But in another timeline, things went very differently.
That version of Red succeeded. She won the war.
But not all versions of Red did.
One of those versions told her story to a bunch of CPUs she'd previously worked to embarrass, telling her story about how in her timeline, the war never even really started on her side.
This version of Red, after Tarou invaded her nation, fled into the woods. Her sister tried to follow, but she was quickly killed by Tarou before she could. This version of Red never came across the portal Chena and Eva were working on, and thus never traveled to Hyperdimension. She never met friends that gave her strength to fight back against Tarou, never had her sister to bring her spirits back up and keep her going.
So she ran.
Over time, Tarou systematically made his way across the continent, slaughtering every single CPU and CPU Candidate that stood in his way. He killed Chena and Eva before they could finish the portal, and, unable to figure out how to get it to work, he simply left it there along with their bodies as a reminder to his work.
Soon, the entire continent was under his thumb. Eventually he'd send his candidates to nations across the sea, which stood no chance against their horrific might.
Tarou conquered the world, just as he said he would.
One day, though, Red snuck back to her Basilicom while Tarou and his candidates were gone. She snuck inside, and even though some people saw her, no one reported her, of course.
She made her way into the lower levels, where she had a special item stored.
She had to avert her eyes when she saw Aila's body in a glass coffin.
Eventually she got to her storage room, which, while Tarou had broken into, once she'd stepped inside, she could see he'd likely only taken a glance at several items.
Not that he would've found what she was looking for.
She went to the back of the large room, and pulled away a false wall to reveal a hidden door, which she opened and stepped inside of.
As she walked down the hallway, she was thankful Tarou hadn't found this item. She could only imagine what he'd be able to do with its power.
She reached the door at the end, and opened it up too, finally emerging into a small room with a glass case atop a pedestal in the middle. Inside the glass case was a dimly glowing crystal.
Red had found this item one day and for a long time, she couldn't figure out what it was. It looked like a share crystal, but she couldn't sense any share energy from it despite the fact that it glowed. On top of that, it just had a different aura around it, one that she couldn't quite explain.
After some time she did come to realize what it was—an infinite share crystal. And item that Red had only heard of in legends, and now she'd just found one, and it was in her basement. The rumors said it had the power to allow one to travel across dimensions, and store a limitless amount of share energy for one to draw from. Red was more interested in the first one.
So she nabbed the crystal and fled once more.
Once she'd made it back to her small home in the woods, she'd held onto the crystal and examined it. She had to play around with it for a while before she realized she had to shove some of her own shares into it for it to work. So she did. She held the crystal to her chest and deposited some of her precious shares into the crystal, watching as the dim glow became a little bit brighter. As soon as it did, she felt the overwhelming power erupt from the crystal as it essentially waited for her to tell it what to do.
"Get me away from this…from everything." She asked the crystal, and its light pulsed. "I just don't want to be here anymore…" In a moment, its light became blinding, and she cried out as the glow enveloped her, and then…she was gone.
Once she awoke, she was in a field of darkness. The flat ground was dark, as was the empty sky. There was nothing. She was away from everything, just as she'd asked.
Finally, she cried.
She mourned the loss of her friends, of everything she had. She had a feeling she knew why Tarou had done what he did, but it still didn't feel right. Sure, Red partially blamed herself for what had happened, but Tarou was the one who killed everyone, and every time she heard news of a new CPU being killed, she bottled it up inside, trying not to let it get to her. When she was able to fall asleep peacefully enough to dream, all she could see was nightmares of her friends being slaughtered.
So now that she was in a place of absolute safety, she cried for them. She cried for everything that had happened. She wasn't sure how long it lasted, but eventually…she stopped.
And then she felt alone.
She curled into a ball and slept in that darkness. The only light she had was the dim crystal next to her. Once again, she didn't know how long she slept. It could've been hours, or it could've been days. Hell, it could've been years for all she knew.
When she did get up again, she once again felt alone, and the crystal seemed to call out to her. It still held some of her energy, so she drew upon the energy and wished. Wished for company, for someone to be here with her, to join her in this emptiness.
And so her wish was granted.
She cried out as something burst from her chest. A tentacle, inky and black, slithering out from her chest, followed by another, and another. They slammed into the ground and used it as leverage to pull itself out of her, a massive eye emerging from within her, and finally flopping onto the ground as Red collapsed, her energy completely drained. She was, for all intents and purposes now, human.
But it didn't matter. Whatever weird thing she had created…she felt a motherly feeling towards it as soon as her eyes met its one.
"My Lady…" it seemed to speak in a deep, relaxing voice as it made a motion that looked like bowing. It took her a moment to realize it was speaking telepathically. The massive being was a wriggling mass of tentacles with its eye at the center, yet she wasn't disgusted. Instead she felt joy, then sadness.
"I…don't deserve that title." She said, and his eye opened.
"Even if you feel you don't, I will still refer to you as so. You are my creator, and now because of that, I am eternally in debt to you. I will follow you to the end of your life and mine, and do whatever you need me to do." It said. Red stayed silent for a while.
"So…you have my memories, yes?" She asked.
"All of them, yes." It answered.
"Then, let me ask you…how do we fight him? Is there a way we could possibly win against that monster? Even Arun wasn't able to defeat him…" she asked.
"The crystal, My Lady." It answered. She picked it up, and held it to her chest. It was still warm.
"What…?"
"It can hold an infinite amount of power. Limitless energy for you to use." It said. "All you need to do is collect shares." Red was about to speak but it continued. "You may not be able to gather energy from your home anymore, but the crystal still has some energy left. You can travel somewhere new, somewhere far away, a universe far away from Tarou, and begin to gather energy there."
Red went along with the plan, and using the last of the crystal's energy, she opened a portal far away, to a universe far unlike her own. One with a school for good and evil children taught to be made into fairy tail heroes and villains. Red could tell as soon as they arrived that they were in the middle of someone else's story, watching over a small town as two friends, seemingly just gotten out of a terrifying situation, tried to readjust to life in their old town.
They watched from their darkness. Red knew she could enter the universe herself if she wished, though if she did, she wouldn't be able to leave.
Instead, she watched, clutching the still warm crystal to her chest.
She watched the two friends grow closer, and share a night of passion that made the girl blush. But as the two made love, a strange sort of warmth filled her body, and before she even knew what she was doing, a pen appeared in her hand and she began to write, using the air as her paper. She transcribed what she saw in an almost hypnotic state, as if someone else was controlling her body. She wrote everything that happened, and once it was done, the portal closed, and the crystal went dark. Her words inscribed in the air glowed as they rested, and Red sighed.
"What…?" She asked, and watched as the words flashed, then seemed to shoot up into the sky. She watched them as they flew, and in a moment, they lit up the sky above her. In that brief moment, she saw what lied about them. An uncountable amount of cables, pale, almost invisible light pulsing through them. Her words transferred into those cables, fed into whatever giant machine it was a part of.
Then for a while, nothing happened, and Red slept once more.
When she awoke, she was surprised to find something else in front of her. Words, encased in a bubble, like what she had written before. The bubble flew towards her hands, and as it touched her, it popped, and a robotic voice spoke the words within.
"Nice!"
Then the voice faded, and the words were gone, seemingly sucked into nothingness. Another bubble slowly floated down, and she reached for it as well. As it touched her, it did the same, and a different voice spoke.
"The ending made me laugh. Definitely something new to the fandom."
The words faded once more, but…Red was astounded by what she saw. The words didn't actually disappear. Instead, they seemed to funnel into the crystal, and as they did…it began to glow. Red picked up the crystal…and the warmth was there again. It flowed into her, and she couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face. She felt an unexplainable happiness throughout her body as she clutched it tightly to her chest.
"It seems you've found a new source of share energy." The being she'd created said. She looked to it, and it met her gaze.
"How…?"
"It seems you transcribing what you witnessed in that one universe, then sending it up into that strange mass of cables, sent it out for other beings to view. In turn, they left you 'comments' on your 'work', and that gave you some share energy." It explained. "That's what I think, anyway."
"So…if I do it again…"
"You may be able to gather more. Perhaps if you get good at it, it could even become exponential, and you gain more and more with each one you do. Though I suppose we would be getting ahead of ourselves with that, wouldn't we?" The being said. "For now, I would say find another universe, and write what you see." It said. Red nodded, and after taking some of the share energy again, she wished for a new place, a new universe, where something else could be happening for her to write about.
It gave her what she wanted, though this was even more embarrassing.
She came across a universe where a girl with red and black hair seemingly discovered a porn dvd her sister owned, and after watching it, that sister, a blonde, busty, fiery girl, then…had sex with her sister. That definitely made Red…well…red in the face, but nevertheless, she wrote down what she saw, and once it was done, she sent it up into the void.
This time, the comments came much faster.
"Game of thrones taught me something. INCEST IS WINCEST !!! And you did it GOOD !!"
Now, Red wasn't sure what a lot of that meant, but after that, more comments flowed, more than last time, all getting sucked into her crystal, making it even brighter than before.
"It's working, and stronger now." The being said. "Perhaps this can work after all."
"Perhaps. But…" She thought about Tarou, how powerful the man was, enough to take over the entire planet. How much share energy would even be enough to fight him? Was there enough out there for her to even stand a chance?
"It's worth a try, isn't it?" The being asked, and after a moment of consideration, Red nodded, and she continued on.
Red didn't immediately look for a new universe, though. After seeing how well received this one was, she experimented with it more. She discovered not only could she see different universes, but different timelines. So she checked out different timelines of this universe, and as she saw more and more, she received more comments, more shares.
She even started to get used to the…lewd things she saw. Sometimes, even incredibly depraved stuff. She wrote down all of it and sent it up, and her crystal grew a little bit brighter every time.
She even discovered that her creation could even manipulate things. The being could manipulate probability, to make unlikely things more likely to happen, or change some of the peoples' actions and thoughts, even if slightly. This allowed them to start influencing things directly, and this allowed for even more control as Red started to learn how everything worked.
She got better at the writing, learning that she could tag her works in specific ways, leave descriptions, titles, and more. It was a very surreal feeling, writing these stories for people she would never meet, never even see. But the warmth that the crystal gave off was, on its own, enough for her to keep going.
She got better and better, and experimented more with even more depraved and downright dark and disturbing things, and was met with praise from that as well. And in a way, she was enjoying herself. Maybe even becoming a little too desensitized.
And then, one day, things changed…when she discovered a new timeline…in a familiar universe. Though she'd come to find with this one in particular, it would be better to refer to it as a different dimension.
She found a dimension of CPUs, the word initially making her tense up, before she saw that it was a world completely different from the one she knew. It was still named Gamindustri, but the land was different, the CPUs were different, everything was different. There was no war, only friendliness and peace and happiness. And…when Red saw that…she should've felt happiness, or hope…but all she felt was…sadistic glee.
Potential.
So after experimenting with different timelines of the people within, she eventually sent the being to directly influence things within a fresh timeline, to see what could happen.
"My Lady?" The being asked as it prepared to leave through the portal.
"Yes?" Red asked as she admired the new black outfit she'd created for herself out of the cosmic fabric of the void she rested in.
"What is my name?"
This gave the girl pause as she looked at it. They'd spent a long time together, could've been weeks, months, or even years, and yet she'd never given it a name. So she decided to give it one that, considering what they'd been doing, felt very fitting.
"I shall call you Lust." She said. She could feel it smiling.
"Thank you, My Lady." Lust said as it left.
After that, the story was as her audience knew. The CPUs of this timeline had found the being, and it had led to them getting thrust into dozens of embarrassing situations, all of which Red transcribed and sent off into the void, which was met with resounding joy that fed into her brightly glowing crystal, and continuing to make her stronger and stronger. And it made her feel good.
Until it didn't.
As she watched Lust do his thing on the CPUs, Red began to feel a strange…tugging in her heart. She didn't know how to explain it exactly but…it almost felt like she knew these people, these CPUs, even though she had never seen them before she found them. Yet it kept gnawing at her, and it grew worse and worse, especially once she saw them preparing to fight back at full force. She watched them assemble weapons, armor, tools, and as they walked towards the cave her creation rested in…she looked to her crystal. It was glowing so bright that it looked like a sun in the dark void. It provided her endless, beautiful warmth. There was more power inside that crystal at that moment than she had ever thought possible to exist.
Maybe it was finally enough.
So as they began to fight, Red finally intervened, and revealed herself to the CPUs. She was radically different from how she used to be. She had a more somber mood, and a darker appearance. She was more pale, her hair frazzled. But she still had a heart, and so, she sat the CPUs down and explained everything.
Which is how we got to now.
"I know it doesn't make up for everything we've done." Red said as she finally finished her story. "But I hope it can help explain why I did what I did. I think…somewhere along the way I stopped seeing everyone as people and started seeing them as characters instead. I'm…I'm sorry." Nobody spoke for a while, the silence lingering.
"I mean, I can forgive you."
Red looked up to see Neptune smiling at her.
"B-Big Sis? Are you…?" Nepgear started, but Neptune shook her head.
"Look, it's not like we got…you know!" Neptune said. "And it's also not like our reputation went down the drain or anything! In fact, our shares have gone up!"
"At the expense of our modesty." Nepgear countered, but Neptune just waved her hand.
"Please. We wear skimpy outfits that sometimes only barely cover anything. Plus with so many people wanting to see us, I'm sure nudes of us were circulating before this ever happened." Neptune said.
"Neptune! I was almost…raped…you know." Noire said softly. This time, Lust spoke up.
"If any of you had gotten truly close to having sex we would've stepped in…unless of course it was consensual." It said as it looked at IF and Compa, who blushed furiously. "Yes it was somewhat close, but not enough for us to think you needed saving. If he had approached you with his penis out, I would've stopped him."
"How can I believe you?" Noire asked, though she was already looking somewhat convinced.
"You have to choose to. I promise you I would have. For any of you. I may have gotten annoyed that you wanted to fight me, but that's only because that's never happened before." It's eye closed and it tilted forward, as if to bow. "I apologize." Finally, Noire stopped, but Nepgear wasn't ready.
"Despite that, I still don't think I can forgive her. I've been seen…naked…by hundreds…thousands of people…I just…can't." Nepgear said softly. Red looked to the ground.
"I…understand." Red said quietly. "But…I had to. I needed those shares. I need to beat Tarou. I need…to avenge my sister." Nepgear suddenly looked up, and slowly turned to face Red, her expression…conflicted.
"I…" Nepgear paused, and glanced at Neptune, who gave her a smile. Nepgear looked back at Red, and after a few moments she sighed.
"Fine. I don't…fully forgive you…but I understand." Nepgear finally said, and a small smile appeared on Red's face.
"Thank you." She stood. "Now that my story is finished…I must go."
"You're going to face Tarou, aren't you?" Neptune asked, and Red nodded. "Can you…?"
"I…don't know." Red admitted. "But I must try, with all that I have, for all that I have lost." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them once more. "Once again, I apologize for my actions…and thank you for persevering." She turned, and in front of her appeared her crystal. It began to glow as a portal opened in front of her, one that led into a dark forest. She looked over her shoulder at them. "This is goodbye." She said, before finally entering her home dimension for the first time in a long time. Lust floated there for a moment, looking back at the group, before he too left, and the portal closed.
"Good luck." Neptune said in the now empty dungeon.
"I saw her."
Tarou sat up. "Where?"
"In the forest of Reepage." Moku reported.
"Why didn't you attack?" He asked. She met his eyes.
"Because she was coming here." Moku said. "She was mumbling to herself about confronting you, almost as if she was rehearsing the battle." The girl smirked. "What a nerd." Tarou took in this information and smirked as well.
"What a nerd indeed. She thinks she can just waltz in and beat me, or all of you, just like that? She must have been doing some training in the woods and thinks that's enough to fight me. I doubt she even has many shares, if any, considering most think she's dead like the rest." Tarou said. "Either way…I'll send you after her. Don't kill her though…I want the final blow, am I understood?" His siblings spoke their understanding, and without another word, filed out, leaving Tarou to sit back in his throne once more, still smiling to himself.
As Red stared up at the looming tower of a Basilicom, she had to take another breath, though this one was much more shaky. She looked down to see three figures approaching.
The candidates.
"Was wondering when you'd show your pretty face~!" Janpu said with a smirk. "Took you long enough!"
"You're a coward, you know that?" Moku shouted as she slammed her axe into the ground. The two of them were up front while Tatak was standing behind them. Danga was nowhere to be seen, but Red was sure she was somewhere up on a hill watching and taking aim. "Couldn't even save your sister."
"Don't." Red said as she shook her head. She wasn't really in the mood for pleasantries, so without another moment to spare, her crystal appeared behind her and began to glow brightly. Moku and Janpu took a step forward, but the crystal flew to Red's hand, and as she grasped it, the power flowed into her, and the ground around her exploded with energy as she transformed. Not into HDD, but something more.
Her NEXT form.
As the light faded, and the crystal floated back behind her, the candidates looked upon her. Her petite body was clad in a skintight white and black bodysuit with red highlights, shoulder and knee pads adoring her body, as well as armor around her waist and chest. A black and white helmet rested on her head that collapsed down, covering her head and allowing her to see through an energy shield. Black metallic wings spread majestically from her back as she held two pulsing double bladed sickles. She narrowed her eyes at her opponents, who snarled and transformed as well.
Janpu emerged wearing a dark blue suit of armor, staring at her with a smile of confidence and self importance. Moku stood clad in a flowing blue and black bodysuit with poofy arms and legs, her face stern. Both of their hair changed shades, Moku's getting lighter as Janpu's became darker. Tatak was now clad in a handsome suit as his eyes glowed lightly. Birds in the area began to swarm around him as all three stared at her.
"Come at me." Red said, and the battle began.
Janpu and Moku rushed forward, swinging axe and staff down at her. She easily brought her own blades up and met theirs, the clanging sound causing their ears to ring. Red kicked out Janpu's knee, sending him down as she sliced across his face, and he cried out as he began to bleed from the gash on his face. Red pulled her weapon away from him and pushed against Moku, shoving forward and throwing the girl off her feet as Janpu came in again, where she met him as well. She twisted her blades around his staff and yanked it out of his hands, tossing it behind her before delivering a kick to his chest. He grabbed her foot, and threw her over him, onto the ground behind him. She cried out as she struck the ground, and suddenly that swarm of birds attacked. They squawked in her ears as they pecked at her, each peck like a needle, more annoying than painful individually, but all at once, moreso. Her vision was obscured, but in a moment, they parted, and Red saw an axe heading down at her.
She barely had time to bring her blades up to meet her as the clang of their weapons was so powerful the ground cracked underneath her. Red wrapped her legs around Moku, and twisted her body, flipping them over so Red straddled Moku, now the one pushing down on her. She only had a second of power though before a staff slammed into her face and sent her flying. It didn't hurt too much thanks to her helmet, and she was able to get to her feet before she even stopped moving. The birds flew in again, and she began to cut them apart as she kept her eyes peeled.
Then a bullet grazed her ear.
She looked to see Danga perched on a hill, her gun aimed. Red knew she'd been virtually wide open. She should've killed her, but she didn't. That means…
They aren't going for a kill.
She barely dodged as a bullet grazed her side, meant to subdue her. Red smiled, knowing that this would be much easier if they weren't aiming to kill. Red felt the crystal flow power into her body and in a split second, she unleashed it in a wave around her, immediately ending the lives of the animals swarming her. As she did that, she also saw it send Janpu back after he'd tried to swarm her. She also turned to see Moku heading her way, and ducked down as she swung her axe, catching it between her blades, whipping around, and kicking out her knee the same way she'd done to Janpu. This sent her down, and Red sliced at her back, cutting into her skin before she aimed for her neck as Moku's back arched as she let out a screech of pain.
Janpu smacked her once again, barely depriving her off her kill as he snarled, and immediately rushed again. More bullets rained down on Red as her and Janpu traded blows. It was a lot to keep track of, but she'd been training for this, so she was able to keep up. His staff went for her side, she caught it. It went for her face, she blocked it. Every time he tried to strike, she would meet him, and push him back. His anger visibly grew as Moku pulled herself to her feet, and grabbed her axe again, though Red could see it pained her to do so.
Red finally pushed Janpu back, and then quickly moved around him, attacking his head and neck. She wasn't able to cut through it completely, but she left several gashes that made him screech in pain. She moved back as he swung at her again, and they both faced her down once again. Both screamed as they ran at her. Red waited for them to approach, and just as they reached her, she jumped up and kicked her legs out, striking both of them in the face and knocking them off their feet.
They were out before they even hit the ground.
Red stared forward at Tatak, who looked just as unconcerned as usual. She started to pace towards him, only to have a group of birds attack her again, a group she quickly dispatched of, and Red moved again, only for her to be attacked again. She growled as she sliced them apart, and started running, even as another came to her. She pushed past it and made it to the candidate, but as she swung her blade at him, he simply dodged. She swung again, and he dodged again. His face stayed as neutral as ever as she swung at him over and over trying to get a hit, all while birds kept swarming her.
Then she felt something slice her side.
She looked to see the boy holding a dagger with her blood on it. She growled as she swung again, and he ducked around her and sliced her back, though he struck her armor instead. She tried to backhand him, but instead he blocked with his blade, slicing it open. She grunted in pain before she turned, and went for a jab with her blade, only to fake it out and move left, leaving him to dodge directly into her blade, and cut his side open on it, slicing through both skin and fabric. His face sill didn't change though, and he raised his hand. The ground began to rumble and Red turned to see a small army of deer rushing towards her, antlers pointed at her. She flew up into the air, getting out of the way just in time, though several of the bird still alive tried to push her back down towards the stampede. She sliced them apart and rushed towards Tatak. He swung his blade at her, which she grabbed with her hand, cutting into it further as she ripped it from his grasp and tossed it aside, disappearing into the herd. She grabbed his arm and lifted him up into the sky.
He thrashed and fought against her, producing yet another blade which she knocked out of his grasp, flying up high into the sky before rocketing back at the ground. His face finally changed into one of confusion as, just before they hit the ground, she tossed him at one of the deer, impaling him on its antlers as he cried out, the deer taking him away as she flew towards Danga next. Her hand stung, but she gripped her blade tightly nonetheless.
She landed on the ground next to the girl, who immediately attempted to fire at her, only for Red to dodge.
"Hard to do this without killing, Tarou…" Danga said as she tried to aim at Red's foot. She fired and the CPU blocked it with her weapon, deflecting the bullet back at her, which nearly struck her in the face. Danga's face hardened as her gun transformed into a machine gun. She began to fire on the CPU in rapid succession. Red danced around most of the bullets with ease, and even though a few grazed her body, none did enough to stop her as she made her way towards the girl. Eventually she reached Danga and simply punched her in the face, knocking her down. She straddled the girl and began to wail on her. Danga tried defending herself, but Red's built up rage began to spill out as she pulled her arms away and struck blow after blow into the girl's face, until she started to bleed. Long after she'd passed out, Red grabbed her blade and prepared to stab it into her chest.
"Enough."
His voice was enough to make her pause. She looked over to see…him. He floated in the clouds, illuminated by the lightning storm that had formed, likely thanks to him. Light reflected off his blue suit of armor as a black crown rested upon his head, as if he were a twisted king. His eyes glowed bright blue like those of a demon, his white teeth shining in the darkness as he flew towards her, cape billowing in the wind as he pointed his naginata at her. It began to flicker, and just before he shot a bolt at her, she flew up.
"Tarou." She said as she stared him down, her face tight even though her body shook. He surveyed his candidates, specifically at Danga's bloody face, and snarled.
"Didn't think you had it in you." He said.
"Shut up." She said. "I don't think I want to hear your voice any more than I have to." She said as she brandished her blades, and he laughed.
"Fair enough, I suppose." He cracked his neck and pointed his blade at her once more. "Then let's finish what we started." He lunged, and she met him. Their blades connected, and the air hummed with power.
Immediately, as they began to trade blows, she could feel his strength, his power behind every single strike. Every hit sent vibrations through her blades, and every time she tried to strike him, he was fast enough to meet her. They struck at each other over and over, each trying to gain the upper hand, though thankfully even though Blue Heart was fast, Red was just fast enough to keep up, likely only thanks to her NEXT form. Once it was clear this exchange could go on forever, Blue Heart smiled as he moved right, and slammed a fist into her gut, before also sending lightning through that fist that shot her down and into the ground as she groaned in pain.
He shot towards her and thrust his blade out, which she caught between her own, trying to wrestle it from his grasp like she had with Janpu. His grip was too tight though, and so instead she batted it away while bringing a foot between his legs. He paused for a moment, and she swung at his face. He ducked back, so the blade only scraped his cheek before he leaned forward and landed an uppercut that sent her into the air. He flew up to meet her, though his face was twisted in pain, and rushed for her, his naginata out. She only barely managed to recover enough for it to graze her chest place, cutting through it as though it were made of butter.
Their blades met and clashed again, and again, and then several dozen more times. Red started to feel a little exhausted however, and Blue Heart noticed this, and increased his intensity. Every blow pushed her back, and threatened to throw her off balance. She only needed to mess up a single time for him to likely kill her. So she kept strong as best she could, slowly becoming more defensive rather than offensive. Blue Heart tried to do a feint, but she saw through it and, taking the chance to strike, she thrust at his chest. One of her blades became embedded in his armor, and as she tried to yank it out, he snarled.
Blue Heart thrust his naginata at her, which she caught with her free blade. Lightning arced down his weapon and struck her in the face, and she let go of her weapon as she flew back, now stuck in his armor. As she opened her eyes to try to attack again, he raised his hand and a lightning bolt erupted from his palm, and struck her in the chest. It pushed her back towards the ground, only this time, he didn't let up. Even as she hit the ground he continued to electrify her. Her screams filled the air as she felt her skin burn, all while he flew closer, readying his weapon.
"This is your end. Goodbye." He said as he thrust it towards her neck. Red's eyes opened and in a single moment, the infinite share crystal appeared, glowed brightly, and let out a massive burst of power that sent Blue Heart flying back, so far he crashed into the Basilicom. Once the pulse was finished, the crystal looked significantly drained. She'd already used most of the share energy fighting.
Blue Heart pulled himself up, as did Red, her clothes singed and her skin red with blisters. He stared at the crystal in awe. "I don't believe it. An infinite share crystal." Red froze.
"Y-you know…?"
"Of course I know what it is. I studied every possible way I could destroy you all in those 20 years that my anger festered." He snarled, never taking his eyes from the crystal. "To think you of all people had one…" his snarl turned into a wide smile. "I'm gonna take it from you…and then I can conquer more than just this world. I can conquer…all of them." He began to laugh as he started flying towards her.
"No…!" She cried.
"I CAN BECOME THE KING OF ALL WORLDS!" He shouted as he reached for the crystal. Red tried to stop him, but he thrust his other hand out and lightning sent her back to the ground as she screamed once more.
"N-NOOOOOO!" She cried as she weakly reached for the crystal, just to see Blue Heart's hand clasp around it. It was over. She had failed. Years of preparation, all for nothing.
And to top it off, she'd handed Tarou the key to the multiverse.
"VICTORY IS MINE!" He shouted as he raised the crystal into the air, feeling its power through his fingertips. It began to glow a sinister black.
Before it was snatched from his hands by a tentacle.
"What-?!" Blue Heart said as he turned to see his thief, only to be met with another tentacle smacking him in the face.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Lust said as it floated away from the CPU, it's tentacles wrapping tightly around the crystal. Blue Heart stood up, and stared at the monstrosity with rage.
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE-" he shouted, only to be smacked again. Red coughed as she tried to pull herself to her feet again.
"L-Lust! I-I told you…not to…" she said weakly, her power beginning to fade.
"I'm sorry, My Lady, but I can't sit back and let you die like this." It said as the crystal began to glow.
"But you can't fight someone like him! He'll-"
"I don't plan to fight."
Red paused, watching as the crystal grew brighter and brighter. "But then…"
"I'm getting you some backup." It said as a portal opened behind him. He flew up and as Blue Heart prepared to move towards him again, a fireball shot from the portal and struck him in the chest, sending him back a bit. Red watched in shock as someone stepped out from the portal, holding a familiar staff, giving her a familiar smile.
"Wow, black actually looks really good on you like that!" Aila said with a warm smile. Red stared at her as tears welled up in her eyes.
"H-how…what…?"
"Lust filled us in." Rainbow Heart said as she too emerged from the portal, her silver hair flowing in the wind. "You saw multiple timelines of one dimension and assumed ours wouldn't have multiple as well?"
"S-so you're…?" She asked.
"We're not the ones you knew." Dark Heart said as he too emerged, scaring Red for a moment, having forgotten what he looked like in HDD. "But we are here to help."
"We kicked his ass once, we can do it again." Silver Heart said as she stepped out, watching as Blue Heart stared in confusion and shock.
"Wh-what the hell are you all—ARGHH!" He cried out as a metal ball struck him in the face.
"Quiet, bastard!" Rainbow Heart shouted. "We'll get to you in a minute!"
"Does that mean…B-Boken…?!" Red said expectantly.
"No." A familiar voice said, as someone else came out of the portal, and walked towards Red. "He's still gone…but that's alright." Red watched the girl approach, stop in front of her, and extend her hand. In the light, she appeared like an angel, come to save her.
"You're…" Red said softly.
"Gonna help you win. Together." Zeta Red said as she smiled at her counterpart. She was also in a NEXT form, yet one that was slightly different from her own. It was more full of life, and hope, and joy, just like the girl's smile. Curse Red stared at her hand, then over at Aila, who nodded. She looked back at Zeta Red, grabbed her hand, and allowed herself to be pulled up. As she did, a few others also came out of the portal. Mojin, Pink Heart, Maroon Heart, they all have a nod to Curse Red, but she was still looking into her counterpart's eyes, ones just like her own, yet so different.
"I…I don't know if I…" Curse Red started, and all of them turned as Blue Heart's candidates suddenly appeared behind him, all back to consciousness and staring at the new group of opponents.
"Where did they come from?!" Moku asked as she looked around at the people she'd already killed.
"It doesn't matter. Kill them all." Blue Heart said, and without another word, his candidates lunged. Everyone else besides the two Reds engaged, and the battle began anew. Zeta Red looked to her, still clasping her hand.
"You can do this. I know you can." Zeta Red said.
"How can you be so confident?" Curse Red asked, and her counterpart smiled again.
"Because as Yurei said…we've done it once, we can do it again. Look!" The two turned and watched as their friends ganged up on the candidates, overwhelming them almost immediately. All while Blue Heart stared at the two, and started flying towards them. "Come on! We can do this! Together!" She said, and as Blue Heart reached her, she turned and slammed her fist into the man's face, simultaneously grabbing the weapon from his chest and yanking it out as he stumbled back. She handed the weapon to a stunned Curse Red, and then winked.
"Wow…" Curse Red whispered. This was…really her? Maybe…maybe she could…
"Come on!" Zeta Red shouted as she grabbed her counterpart's hand again. Suddenly, Curse Red felt a warmth flow into her body, and a calm settled over her bones. She could feel her wounds closing.
She was healing her.
"But…"
"You can't let his death weigh on you. There's more important things at stake." Zeta Red said, never taking her eyes off Blue Heart as he stood. "That's our problem, we can't get over the past. Just like him. But we're not him. We can if we try. And if we try…we can do amazing things." Blue Heart groaned.
"One was bad enough." The CPU said. "Though at least I'll get to vent my anger even more by killing two of you."
"Oh shut up." The two of them said at once. They looked to each other, and nodded. Curse Red was still nervous but…she trusted her other self. The two turned to their opponent, and flew at him, their weapons raised.
The battle began again.
Blue Heart thrust his weapon down, only to be met with four blades instead of just two, colliding against him. He pushed down, but they easily pushed back and shoved him, before she attacked him instead, swinging at him, and as their weapons clashed, this time it sent vibrations down his weapon instead. He growled as he pointed his hand at the new one and blasted, only for her to whip around him and start attacking his armor from behind. He tried to swipe at her, but that just distracted him from Curse Red, who sliced at his arm, cutting his open. He backhanded her across the face, which allowed Zeta Red to jump on his back and start hacking at his armor more. He screamed as he grabbed her and threw her off, but that let Curse Red attack his legs.
Every time he attacked one, the other would strike back. And they gave him no opportunity to attack both at once.
Zeta Red struck his armor, cutting off piece by piece as Curse Red attacked directly, and every strike she gave grew stronger and stronger, as if she was growing more confident. Or was it something more…?
Shares…?
Whatever it was, Blue Heart, for the first time, felt powerless. He looked to his siblings for help, only to see Silver Heart's needle fly through Moku's neck, ending the wounded girl's life in an instant. At the same time, Janpu was doing his best to fight off three of the CPUs at once, before he was forced to his knees, his staff knocked out of his hands. Before he could even do anything else, Rainbow Heart pointed her gun at the back of his head and kill him, execution style. As his body collapsed, Danga and Tatak were also overwhelmed. Still bleeding from his injuries, Tatak was knocked to the ground and beaten to death by Maroon Heart and Pink Heart, while Danga was massacred by Dark Heart as he ripped off her limbs and tossed them aside as if they were scraps. Blue Heart's body trembled as he saw his siblings die one by one.
Until he was all that was left.
"NO! THIS CAN'T BE!" His eyes were wild with rage as he stared ar Curse Red. "SO YOU CAN'T BEAT ME ON YOUR OWN, HUH?! YOU NEED HELP, YOU COWARD!" The girl paused, but Zeta Red just punched him in the face again.
"Who says she needs to?" She said. "All that matters is that you die! Who gives a shit about pride and all that junk!" She leapt off of him, cutting down his armor as she did so, cutting it in half as it collapsed off his body, where she landed next to her counterpart. "You ready? I'm assuming you want the final blow, yeah?"
"Yes." Curse Red said. The two turned to Blue Heart, and as he prepared to blast them with lightning, they rushed him and tackled him to the ground, pushing him so hard the earth beneath them cracked. Zeta Red struck his body over and over as Curse Red climbed onto his chest, and raised her weapon.
"Rot in hell." She said.
"I can't wait to see you there." Blue Heart spat, and Curse Red shouted as she plunged the blade into his chest. Blood spurted onto her hands as he screamed in pain, but she wasn't done.
"THIS IS FOR BOKEN! THIS IS FOR ARUN! THIS IS FOR YUREI! EVA! CHENA! EVERYONE YOU MASSACRED BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPUD GRUDGE!" She punctuated every name with a stab, each one making the man scream, music to her ears. Blue Heart had stopped resisting, so Zeta Red stepped back. "And this…" Curse Red lifted the blade once more. "THIS…IS FOR AILAAAAA!" She shouted as she slammed it into his skull, giving him a few more seconds of pain before he finally died, his body relaxing for the first time in 20 years as his life was ended.
Even then, she sat there for a while. Panting, exhausted. It was over. Finally, after all this time…it was over. She began to laugh, a true, real laugh. As the sun peeked out from between the clouds as they parted, the laughs turned to sobs, then wallows of pain, as she finally felt…calm. Relief.
She had won.
"Sorry we can't stay. Lust says if we do it could destabilize the timeline too much, especially since they aren't supposed to be alive here." Zeta Red said to her counterpart, gesturing to her friends entering the portal back home. They cleaned up the bodies, both of their enemies and fallen allies, and helped bury them at the neutral island, as was customary, and were now taking their leave.
"I…" Curse Red paused.
"What?"
"I…he was right." She said softly. "I…couldn't win without help."
"I don't think I could've either." Zeta Red said, and her counterpart met her eyes. "My friends got a lot of turns at him before I did, in my timeline. But it doesn't matter, remember what I said? Who cares about pride, it doesn't matter, as long as we won." She hugged her counterpart. "Don't let him get to you, okay?"
"I…" Curse Red hesitated, but after a moment, she hugged her back. "Alright. I'll try." They hugged for a bit longer before pulling away.
"It was nice meeting you…me!" She said, then chuckled. She took a step back, and walked towards the portal, where Aila was waiting. They nodded to each other, and were about to leave when Curse Red ran over.
"Hey!" she said, grabbing Aila's arm. "Um…before you go, can I…" she blushed, "…just…hug you? Please?"
"Oh! Yeah!" Aila said, and wrapped her arms around the girl. Curse Red immediately hugged her back, tightly, and stroked her back. The warmth was so familiar, and it made tears form in her eyes once more. If it was up to her, she would've stayed there forever, but eventually, she let her go. Aila gave her a warm smile, once that Curse Red would take her to her grave and, with one last goodbye…they were gone. The portal closed…and she was alone again.
Except she wasn't.
"I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're afraid of." Red said as she wiped her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Shose said as she emerged from the building. "I…I just…"
"You couldn't fight him." Red said. "I get it. It's why I'm not mad." She said as the girl took her place next to her, at the cliff's edge, looking out onto the vast blue water of the ocean.
"Right. I just…"
"Stop, okay?" Red said. "It's fine, just drop it."
"Okay." Shose said, and the two stood there in silence for a bit, before she spoke again. "So…you're the ruler now. Of all of Gamindustri. How does it feel?"
"It'll…take some getting used to." She admitted. "What about you?"
"I can be your candidate…if you want." Shose said, and Red felt a small smile appear on her face.
"Sure. I think I'd like that." She said, and Shose nodded. Once again, they stood in silence for a while, staring out at the ocean, a moment of calm.
"I'll be heading back then." Shose said, and bowed slightly before she left, heading back to the teleporter back home. Once she was gone, Lust suddenly appeared, though really he'd been there the entire time, just invisible.
"How are you, My Lady?" It asked, and she sighed.
"I'll manage. Though…I can't get his words out of my head." She said. "Lust?"
"Yes, My Lady?"
"How is the share crystal?" She asked. Suddenly, it appeared before her, though it barely glowed, just like when she'd first gotten her hands on it.
"Nearly empty, why?" It asked, and she looked deep in thought.
"We should fill it." She said.
"But-"
"We know there are many, many universes out there. Other universes with people who could travel here, with powers much stronger than our own." Red said, her brows furrowing. "They could wipe us out in an instant if we aren't ready."
"So…are you suggesting…?"
"We must keep doing what we were doing before." Red said, her tone cold. "We must prepare…just in case."
"Are you sure?" Lust asked.
"Yes." She said, her resolve hardened. "I am certain. Now…are you going to help…or not?" She asked. The being sighed.
"Of course I will help you. I will always stand by your side, no matter what, My Lady." It said, and Red felt herself smile, though this one was much more…empty.
"Then let's get back to work."