theorized.
Turning to Purple Heart, Neptune asked, "Do you know her bigger me?"
Purple Heart shook her head with a sigh. "Must you call me that? My name is Purple Heart. To answer your question though, no, I don't know her," answered the taller goddess.
Neptune shook her head. "Then what do you want me to call you? Partner? Other me? Oh or better yet, Ate-"
"Okay you're getting way too carried away over there!" Noire shouted, interrupting Neptune's joke.
Vert nodded. "She's right Neptune. This is a serious problem," she reminded.
Blanc growled. "Like hell it is! Forget about the chick, how do we get out of here?" she yelled.
Purple Heart sighed and shook her head. "You're always like that, ever-so temperamental," she said amused.
Blanc turned to her, a threatening gleam in her eyes. "What did you say?" she spat. Glaring at the taller goddess's bust, she yelled, "Just because yours are almost as big as Thunder Tit's!"
Vert covered her bosom and yelled, "Must you always call me that?"
Just as Blanc was about to summon her hammer, the four CPU began to become transparent. Neptune began to run in circles in a panic. "Nooooo! I don't wanna kick the bucket yet!" she yelled fearfully.
"Be calm Neptune. I'm just returning control of your body over to you. The others will return to having their own bodies momentarily," Purple Heart told her gently.
Neptune turned to face her. "Will we ever talk again? If not, I totally need your number," Neptune asked her half-seriously, half-goofily.
Purple Heart smiled. "When you want to talk to me, just call for me. Do so in your head though. You'll worry the others if you start talking to yourself aloud," she replied.
Neptune smiled as her body finally disappeared. Her final words rang out throughout the plain, white space, "Coolio! Talk to ya soon!"
Neptune and the girls awoke in their human forms face to face with the girl before them. Out of her HDD form, this girl towered over Neptune. "So that's what happened," the girl muttered quietly.
Noire was the first to interrogate her. "Who are you? Why were you a guy? And WHY did you attack us?" she asked aggressively.
The girl nodded to her. "My name's Umbra," she answered quietly. She cringed, shaking her head. "I don't have much time. I won't be able to stay as my true self for much longer, so I'll try to explain as fast as I can-"
"Stop right there. Who are you?" Histoire's voice asked seriously.
Umbra immediately turned to face the small fairy. "Histore."
Histoire turned to face the four goddesses, who in turn looked away. "May I ask what led you four to travel into this tower?" she asked with exasperation.
"We went to check this place out, but when Neptune opened the door a creepy voice told us to 'leave while [we] still [could],' and we sort of just strolled in and got locked in shortly after," Vert explained quickly.
Histoire quickly floated over to the goddesses and embraced them. "Thank goodness you four are alright," she said with relief. Turning her gaze to Umbra, she asked, "How do you know my name? Who are you?"
Umbra raised an eyebrow. "I'm Umbra, but you might know me as the Will of the Gehaburn. I think the energy supplying the curse ran out after my fight with them; as a result, I'll be in my true form for a little while," she answered with a hint of confusion.
"Is something wrong?" Histoire asked curiously.
"I have about a minute left, so if you really don't remember me I should probably tell you everything I know," answered Umbra. Looking towards the four, she told Histoire, "I don't know what happened exactly, but they managed to return to their original state."
Histoire raised an eyebrow. "Original state? What are you talking about?" she replied.
Eyeing the fairy more closely, Umbra's eyes widened with shock. I was right, she thought to herself. "You're not the Histoire from my world," she said loudly.
Histoire's eyes lit with interest. "There's an Histoire in your world?" asked the tome.
Umbra shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know if that's true anymore, but there was. Listen to me. You must find a way to restore them to their original states. Noire, Vert, and Blanc probably lost their goddess fragments to Neptune when they used Hard-Drive-Merge (HDM). If they remain this way, their energies will be constantly be absorbed by one another and they will eventually destroy each other!" she yelled worriedly.
The CPU and Histoire stared at Umbra skeptically. "Impossible, there is no such means that could simultaneously destroy multiple CPU so easily," Histoire argued.
Umbra shook her head. "Try to sense their fragments. Neptune should have all of them," Umbra urged.
Histoire did as she was told, but soon discovered that Umbra was right. Neptune had the fragments and at the same time, the energies of the four CPU were splurging between each other uncontrollably. If this kept up, they really would run out of energy and die. "What can we do?" Histoire asked urgently.
Umbra shook her head. "If this keeps up, they will keep absorbing from each other until they die. Someone will have to become the dominant body and permanently absorb the other three," she answered sadly.
"You're kidding me!" Noire yelled. "So we're all gonna die if we don't pick someone to absorb the rest of us?" she asked worriedly.
Vert and Blanc took a step back. "Like hell that's gonna be me," Blanc said darkly.
Vert summoned her halberd, nervously preparing her battle stance. "H-Hold on, let's just calm down Blanc," she said soothingly.
Before anyone could say anything, Blanc swung at Vert, causing Neptune and Noire to join in the fight. Soon enough, all four of them were fighting, but not like they do when they insult each other's consoles. This was a fight to kill one another.
"I refuse to be absorbed by any of you!" Vert yelled angrily.
"Yeah right! I can't let any of you icy bitches become the true goddess!" Blanc yelled.
Noire grinned as her rapier collided with Blanc's hammer. "True goddess huh? That's got a nice ring to it," she said merrily as their blades collided.
"I'm the main character so if anyone's gonna die it won't be me!" Neptune yelled as her weapon collided with the other girls' weapons.
Histoire could only watch in horror as the news of their plight plunged all four CPU into a senseless conflict aiming for the heads of the others. "Girls stop!" she begged. Her worst fear had finally been realized: the tragedy of the Gehaburn relived.
Umbra yelped as her body was covered in a darkened mist. She growled as she felt her body transforming. "D-Damn it, I'm out of time," she murmured with frustration. When the mist subsided, Alastor stood before them once again. The usually peaceful sky sounded with thunder and a melodramatic laugh filled the air.
"Hahaha! Did you really think that you could escape me so easily Histoire?" Arfoire's voice teased.
"Arfoire!" Histoire yelled with shock.
The girls stopped for a moment to see the sky twist into a nightmarish black and red. A bolt of lightning struck the tower with a thunderous CRASH! The four CPU knew no more.
[Save?]
Author's Notes:
Noire's sword is not actually a swordcannon in the real games. I just noticed that her original HDD weapon had a small cylinder in-between its two blades and decided to take advantage of that to do something creative for it for the fused form. Either way, we have finally finished the introductory arc! I can officially welcome you into the first official "chapter" of the game. Hope you enjoy it!
Next Time: Stage 6. The War Begins Anew