Chapter 4: Quest

"Hmm… the energy core of my N-Saber is fine… but the frame is too fragile for it to handle the transformation… or maybe is the metal's melting point too low?" Nepgear, his ponytail now shorter, examined his pistol-saber hybrid, the G-Saber. "Hmm…" Nepgear turned to his side and picked up his Beam Sabre, turning it on. A long thin purple line of energy emerged from the hilt, quickly shifting into a double edged blade. "The metal is the same, but the only energy core I could find was stronger than this one… It might be the frame after all." Putting his weapons down, Nepgear took off his lab coat and protective glasses, revealing his sleeveless pink shirt. "Where can I find enough metal…?" Hanging his lab coat, Nepgear threw on his new white shirt, next to where his shirt was his flight jacket and purple scarf. Searching through his flight jacket, Nepgear pulled out his pilot's license. "It took three years, but I did it…" The sound of a giggle caught Nepgear's ears.

"Nep Jr.~!" Neptune hopped onto his brother's back, wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling against his face.

"Oh, Neptune. Is it lunchtime already?" The CPU shook her head.

"Naw, Iffy and Compa are back home from their Quest." Neptune hopped off her brother as he put on his scarf and jacket.

"Already?! Wow, they're fast!" Neptune put her hands on her hips.

"Of course, they're our friends after all!" Nepgear sweatdropped.

"What does being our friends have to do with finishing Quests fast?" Neptune patted her brother on the arm, as he was too tall for her to reach his head comfortably.

"Everything, my baby brother. Everything." After giving Nepgear the Beam Sabre, N-Buster Mk I and his plane, which he calls the Gear-Wing, Neptune occasionally takes Nepgear on Quests, usually when she's bored or when Histoire wants Neptune to do some work. Unfortunately, Neptune let's Nepgear take on Quests only if she's with him. Neptune could not let IF or Compa take Nepgear, the incident with Compa and Nepgear fresh in her mind. However, the CPU would allow Nepgear to go if both of them were available.

Thanks to Neptune's overprotectiveness and Nepgear's passion for engineering, the boy rarely left the Basilicom unless he was in someone's guardianship. As a result, Nepgear hasn't made many friends, if any. Fortunately, he was more socialable than Noire and less inteoverted that Blanc. Although Nepgear did create a network of teleporters to get around the Basilicom, many of which no one knew where Nepgear placed. People usually found them when Nepgear appeared out of nowhere.

"Come on, Nep Jr.. We gotta find a Quest we can get tomorrow!" Nepgear nodded and the silbings climbed into the elevator. Once they were at the bottom floor, IF and Compa were waiting for them.

"Nep-Nep, Ge-Ge! Hi!" Compa waved at them as Neptune ran into IF's arms, picking her up.

"He-Hey! Nep, put me down!"

"Nah~!" Nepgear laughed as his close friend tried to fight off his sister.

"Ge-Ge, are you gonna go reserve a Quest with Nep-Nep?" The boy nodded as Histoire descended upon them.

"I'm afraid that cannot do." Histoire turned to Neptune, who dropped IF after the girl smacked her on the head. "Neptune, there is a summit tomorrow that you must attend to." The CPU pouted.

"Aw, c'mon Histy! Can't we just skip through the dialog and get on with our lives?" Histoire shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow this. The summit is going to be held in the PlanepTower." Nepgear patted his sister on the back.

"It's okay, Neptune. I think I might be able to handle a Quest by myself." Neptune shook her head, swinging her arms side to side.

"No! You're not ready for that yet!" Histoire landed ontop of Neptune's head.

"That may be… Fortunately, Noire's little sister, Uni, might be available. That child is more than willing to take on a Quest, especially since Noire will be busy tomorrow." Neptune crossed her arms, letting a hum. Compa put a finger on her chin.

"Why not, Nep-Nep?" IF nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sure Gear is able to do this. He's grown a lot in the past few years." Frowning, Neptune looked to her brother, who was blissfully unaware of the turmoil in her sister's head. The boy's smile put Neptune at ease and the girl nodded.

"Alrighty then, I gotta call Nowa, the Lonely Heart of Lonestation, I've got some splainin to do." Compa and IF turned to Nepgear. Pulling out her phone, Neptune walked away as dialed Noire's number.

"Isn't that great Ge-Ge?" Nepgear nodded, determined.

"I won't let you down, everyone!" Nepgear pumped his arms. IF grinned.

"Yeah, you might be able to make a friend too." Nepgear froze, eyes widening.

"A-A friend?" Everyone watched as Nepgear turned around and dashed back into the elevator

"Ge-Ge, where are you going?"

"I-I have to prepare!" Neptune put her hands on her hips, biting her cheek.

On the next day, Nepgear climbed into his Gear-Wing while everyone stood around the plane. Neptune had called Noire, who called her back almost an hour later, already having a Quest ready. Now all Nepgear has to do is meet up with his partner at the beginning of the dungeon.

"Be safe, Ge-Ge!" Compa waved with both of her arms, hopping as she did so.

"Make sure to keep an eye on your surroundings!" IF raised hand, slightly waving it.

"Nep Jr., you better get stronger, or else I'll have to carry you again!" Nepgear smiled as Neptune cupped her hands over her mouth. Histoire waved at Nepgear, opening the hangar doors.

"Be careful, Nepgear." Once the door was open, Nepgear closed cockpit and turned on the Gear-Wing's engine.

"Thank you, everyone!" The Gear-Wing turned towards the open door, revving up. In a second, the plane blasted out of the hangar, leaving a strong gale of wind behind. As Nepgear slowly faded into the horizon, three glints of light passed by him, landing in the hangar. Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart touched down, turning into Noire, Blanc and Vert respectively.

"Was that your brother?" Neptune nodded as Noire pulled her hand through her hair. "Well, he's later." Patting Noire on the shoulder, Neptune grinned.

"No way, Early Heart! You just dropped of Mini-Noire too early." Noire glared at Neptune before shoving the girl's hand off of her. Blanc readjusted her hat.

"Hmph, so that's what the plane looks like now." Blanc looked at the Planeptunian sky as the hangar door closed. Vert stood next to her, putting her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. Histoire floated away from the group, turning towards them.

"Now then, shall we start the summit?"

"..." Histoire's eyes twitched.

"Hey, Noire?! That was my power up!"

"Serves you right, that was for hitting me with that green shell."

"But I didn't mean too!"

"Blanc, I know this your game, but you don't need to carry me through the whole level."

"...I want to." Histoire facepalmed, sighing into her hand. As soon as the CPUs arrived, the girls immediately sat down in front of the TV and began playing games. This was the third game they played since they got here. Compa walked into the room, carrying a tray of tea while IF sat on the couch, playing a mobile app on her phone.

As they were clearing the level, a large crash coming from downstairs startled the party. Neptune sat up, looking around. Blanc bounced into the air, which Vert took the chance to slide under her so that the smaller girl would land on her lap. Noire stood up, ready to give out some orders. IF was unfazed, immersed in her game. Compa's tea nearly spilled, but the girl showed finesse in keeping balance. Histoire looked down.

"That came from Nepgear's lab." In an instant, Neptune stood up and ran towards the elevator, leaving everyone confused.

"Nepgear!" Curious, the CPUs watched as Histoire, IF and Compa followed the lavender haired girl. The CPUs looked at each other, then ran after Neptune. The girls ran through Nepgear's lab, stopping at the docking bay. Neptune burst through the door, gasping once she was inside.

"That's ironic." Blanc fixed her hat as she finished running. "A plane broke from flying." The Gear-Wing had returned, upside down and broken. The wings had snapped off and the main body of the plane was pierced through by the plane's supports. Electricity surged through plane, as the main battery and other important parts of the plane being revealed through the damage.

"No!" Neptune turned towards the hangar door until Histoire zipped in front of her face, tiny arms outstretched.

"Calm down, Neptune. Nepgear is most likely fine." Neptune narrowed her eyes.

"How can you say that without knowing?!" IF grabbed Neptune by the shoulder.

"Histoire's right. Nepgear told us that the Gear-Wing can only return here at his command." Noire turned to the side, covering her mouth as shs thought about the Nep siblings' blunders. Suddenly, her eyes widened.

"Uni! What about Uni?" Noire turned to Histoire, the same expression that Neptune had on her face. Histoire sighed and held out her hand, revealing a small rectangular hologram. The hologram revealed the dungeon that Noire had picked out the CPU Candidates and that Uni and Nepgear were in the midst of fighting an Epsilon and a horde of smaller monsters.

"You jerk! EX Multi Blaster!" An energy blast was fired at a robot's face, but the monster immediately tried to move out of the way.

"That's Uni!" Noire shoved Neptune aside as she watched the energy blast zoom towards Epsilon. "No, don't you dare move to the side! Take her attack!"

"Easy!" Dashing out of the pile of monsters, Nepgear jumped over to the robot's face, his legs together.

"Nep-Nep, that's Ge-Ge!" Compa watched in awe as Nepgear pursued the monster. IF crossed her arms, a grin on her face while Neptune balled her hands together, eyes trained on her brother.

"Take this!" The boy dropkicked the robot back into the energy beam, the metallic opponent taking the full impact of the attack.

"Con…" The monster dropped to one knee, appearing to breathe heavily before vanishing. Nepgear frowned upon the monster's disappearing.

"Yeah, there we go! That's how you do it, Nep Jr.!" Neptune thrusted her arm into the air when Histoire frowned.

"I'm afraid I have to cut your celebration, but that was recorded three minutes ago." Histoire closed the hologram to reveal another one. "This one is live."

"I think we found our monster…" Uni readied her rifle. Nepgear turned on his sword as well, the purple blade humming. "From what it said, I bet it's safe to say that this is King Pac, and the other monster was most likely Epsilon."

Noire and Neptune swallowed, eyes trained on their siblings. Blanc and Vert had come up, pulling chairs for people to sit down on. However, only IF, Compa, Blanc and Vert sat down. Both Neptune and Noire were too focused on their siblings to sit down.

"That shell looks tough…" Nepgear held his weapon with hands, his feet planted on the ground. "I'll ke-"

"PAC!" The King Pac dropped onto its stomach and began spinning. Uni aimed for its head but the monster's spinning began to pick up, making it harder for her to shoot it.

Suddenly, the monster zoomed towards Uni.

"Uni, dodge!" Noire nearly punched Neptune in the face, but the girl ducked out of the way.

"Wha-!? How can it even do that!?" Nepgear sidestepped into the way and used his sword to obstruct the monster's advance.

"Nep Jr.! You got this!" IF gritted her teeth while Compa covered her eyes.

"Argh! Uni move!" Uni ran out of the way as Nepgear's legs gave out, the monster rammed into Nepgear and sent him crashing into the platform's railing. "Gah!" Nepgear's sword flew out of his hand as he bounced against the railing. The boy slumped over. The sound of King Pac's shell grinding against the floor got louder and louder. Glancing to the side, Nepgear saw his sword sliding further and further away from his location.

"Gear, move out of the way!"

Nepgear kicked off the railing and crouched in the air, facing the direction of sword.

"Nepgear!" Sounds of a rifle firing rang out as King Pac crashed into Nepgear, sending him hurtling over the edge of the platform. Nepgear's cry of pain was silenced by a splash of water.

"NEPGEAR!" Neptune shoved Noire out of the way as the other CPU ran towards the hangar door.

"Move it, Neptune! Uni needs me!" Neptune and Noire pushed and shoved each other, trying to open the door first.

"Quiet, Careless Heart! My brother needs help!" Blanc clapped her hands together, catching the desperate duo's attention. Vert pointed to the hologram.

"Nep-Nep, Nowa… look." Terrified, Neptune and Noire rushed over to the front, shoving Vert onto Blanc in the process.

Nepgear, doused in water as he sat down and favored his leg, fired a charge shot at King Pac as it dropped to its stomach. As the monster was blasted into the air, Uni aimed for its stomach.

"Take this! EX Multi Blaster!" Uni's energy blast shot through the monster's body, yelping quietly as it disintegrated. Once the monster vanished, Uni pulled out her disk and dropped onto her rear next to Nepgear, who had fallen onto his back because of the recoil of the charge shot.

ALL CLEAR!

Sighing in relief, Uni dropped onto her side, as Nepgear basked in the sun, trying to get some of his clothes dry.

"Yes!" Neptune and Noire clasped their hands, cheering. Histoire shook her head, smiling as Compa hugged IF while the latter gave a thumbs up. Vert smiled and Blanc nodded her head.

"Now that your fears are gone, can we start the summit?" Noire and Neptune nodded. Sighing in relief, Histoire turned to Blanc and Vert. "Alright you two, the floor is yours." Everyone turned to Blanc and Vert.

"Blanc? Vert? You two had a reason to have a summit?" The two looked at each other, smiling and holding hands.

"Well…" Blanc scratched the back of her head. "It's more of an announcement." The girls looked at each other, until Vert pulled Blanc into an affectionate hug, the smaller girl giving a peace sign.

"Blanc and I are engaged!" Silence. Histoire floated over to Blanc and Vert, smiling over them.

"I am happy for you two." The couple happily took Histoire's blessing as everyone else had small white circles for eyes.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"