"It seems, that your arm is completely human again." Histoire said, my arm in an x ray machine. "Can't say I like it. But I'm also not going to be cutting it off again." I say as the x ray shows organic bone. 'Where did the metal and electronics go?' I wonder to myself.
"So, like, how did you lose your arm?" Neptune pried, for the third time in ten minutes. "Neptune, he doesn't want-" "Fine, not like it's some huge secret..." I reply as Histroire looked at me.
"We were in Lowee, my squad and I were traveling through, securing the area, as their Cpu...Byehliy... called for aid... We thought we were being helpful. Neptun never thought it would be a trap. But next thing I know, we hear an explosion and a vehicle is shot towards me, causing a squad mate to push me out of the way, and he took the vehicle to himself. He died instantly. I prepared to fight the soldiers that were streaming out of the building, both Lowee and Lastation troops. I caught a bullet to the arm..." I start, tears beginning to form as the bullet caliber that did the damage flashed in my mind. "Fifty cal. Armor shredder rounds. Torn my arm to hell. Point blank... I then cut the fuckers head clean off..." I say. Then a flashback.
The explosion seemed so real. I could here the screaming, the gun fire. I put my hands up to the side of my head, as the chilling memories seem more and more realistic. Then I hear something I'd never heard before. "37... longitude... 14 latitude..." I hear myself mutter, then I find myself thrust back into the real world. "Histoire?" I hear Neptune.
"Something tells me I need to go there..." I mutter. "Alone." I finish when I see Neptune open her mouth. "Okay, I know why not me, so at least take Jr. with you." She says. "I think you should have backup, considering your exo-suit may not work." Histoire told me. "I... I see... alright, I'll take Nepgear." I reply.
"Alright, you should be able to make it there pretty quickly. Here's a map to the location." Histoire says, handing me a small phone. "We'll be back soon enough." I assure them as I head back to my room to collect my exo-suit.
We slowly headed toward the blip on the phone, through a birch forest. It could have taken much longer to get here, but I had a little bit of shares that proved to not dissipate. This proved sufficient to power my suit. But suddenly, the floor is covered in pine needles. I look up to see spruce trees everywhere. "What? Nepgear, do you know anything about this place?" I ask her, to which she shakes her head no. Being on the safe side, I pull my DMR from the newly added sheathe to my suit, my index finger hovering over the trigger.
"I don't like this..." I mutter. Clouds were beginning to gather overhead. I hear rustling to the right of us and I jump, pulling the gun to my left shoulder to aim down the holo sight. I stared in the direction of the sound, only to see a bird take off. I lower the rifle slowly and look at the phone. Just a little more. "C'mon... almost there." I say to her as we begin moving again. Then we came across a small secluded house. "What...?" I ask myself as we edge closer to it.
"I don't believe this place is known to the CPU's." I hear Nepgear say. "Well, we need inside." I say as we make it to the front the door. The place was quite overgrown and dead looking. "The front door is locked." Nepgear tells me. Three gunshots ring out in the forest. "No it's it not." I say as I slide the door open. "Be careful." I whisper back to her. But when I walk in, I see a flash, as if the sun had come out for a split second. The house looked lived in. Then it fades back, looking a total mess. "Now why did I need to come here?" I whisper to myself. I see something move into a hallway. I shoulder my gun and walk over to it. I see a single door open.
"Better follow your advice, Anatoly." Nepgear calls out. "I am." I reply. As I move closer to the door, I hear whispering. I open the door more and walk in, to see a room completely untouched. "The hell?" I ask as I put my gun into it's sheathe. I see a single necklace in the floor, which I bend down and pickup. Looking at the silver pendant filled me a warmth, as if I recognized it. I see the desk has some papers on it. I move over and see a name. "Ishikawa...Takumi?" I ask myself.
"Why does that name seem familiar. Then, I look back to the pendant and a single word rolls off my tongue. "Mom."
The simple word sends a comfort up my spine. I turn around and a flash occurs. I see a woman at the door. "Takumi-chan, it's time for school." The woman says, before the flash sends me back to reality. "What..." I ask, as I search for something, anything to say.
I walk back into the hallway. This time a man appears, who looks similar to me. "Takumi-chan, Nep's coming over, I hear she is bringing her sister." He says, and a grin on my face. "Why am I getting excited..." I mutter. I walk back to the kitchen, and see one more apparition. This time Neptune and Nepgear walk into the house. "Hey Takky. Why are you always so shy, Nep jr." She says as Nepgear hides behind her, a smile plastered on her face. "Ah, Neptune, how nice of you and Nepgear to drop by." The woman I guess is my mom.
Then the apparition fades and I see Nepgear in the same position, but no Neptune. "Nepgear..?" I call out. She looks at me confused. "What happened, Anatoly?" She says, the name sounding foreign. Then, a burst of memories. Running in the yard with Neptune and Nepgear. My parents watching us laughing. Me having a great time. Neptune and Nepgear having dinner here. Them giving me my first pre-release game. My first game against them. The other CPU's having a party here. I realized, I've known them for years.
"Anatoly, you look like you've seen a ghost..." Nepgear says, worry filling her voice. "Takumi..." I say, baffled. Her eyes grow wide. "T-takumi?" She asks, knowing the name belongs to me. I reach out, enveloping her in a hug as I feel my tears falling. Yet for the first time in years, they were tears of joy. "We DO know each other!" I say rather quickly.
At first, she tenses up. But then I hear her laugh, and return my hug. "We need to get the CPU's together, so I can tell them what I found." I say, breaking the hug. "I agree. It's been so long..." She says, tears in her eyes. I pull out the phone, pleasantly surprised to find it has a signal.
I look to the living room and see Toma standing there. "Welcome home, Ishikawa Takumi." She says, her body shattering in shards of blue light.
I scroll through the contacts to find Histoire. "Where should we meet?" I ask Nepgear. "I think the Neptower would be the most appropriate." She replies. I nod and call Histoire. "Anatoly, did you find anything of interest?" She asked. "Yeah, can you have all the CPU's meet at the Neptower?" I reply. "Hm? Yes, what did you find?" She asked.
"I'll tell everyone when I get there." I tell her. "Understood." She said, and the call ended. "Well, we better get going." I say, noticing the sky was clearing.
I stood at the end of the table, all the CPU's eyes, as well as Histoire, Uni, and Nepgear's. "So, you may be wondering what I called you here for. But, although not of grave importance, is something I believe all of you should be made aware of. My name, even thought I truly believed it was, is not Anatoly." I start, before hearing several gasps.
"My name, which was discovered today by Nepgear and I, is in fact, Ishikawa Takumi." I tell them. I see the lights in their eyes turn on. But the one who seemed the most stunned was none other than Neptune herself. "T-takky?" She said, standing.
"Yes." I reply cooly. She then walked up to me. "Y-you aren't lying are you?" She asked. "No." I reply as she wraps me in a hug, tears streaming down her face. "Been a long time, hasn't it, Nep." I whisper to her. "Too long." She whispers back. I look back and I see the others smiling. "Can't believe we all had amnesia..." Blanc says.
"But we don't anymore, and it's wonderful!" Vert says. "And... I know have all the more reason to defend this realm." I reply as Neptune finally let's go of me. "Also explains why Nep jr.'s Lily Rank with you is so high." Neptune said, a slight teasing in her voice.
Then, Noire's phone goes off. "Kei?" She asks answering. "Noire! Lastation is under attack by two goddesses, one looks like you, the other looks like lady Vert. We need you ASAP!" Kei shouts. Everyone looks around, shocked. "On our way." I Say loud enough for her to hear. "Thank you, please hurry!" She finishes. I rush out onto the balcony and leap off, activating my boots. I see Noire quickly catch up to me. "My nation, my problem." She says. "My hunters, also my problem." I reply as I speed up.
"Fine, just keep up." She says jetting off. I quickly begin to speed up as I notice Uni catching up to me. "Neptune and Nepgear are staying, and Vert and Blanc heading back to their nations." She says to me. "Roger, are you able to relay messages?" I ask. "Yes." She replies quickly.
"Tell them if Byehliy appears, immediately contact you to let me know. I will then intercept her." I tell her. "If false white appears, respond, Takumi will move to intercept her." She tells them. "Okay, they will let us know if she appears." I nod at the confirmation.
We land in Lastation, and the first thing I notice is the lack of people moving about. "I... I don't see anyone." Noire mutters. No buildings had any lights on. "What's going on..." I mutter. But, I didn't see neither Zeelyohlniy nor Chyohrniy.
"Be ready for anything." I mutter to them as I draw my rifle. I scan the area, looking for anything that might be linked to them. "There they are!" I hear in the distance as gunshots begin sounding off. Noire jumps in front of me, blocking a bullet. We quickly move for cover a some soldiers stream into the street. I take aim and squeeze a shot off, hitting one in the arm. "Planeptune soldiers..." I mutter, as I recognize the exo-suits.
"No!" I say suddenly, storing my gun and summoning angel. 'How did they all get here?' I think to myself as I begin to scan for how many are here. Ten. "It's only ten, a small squad! The larger force must be else where!" I say quickly as I prepare to fight.
"Understood!" Noire says, also preparing to battle. "C'mon you bastards, let's see how my training holds up!" I say, jumping up to rush them. "Anatoly. You traitor!" I hear someone shout. Two gunshots are heard as the bullets rush toward me. I duck, both shots missing me. I slice upwards, catching one in the chest, opening a gaping hole in his lungs and heart.
I glide over to another, and force my blade into his stomach, and sense a handgun being aimed at my head. I duck down just quick enough for the shot to miss, hitting my victim in the face. I yank out the blade and spin, slicing through my would be killer.
I see Noire and Uni imitate a combo, killing five at once. Then a gunshot towards me. I reflect the bullet before it hits, then charging the gunman. A clean cut through his throat. One last guy stood. "Anatoly! Why!?" He shouted at me. But I understood that voice. "Markov?" I ask out, confused. "Why are you doing this!?" He asks.
"The goddess has been corrupted, and she has fallen." I tell him, thinking he thought he was doing this for the glory of the nation. "Neptun...No... You're lying!" He cries.
"I am not... I wish it were one... but she is dead, she had attempted to kill the goddesses of this world. I stopped her." I reply. "You... you killed her..?" He asks. "Yes..." I reply sadly. "Murderer!" He shouts, angrily, pointing a gun towards me.
He fires, a single shot, which I easily dodge, moving twenty feet in a few seconds to stand next to him. My blade pierced his heart. "I'm sorry." I tell him. He looks at me shocked before dropping to the ground after I unsummon angel.
I turn to face Noire and Uni. "Did you know him?" Noire questions. "We were in the same platoon in boot." I reply. "Now, any idea where the rest of the force could be?" I ask the girls. "Probably nearing the basilicom, probably where everyone went." Uni responds.
"Alright, let's move there." I say, taking off into the air to scan for hostiles. I then feel the phone in my pocket vibrate. I pull it out and see Histoire calling. I quickly answer the phone. "Hello?" I speak. "It's surprising how easy it was to separate you. Here I was thinking it would take a little extra push. But no, you let us in easily enough. Nepgear gives her regards." I hear Byehliy. "I'm going to gut you if you so much as LOOK at her!" I hear Neptune shout. "Bye bye, Takumi." I suddenly stop.
"How do you know that name...?" I ask half heartedly. "Who do you think found you?" She said laughing. "We're at the Planeptune basilicom!" Histoire shouts. The phone slipped from my hands.
"I'm going to the Planeptune basilicom, they have them." I tell Noire, my voice becoming significantly darker. "N-no!" Uni says, shock filling her voice.
"Be careful. We need to stay here to assist." Noire says. Uni tosses me a hand gun. "Should be useful, please rescue them." She says. I nod my head as I move toward Planeptune.
The rain was particularly heavy as I landed at the front entrance to the basilicom. My gaze shifts up toward the dark, cloudy sky. "You fucked with the wrong man." I whisper to no one. A flash lighting occurs just as I finish the sentence. I see the windows are boarded up. I walk to the door and find it locked. I grab the hand gun with my left hand and kick the door with my exo-suit. Both door fly off and I rush in. Five hostiles appear in front of me and on my hud. After I locked on, I fire five shots, killing all five. Then someone rushes my left side. One more shot, right to the head.
"BYEHLIY! SHOW YOURSELF!" I shout, angered. I then see Chyohrniy walking down the stairs. "She's not here, not right now anyway. I'll gladly put you with your friends however. She wants to be the one to execute you." She tells me, transforming into her HDD form. "Never." I reply.
She smiles as I store my handgun and summon angel. "I guess I have the greenlight now, DIE!" She says rushing me, the windows cracking from her take off. I dodge, digging my blade into her side. She then slams into a column.
"You'll pay for that!" She screams as she rushes toward me, swinging downward with her own sword. I parry the blade and shoulder check her. I then slice upwards as she recoils, slightly missing her. "Bastard!" She says, preparing a new attack, but I gave her no time. I jab forward and she parries my blade. I spin in the opposite direction she knocked my blade.
"Crimson mark!" I say as the area around us grew dark. I sliced into her three times forming a triangle. Then a final one separating the triangle into halves. The darkness then faded. I then jump back as she swings toward me. After she misses, I slam my blade forward, piercing all the way through her. Her face fills with shock. Then she fell.
I caught her in a kneeling position. "A-anatoly..? Where are we?" She asked, her conscience finally coming through. "I am still figuring that one out..." I reply. "I-i did something horrible didn't I?" She asked, the blood spilling to the ground. "N-no... you didn't, but your body did... It's okay now..." I tell her as I see tears forming in her eyes.
"They are down the hall there..." She said pointing toward a dark hallway. "W-will you tell the people of this place... I'm sorry..." She asked, her breath fading. "I will." I replied as her eyes closed. I gently laid her on the ground. I could feel my own tears forming.
I then stood and walked to the hall which contained my friends. I then ran into another locked door, which I easily kicked in. What I see other side causes my heart to drop. Many planeptune soldiers, ones from this dimension, were scattered across the halls, many missing limbs and suffering many bullet holes. I put my hand on a wall as I begin to dry heave.
But I can't purge the image from my mind. I then feel a sticky substance under my hand. I look up and see a bloody message. "This dimension will fall." I read. I feel my skin begin to crawl. I hit the wall and stand back up, ready to brave the madness.
I walk through the door and round the corner to the cells, which I see Neptune in one. I quickly rush to it and she looks up. "Tak-Takumi?" She calls out, and I she is shivering, even though the room is about eighty degrees. "I-I'm here." I say as I open the door, which only opens from the outside. "Where's Nepgear?" I quickly ask as I see Histoire in the same cell.
Neptune raises a finger behind me. I turn to see Nepgear strapped to a table, cuts all across her body and dried blood on her skin and clothing. I quickly run across the hall, shatter a window, and step into the room.
"Ne-Nepgear?" I ask out and she moves as I say it. "W-who's there?" She asks, not able to move her head. "Takumi. I'm going to get you out of this." I tell her. I begin to undo the straps holding her down. After I get the last one off I help her off the table.
"Sh-she w-wouldn't stop." She says, quivering. I then pull her into a hug, which she first tenses up to, but then relaxes and grabs me, her tears falling. "I'm so sorry. So, so sorry." I say, regretting leaving them to this. I help her out of the room and see Neptune and Histoire letting out Compa and IF. "They caught you too?" I ask. "Yeah... the bastards." IF replies and Compa is just completely silent. "Compa, can you help Nepgear?" I ask and she snaps out of her trance. "Oh... Ge-ge, what did they do to you!? Yes, I can..." She says, shocked at her friends state.
"Oh... Gear..." IF says, shocked as well. "Well, you killed her, but you won't live much longer." Zeelyohlniy says, appearing from nowhere, her clothing stained with blood.
"You did this, didn't you?" I ask, staring her down. "Of course, and I will finish the job." She replies. I shoot toward her, instantly summoning angel. "DIE BITCH!" I shout as our blades crash. "Ooh, this ones a fighter! Let's see what you got, fucker." She replies viciously.
"I'm going to make you beg for death!" I retorted, swinging at her left only to be parried. She swings toward my leg, which I move away from. I then catch one to the face, a large slice on my face. It also knock's me into a wall. "Takumi!" I hear Neptune shout. I lay there, staring as pain spreads through my body. Then my exo-suit closes, too damaged to actually help.
Zeelyohlniy then walks past me. "Time for you to die." She says. I stand and walk back into the hallway. "Hey bitch! We aren't done." I angrily tell her.