"Whoa... You're so tiny..." Hotaru stated in wonder as the other girls inspected the fairy.
"I get that a lot," Histoire replied.
"Wait... Are you the one who called us?" Alex asked.
"Yes, I am the one who summoned you here in Gamindustri".
"You said 'Gamindustri'. Where exactly are we?" Lara wondered as she looked around her.
It was an abandoned subway station with futuristic features like electronic sign boards, drones that clean the floor and vending machines that dispensed everything. Sadly, it looked more like a ghost town than a subway station. The purple panels are not lighting up, the drones are collecting dust and sparking randomly, some sign boards were broken beyond repair with cracked screens and sparks flying every minute, Others were displaying error screens in a blue background, and there were slime creatures with puppy faces bouncing around in some parts of the subway in a way that was both cute and terrifying. It made the girls wonder what it would look like when fixed.
"Guys... I don't think we're in earth anymore..." Maya proclaimed.
"I am afraid that you're right. The place that you're in is named Planeptune." Histoire said, floating around their group to get them focused.
"Oh god, we're in another world!" Lara panicked. She was the only one who was panicking, however as the other girls were just looking around their new surroundings.
"What is that on the wall?" Alex pointed to the paintings on the wall leading to outside of the train station.
A stylized mural adorned the wall, depicting two women with purple hair.
One was tall, busty, and had her dark purple hair in twin braids, wearing what seemed to be a black one piece with purple accents.
The other one was smaller and let her lilac hair flow freely, her white one piece slightly covering more than the other woman.
"That's Purple Heart," Histoire explained, indicating the one with braids, "and the other one is Purple Sister. The citizens spray painted them to honor their memories."
"Isn't that Vandalism?" Lara pointed out.
"No. In our world, shows of faith like this are welcome. In times like these, we can't refuse any goodwill our citizens have."
The four girls looked in awe of the mural. Alex reached out and touched it.
"Come," Histoire called, " We have a lot to discuss."
She led the girls outside where a heavily modified Purple Testarossa Spider was waiting for them.
"Hop in," Histoire said as she floated over and rested on a tiny seat that seemed to be made especially for her.
"Wait... We're all too young to drive." Lara pointed out, missing a glare from Maya
"No need to worry, It's a self-driving car patterned after one of Planeptune's most popular race cars. It can go from 0 to 100 in just 3 seconds, and it can go fast without sacrificing control."
"A self-driving car that can go fast?! Really? That's so cool!" Maya gushed
"Nep-..." Histoire stopped herself, "Our CPU Candidate made this, and it's one of Planeptune's contributions to Gamindustri."
"So this thing exists everywhere in this world. Oh man, I wish we got one of these back home!"
They rode through the city, which was destroyed beyond recognition. From what the girls gathered, it was a very futuristic city with every building that was not destroyed having a silver finish. Purple lines ran through the sidewalks adding to the look of the city. At the center of it all was a tower that jutted up from the ground like an antenna, adorned with purple accents. However, what looked like what should've been a beacon of hope seemed like a monument to despair. The tower giving off a dark and dreadful aura.
"I see destroyed buildings and scary creatures roaming all over the place. What happened here?" Alex suddenly asked.
"The Deity of Sin…" Histoire answered darkly
"What's that?" Hotaru asked, shivering at the name.
"A demon from our past, We thought that we defeated it once already,"
"And then it came back" Lara concluded.
"When it emerged, the CPUs and CPU Candidates from all nations rose up to fight it." Histoire explained to the four girls, "Even some of our former rivals, The Gold Third, had lent some of their power to help. In the end, It wasn't enough."
The car parked at an building that was fully intact and its doors automatically opened as they walked towards the glass door. "Follow me." Histoire led the girls inside the building until they reached a run-down room that had one futuristic-looking computer and a table with various papers on it.
"With our CPUs gone, most of their shares went to the Deity herself. With our land going to ruin the Gold Third started the resistance. It was their power that allowed the CPU's spirits to live on."
Histoire floated to the computer and typed in some commands.
"So, how do we get back?" Lara asked
"I… You can't. I'm sorry..." Histoire lowered her head, her bangs obscuring her eyes.
"What do you mean, 'you can't'? You brought us here!"
Histoire turned to face the girls, "The world is in a great crisis and only you four can save it!"
"Lara, listen to Histoire. She didn't transport us to another world without some reason." Alex said, putting her hand on the taller girl's shoulder
"So, why are we even here?" Lara grumbled.
"You were chosen for your closeness to the CPUs," Histoire explained.
"But… we never knew any of these goddesses." Hotaru tried to rebuke.
"Your closeness in spirit, I mean… It's hard for even me to explain…"
The computer pulled up some maps and some sort of progress report.
"What's this?" Maya asked.
"These are the locations where we think the Spirits may be…"
"Wait, these spirits are like… actual things?"
"Why, yes!" Histoire exclaimed as though what she said was obvious, "Which reminds me, If you are to utilize the CPU spirits, you're going to need a way to channel Share Energy. Most of us here can do it to some extent but, you four are from a world without Share Energy and therefore might not be able to channel it properly."
The four girls just stood there staring vacantly.
"So I took the liberty of bestowing to you girls these devices." Histoire continued as though they had understood her.
The girls felt a vibration in their pockets and they took out small handheld devices. Each had a small screen, a grip, a couple of buttons, and what looked to be a scanner on top. Each device was also colored to suit their owners: Alex's had a purple body with a pink grip, Lara's had a black body with a white grip, Maya's a white body and a green grip, Hotaru's was special in that the grip was white, the front body was light blue, and the back of the body was pink.
"Wait…" Lara said while inspecting her new mysterious device, "WERE THESE OUR PHONES!?"
"I do apologize, They were the only things I could work with, given our resources," Histoire stated.
Lara lunged at the fairy, with only Alex and Maya holding her back, "I spent a fortune for that phone, and you just changed it like it's nothing? Do you know how much value it has to me?! Who gave you permission to modify my bloody phone?!"
"Like I said earlier; It was the only thing I had, and I have to use existing resources..." Histoire replied, now hiding behind her tome.
"No. My friends and family would be worried sick right now. Like... how would I explain to them that I was whisked away to another world!?" Lara was on the verge of tears.
"Calm down, Ms. Strife." Histoire floated over the the girl and patted her head, It was a cute, yet motherly gesture coming from the tiny fairy, "There's a large time difference between this world and yours. I don't know the exact specifics, but a year here is just approximately an hour on your home dimension. Maybe a month, at the very most."
"I think Miss Histoire knows what she is doing." Hotaru said
"I agree to that. Let's just let her work, it's been about three minutes." Maya tried to handle the situation.
"We kinda need them though!"
"Lara, please." Hotaru tried to console.
"If it is any consolation, your phones would have been useless in this world anyway…"
"But you were able to contact us," Alex reasoned.
"Yes, but it took a lot of our resources, In fact, we pretty much used a large chunk of our spare Share Energy just for getting you girls here."
Histoire indicated the report on the computer screen.
Share Report
Planeptune: 5%
Lastation: 5%
Lowee: 5%
Leanbox: 5%
Other: 80%
"What's 'Other'?" Hotaru asked.
"It's used as a placeholder for organizations that are not properly recognized by Gamindustri. In this case, it refers to the Deity of Sin and her Followers." Histoire explained, " And due to this Share drain, we haven't been able to find any of their spirits. We… We don't even know what they would look like…" She gave a weary sigh.
Alex stepped up to Histoire, "Miss Histoire, We'll do everything we can to help you."
"Thank you, Miss Rose."
Maya crossed her arms, "So where is this Resistance you're talking about?"
"Well we are spread all over Gamindustri, but the main team over here in Planeptune are actually searching for a spirit in one of our old technology plants… Nepgear really liked to visit it."
"Alright!" Maya Shouted, "Let's do this!"
The girl turned around and ran out the door.
"Miss Valera, wait!" Histoire
"We'll go get her." Lara volunteered while the other two girls nodded.
"No, you don't understand!" in the space of a few seconds Histoire floated there, alone, "It's… dangerous… Out there…"
Maya paused her run to rest her legs. She then took a look at her surroundings. The city looked like It was the pinnacle of technological advancement at one point, but now it just looked like a run down ghost town. From what she could tell, Maya was in the warehouse district, every building around her looked like a run down garage. Maya wasn't even sure that there was any color in the city.
"Hmm, So where was this plant?" She asked herself.
"You don't even know!?"
Maya turned to see Lara, Alex, and Hotaru running after her. The three girls had to catch their breath after catching up to her. Lara stood straight and crossed her arms.
"You ran off, and you don't even know where you're going?" She scolded.
Maya chuckled weakly and scratched the back of her head, "I… I thought I got enough of the map…"
Lara shook her head, "Honestly, we're stuck in a strange world that's in the middle of a war. Going off alone is the worst thing you can do."
Maya scratched her cheek, "Um… yeah… Sorry, I guess I just got tired of the explanations… I needed fresh air."
"Um… guys…" Alex piped up, "Does anyone know where the base is?"
The three other girls froze. Lara glared at Maya again.
"Well I hope you're happy," Lara scolded, "Now we're lost in a completely strange place, and Who knows what could happen!"
"What and have you freaking out again?" Maya defended, "That's the worst thing you can do in a situation like this!
"Guys, please don't argue," Hotaru pleaded,
"How can you say that!?" Lara squawked, "We're in a world with tiny fairies and a bunch of weird monsters! We're away from our friends and family with no way to contact them! And now we're filling in for some dead goddesses! I don't remember signing up for that, do you?"
"Of course not!" Maya yelled back, "But I wouldn't have gotten anywhere in my life just worrying all the time!"
Just then a piece of a nearby building crumbled, revealing a giant mech walker.
"Guys…" Alex piped up with a hint of fear in her voice.
"What?!" the two shouted in unison.
The walker sensed the noise and shambled towards the girls.
"We should run," Maya said
"Agreed." Lara replied.
The four girls tried to run, but even though the mech's legs were damaged, they were still stronger. The Mech lunged one of its claws at Maya. Thinking quickly, Alex tackled Maya but was taken herself.
The three other girls ducked. The mech walked passed them, carrying Alex with it.
"Let me go, you piece of junk! Help!"
"Crap, we gotta go after it!" Maya shouted.
"And what are we gonna do?" Lara asked.
"I… I don't know, but it's my fault that Alex got captured."
"We… We should at least see where it's taking her" Hotaru said.
The two other girls nodded and ran after the mech.
"Find anything yet, Compa?" IF called to her companion while she herself was digging around the old plant. Said plant was repurposed as a junkyard with machines and abandoned tech. Most of them are in full working condition, yet the place was so deserted, majority of the machines has gathered dust on them. Compa scavenged through the rubble, only to find nothing.
"Nothing yet, Iffy" Compa called back.
IF sighed, "Come on, Gear, don't you want to be found?"
Alarms sounded inside the building, and all the red lights turned on, turning the room red.
"Aw man, Seriously?"
Compa ran to IF, "Iffy, we should leave."
IF sighed, "Yeah… I guess we should…"
A mech then crashed into the room, waving a girl with brown hair around. Said girl was struggling to get out of the mech's strong grip.
"Who's that?" Compa asked, "I thought we evacuated everyone to Ultradimension."
"Gamindustri is a big place" IF replied, "There's bound to be some people going through the cracks.
IF produced her Claws, "We still gotta save her though."
The two attacked the mech. And since the mech's legs were already damaged, It gave way. With some momentum, the mech actually threw the girl into the air and she landed on some Machinery.
"My goodness, that was an awful fall,"
Alex groaned, she was not expecting any of this. Almost everything hurt, but at least she was alive...
"Ugh, I can't feel my arm... or my leg.." She coughed as she tried to get up from the rubble, only to find that she could barely move at all. "Oh no..." What did she feel poking in her back? There was a wet sensation spreading outward from the unseen wound. She couldn't turn her head to even assess the damage. Hot tears prickled at her eyes as no matter how hard she tried nothing was working. Her body refused to move beyond twitches and spasms.
"Are you alright?"
"Who… Who's talking? Those two other girls are still fighting that machine…"
The air around Alex glowed a pinkish purple and the coalesced into what looked like a Trophy of a young girl wearing a white cybernetic bodysuit hugging her legs to her face. Alex's Device started reacting.
"My name is Nepgear, do you need my help?"
Alex weakly took her device out of her pocket with her only good arm and pointed it at the trophy.
"Please… Help me…" Alex said, breathing heavily as she reached out to the light.
The trophy glowed in the same light purple tint as before and went into the device. The Device itself emitted a flash of blinding light.
Alex found herself in some sort of Digital Dimension, presenting her device. Her body, which was suddenly healed, moved in a way that felt like it was moving on its own, yet at the same time in perfect harmony with herself.
She extended her hand out and a Ring of data- "Share Code" she was being told by a voice in the back of her mind- appeared around her hand. She took her device, pressed the side button, and scanned the share code around her hand.
"Access: Sister Spirit Evolution!"
She whipped her device upward and took the code with it. Her clothes dematerialized around her, though thankfully the code kept her decency.
As the code swirled around Alex, a white cybernetic bodysuit wrapped around her. She gained long white gloves and knee-length boots. She closed her eyes as her hair grew in length and changed its color to pink. Her hands became daintier, her legs sculpted themselves and her chest filled out to fit the suit better.
Armor parts appeared on her boots, cybernetic wings popped up behind her back, and a hair clip appeared on the right-hand side of her head. Her face drastically changed as the last of the transformation takes place.
A giant sword with a gun mounted on it appeared. Alex opened her eyes, revealing that they changed to a light blue color and her pupils changed shape to look like power buttons. She grabbed her weapon and swung it as if she had years of experience in training with her signature weapon.
She then ended it with a flourish.
"Spirit of Planeptune: Purple Sister!"
IF was shielding her eyes from the flash. When it died down, her eyes went wide. Floating in front of her was the spitting image of Purple Sister, her gaze fixed squarely on the mech in front of her.
"Ge-Ge?" Compa asked in disbelief.
"Did we… find a Spirit?" IF asked in a similar tone.
"I think we did." Compa finished.
Even damaged the mech was still a serious threat. The armored torso and weapons were largely functional even if the legs had taken a beating. Its targeting system classified Purple Sister as the greater threat and proceeded to open up with all weapon systems. Beams, bullets, and missiles were unleashed in an unceasing volley. IF and Compa looked on in worry as the Goddess Candidate remained still in the face of the ordinance.
"Hoh!" Purple Sister dashed forward through the air while slashing her gunblade through the bullets. She did a midair twirl around the beams gracefully while using the momentum of the evasion to slice through the propulsion system on the missiles. The missiles exploded behind her in a dramatic spray as she jammed the blade of her weapon in the mech's torso. Her first blast punched through the armor and exposed the core. Three more shots cracked the core and disabled the mech.
With its health at critical, a ring of share code appeared around it. Purple Sister held out a device that IF had never seen before. She pushed the side button and a small flame lit on top of it.
"Share Code, Digitize!"
Purple Sister then swept the device along the code, scanning it and pulling it in.
when the last of the code disappeared into the device. The mech dissolved into a cloud of pixels.
Purple Sister landed in front of IF and let out a sigh and detransformed.
'Who is this girl? Wait... Wasn't she the one that was tossed by that mech?' IF thought as she observed the strange brown-haired girl.
"Alex!" IF heard three voices cry, and the three other girls ran into the building. The girl wearing a ponytail caught Alex as she collapsed from exhaustion.
"Are you alright?" Lara asked.
"Y-Yeah… just a little overwhelmed."
"Aw man, Alex, I'm so sorry!" A girl wearing a black and green jacket cried, "I shouldn't have let you take the fall for me back there!"
"It's alright, Maya, I-I think I found a spirit."
"Was that what happened?" The small blonde girl questioned, "We came in when you transformed… was that one of the Goddesses? I recognize her from somewhere..."
"That was Nepgear," IF said stepping up to the four girls, "Also known as Purple Sister. Like the name says she was the sister to the main Goddess of this country."
The four girls looked at IF, wondering where she had come from.
"Oh, sorry, I guess it's pretty rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm -"
"IF, the 'Wind Walker of Gamindustri'…" Alex interrupted and then pointed to Compa who was joining the group, "and you're Compa."
Compa froze in place and nodded nervously.
"You know them?" Lara asked.
"Well… It's strange." Alex said, "I've barely just met them, but feels like they practically raised me."
IF smiled at that, "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"That's not the only strange thing," Alex continued, "Before, I barely knew how to work Twi- err, Chirper, that's what it's called in this world, but now I know all about share mechanics and robotics… I think I could build a robot from scratch if I really wanted to."
IF took the girl on to her shoulders, "Hey, don't strain yourself too much. Let's get back to base and Histoire can explain everything."
"Hey, Maya?" Maya looked back and saw Lara crossing her arms nervously, "I… I'm sorry about how I was acting… earlier, I mean."
"Oh yeah," Maya acknowledged, while scratching the back of her head, " It's cool, I mean, You're right, we're stuck here and we have no idea what's going on… I should realize that not everyone's as adventurous as me… "
"Still though," Lara said, "We do have to stick together."
"Yeah, definitely, sticking together no matter what. For now though, we need to let Alex rest."
Share Report
Planeptune: 6%
Lastation: 5%
Lowee: 5%
Leanbox: 5%
Other: 79%
NEPSTATION
Neptune: It's Nepstation! And being dead doesn't stop me from being your host: Neptune! I have two guests with me today, Nepgear and Alexandra Rose!
Alex: Umm… What?
Neptune: It's our totally Non-canon Episode Preview!
Nepgear: You'll get used to it.
Neptune: Anyway, Doesn't it kind of suck that we're dead to begin with in this fic?
Nepgear: I must admit it's sort of disorienting being somewhere between being dead and alive, but I do hope that my memories are helpful.
Alex: There is a lot to sort through actually…
Neptune: Don't worry about it, Lexi, we can help you in any way we can!
Alex: Well actually, Miss Neptune, I do have one question: What's a Gehaburn?
Nepgear: GAH! She even remembers that!?
Neptune: Oooh, yeah, we should get to the Episode Preview before Lexi's head explodes.
Nepgear: "With the spirit of Purple Sister at hand, it's time to finally take back the Basilicom!" Next chapter: Purple Progress at last!
Alex: Miss Nepgear… what are you doing? Please, there has to be another way!
Nepgear: Miss Rose, please remember something else, ANYTHING else!