Oh hullo! It's been a while since I've stepped into this world. So let's get back into it, bros and sistas.
The following morning, Nepgear, Excel and the rest of their party returned to the ASIC hideout they found Chika in before. Once there, the party saw Underling yet again, this time arguing with Warechu.
"There! I found her!" Said Nepgear, pointing over to Underling.
"Alright, Nepgear!" Said Excel in an upbeat tone. "You're so awesome at catching bad guys!" This caused Nepgear to blush over the praise she was once again receiving.
"We're all really proud of your loud mouth, Underling." Said IF. "It makes it so much easier to track you down."
"Dammit! You broads again? How in the hell did you find me in a place like this?!" Asked the annoyed Underling.
"Oh yeah, about that..." Excel said. "We were walking around the city, and I was all like "Hey, has anyone seen a weird looking girl with green hair and a big rat?" And they said you'd be back here, probably cause this is an ASIC base? I dunno, but they said you'd be here."
"Yes." Cave said, interrupting Excel's rambling in the process. "It was actually quite easy."
Meanwhile, Warechu was becoming flustered as he began speaking with Compa.
"Oh, my dear angel, Compa! You come to see me? I am beside myself with sheer ecstasy, chu!" He said in an enamored tone.
"Mister Mouse, could you please return the Mascot to us?" Compa asked.
"Yeah, totally! Anything for you. Do you want me to bubble-wrap it, chu?" Warechu responded, very eager to surrender the mascot to Compa. Unfortunately, he was stopped by Underling before he could do anything.
"This ain't no time to turn on your rat charm, you idiot!" She snapped att him before turning her attention back to Nepgear's party. "Do you broads really think we would give in that easily?" She asked.
"Nope! That's why we're prepared to beat you senseless and take it by force!" Red declared.
"You have overstayed your welcome in Leanbox." Declared Cave. "Prepare yourselves."
"You're the ones who better be prepared...!" Underling retorted. "Don't think this will be the same fight as usual!"
"Oh, we're having another fight?" Excel asked. "If so, is it cool if I sit this one out too, Nepgear?"
"That's okay, Excel." Nepgear said reassuringly. "I don't think this will be a long fight anyway."
To no one's surprise, it really was the same fight as usual, as Underling and Warechu were easily defeated.
"Dammit... I lost again..." Said Underling.
"Slapped silly by my angelic Compa...! This is bliss, chu!" Said Warechu, before he and Underling were knocked out by Nepgear and her party's attack.
"Despite what she said, it really was the same fight as usual." Joked IF.
"They need to have a better understanding over how weak they are, nyu." Said Broccoli.
While they were conversing, Nepgear went to check on the Leanbox Mascot.
"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. "Did they hurt you?"
"I am fine. Thank you." Replied the Mascot, her voice sounding an awful lot like Green Heart's. "May I ask who you are?"
"Oh! Hello. I'm Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune, and I need your help to save the world." Responded Nepgear.
"As acting CPU, I'd recommend doing what she says. She's kind of a big deal." Excel admitted, sucking up to Nepgear yet again.
"Ge-Ge, that's a bit too much summarizing..." Compa said.
"No, I understood every bit of information." Said the Mascot reassuringly. "Save the world, hmmm?"
"Yes..." Responded Nepgear.
"Hmm... I might take you up on this offer." Said the Mascot.
"Oh, cool!" Said a delighted Excel. "So you're cool with Nepgear taking you outta here to do whatever needs to be done to save the world, right? You're cool with that, right?"
"Hold." Cave interrupted. "Status dictates we must have Chika's approval first."
"What? But why? I'm an authority figure here too, ain't I?" Excel asked in confusion. "I mean, I'm the CPU in change here. So shouldn't I make decisions for that sorta stuff?"
"Perhaps. But I believe we must also consult the Oracle before we take the Mascot with us." Cave responded. "Therefore, we must return to the basilicom and speak with Chika immediately."
"Understood." Nepgear agreed.
"And additionally, you do not really make decisions for the nation anyway." Cave added. Excel looked hurt.
With this, the party began to leave the hideout before noticing the still unconscious Underling and Warechu.
"Ohh... What should we do about those two?" Nepgear asked.
"I say we leave them." IF answered. "Besides, they're only gonna get back up and run away eventually."
Everyone agreed, and continued their exit from the dungeon, finding their way back at the basilicom, where Chika was waiting, along with 5pb.
"Oh. It looks like you were able to save the Mascot, after all." Chika noticed.
"Yes..." Nepgear responded. We were hoping to take it with u-"
"Yeah, sure." Chika agreed.
"Told you it wouldn't take long." Excel said to Cave.
"Huh? Is it really okay?" Asked Compa.
"Hang on. You're not another impostor, are you?" Asked a suspicious IF.
"No." Answered Chika. "But I do have one request. You must save my darling Vert post-haste."
"Yes, we plan to." Replied a determined Nepgear. "We won't rest until we save everyone."
"So inspiring..." Said Excel dreamily.
"But Miss Chika, will Leanbox be safe without the Mascot's protection?" Asked a somewhat concerned Compa.
"It's just for a little while, no? I can handle things here while you rescue my darling Vert." Chika answered. "It's all about my priorities. And my dearest sister is top of the top!"
"Chika's not Vert's sister, just so you know." Excel told the group. "She just says she is for some weird reason."
"O-Okay. If it's okay with you..." Nepgear said.
"If the Oracle says so, then there is no need to continue discussing my departure." Replied the Mascot. "I desire to join you myself."
"Thank you very much!" Said Nepgear happily.
"I'd like to go with you too..." Excel mumbled to himself, not being noticed by anyone due his quietness.
"Oh! That reminds me!" Chika said. "As you can see, 5pb has come to see me too."
5pb was seen hiding behind Chika, shyly waving to the others.
"H-Hi..." She shyly said.
"OMG, 5pb's here too?! I didn't even notice her! What's up, dude?" Excel said, greeting the idol happily.
"I-I'm fine..." She responded. "Chika wanted me to come and visit her for something important."
"Something important? What is it?" Nepgear asked curiously.
"Ah, yes! Better inform all of you too, especially Excel, since I haven't informed him of my plan yet." Chika said.
"What'd you do?" Excel asked in a joking manner.
"ASIC activity had been spreading while I was held captive. We must take drastic action to prevent this."
"O-Okay... But what does this have to do with 5pb?" Nepgear asked.
"I need her for my plan to work." Chika declared. "We're going to have a giant concert with her as the headliner."
Everyone seemed on board with the idea. Excel then thought of an idea, a huge grin spreading on his face.
"Hey Chika, this really cool concert you have cooked up sounds awesome and all, but as acting CPU, is it cool if I invite some guests to the concert?" Excel asked.
"I guess, if that's what you want." Chika answered.
"YES!" Excel screamed excitedly, cheering like a fangirl and running out of the room while laughing enthusiasticly. This outburst confused and surprised everyone in the room, except for Chika and Cave.
"What's his problem?" Asked IF, who was confused by Excel's freak-out. "He just acted as if he just won the lottery."
"Goodness... Excel seems really excited over whoever his guests are." Nepgear said. She was also surprised by Excel's reaction to being allowed to invite his guests to the concert. Knowing how much of a fanatic he is of her, she had a sneaking suspicion she knew who these guests were.
Later on, the party arrived at the concert, and Nepgear noticed the gigantic amount of people at the concert.
"Goodness, look at that crowd..." Nepgear said in amazement.
"Yeah, I know, right?" Excel said in agreement. "There's so many people here, it's like the entire population of Gamindustri is out here... Which would actually be really awesome if you think about it."
"After seeing this many people, I get what Chika was going for." IF said. "This could really fix the Leanbox situation in one go."
"It made perfect sense to me!" Red added. "After all, this is a concert for my wifey candidate!"
After this, 5pb appeared to greet the group.
"Hello, everyone!" She said. "I'm glad you all made it."
"Hello, Miss 5pb." Compa responded. "Thank you for inviting us."
"Yeah, dude. I wouldn't miss this concert for the world." Excel said. "But, uh, did the guests I invited turn up? They returned my calls, right?"
"Why don't you go ask them yourself. Your special guests are over there, nyu."
Broccoli answered Excel's question, pointing Excel to where the other guests were, revealing Uni, the CPU Candidate of Lastation, and Rom and Ram, the CPU Candidates pf Lowee. Excel immediately squeed over getting to meet them.
"It's not like I wanted to come to this concert or anything." Uni muttered.
"Our first concert..." Rom said in an excited but quiet tone. "I'm so excited... Aren't you, Ram...?"
"Duh! We're gonna brag all about this to Mina when we go home!" Ram answered. Soon after, a very excited Excel walked up to the three girls, being followed by Nepgear.
"Oh, man!" Excel said excitedly. "You girls actually came to the concert?! This is so exciting! It's so cool to finally meet you guys!"
"Uh... Who are you?" Ram asked in a confused tone. Uni was also confused, and Rom had a shy look on her face.
"Oh, right! I'm uh, Excel. CPU Candidate of Leanbox." Excel responded. "It's an absolute honor to meet you all!"
"Did you invite us to see this concert? Not that I care or anything." Uni asked.
"Yes, he did." Nepgear answered for Excel. "H-He really wanted to meet all of you."
"Miss Nepgear's here too..." Rom said, happy to see Nepgear.
"You know Nepgear?" Uni asked.
"Yeah! She came here with a bunch of other girls to help us out with some stuff going on with my Oracle Chika. Then, she heped out with getting our Mascot, who kinda sounds like Vert when she goes HDD. And then Chika was all like "Let's have a really cool concert." And that gave me the idea to bring you all here. And here we are." Excel answered, rambling in the process.
"You like to talk a lot..." Rom said, noticing the male CPU's habit of rambling a lot.
"Yes. That's just who Excel is, apparently..." Nepgear replied.
"He sounds like a weirdo." Ram said. Excel wasn't offended at all. In fact, he was honored.
"Thank you, Ram..." He said happily. "I'm so honored to have you talk to me."
"Eh?" Ram responded in confusion. Did he not know she was insulting him?
"I think he's nice..." Rom said, with a small smile on her face. It seemed that unlike Ram, she actually liked Excel, and didn't mind him sucking up to her.
"Whatever." Uni coldly remarked, looking away from Excel. "It's not like I'm okay with meeting a fan of mine."
"Oh man, I love tsunderes!" Excel said, giving Uni a hug. She didn't push him off or anything, but she was confused.
Nepgear giggled, finding Excel's mannerisms actually rather endearing. After this, 5pb approached the Candidates.
"Oh! Are these three CPU Candidates too?" She asked. They all nodded. "All five CPU Candidates are here? This is so exciting... I hope you will all enjoy my song."
"I will! Anything for you!" Excel responded cheerfully.
"The stage is all yours, 5pb." Cave said.
"Oh, whoops! I forgot that I'm the opening act. I'll see you all later, okay?" Said the idol, as she proceeded to leave and get ready to perform.
"She must be really pumped about this concert, huh?" Nepgear said.
"Makes you wonder where she hides that shy nature of hers." IF said in response.
"She's more enthusiastic about this particular concert." Cave said. "My heart is pounding with excitement."
On stage, 5pb addressed the audience.
"Hi, everyone! How are we doing so far?!" She asked. Her answer soon came in the form of various audience members cheering for her.
"That makes me so happy!" Said the idol, grateful for the love. "But before I sing my next song, I'm gonna need everyone to promise something."
"I'm able to put on songs and concerts because of the CPUs watching over us all." She continued. "If you really love me and my music, you'll love the CPUs too, right? Don't be fooled by anyone else!"
And with that, the audience erupted in cheers, fully supporting 5pb and her message.
"Goodness... The stadium is shaking with their cheers..." Nepgear said.
"That's my wifey!" Red exclaimed.
"I think this plan is gonna be a big, happy success!" Compa added.
Elsewhere, Chika was seen talking with Excel about the performance.
"Oh man, this plan might actually work." Excel said enthusiasticly. "Not only is the crowd fully on board, but Uni, Rom and Ram are here too! This is a good day!"
"Just as planned." Chika boasted. "But the best is still to come. This next plan will put a stop to ASIC's plans for good."
"What is it?" Excel asked.
"You'll see..." Chika answered.
"Okay, that's enough from me!" 5pb announced. "Now let's give a warm welcome to Leanbox's sexy boy band... Juniper!"
It was at this point that the audience's cheers died down into confusion, and then silence. After a while, Excel spoke up.
"Aw, man..." That was all he could say. He knew what was about to happen. The entire audience booed disapprovingly, before Excel turned to Chika exasperatedly.
"What did you do, Chika!?" He exclaimed. "Don't you know that no one listens to boy bands anymore!? They've been outta focus since the 90's!"
"M-My plan failed...? What could have possibly gone wrong? Idols are all the rage." Chika asked.
"Yeah, girl idols! Not guy idols! Excel responded. "Why else are idols super popular with a lot of otakus, myself included?"
"Eek! P-Please don't push..." Nepgear whimpered. "I-If we don't do anything soon, they might riot at this rate..."
"This is dire." Cave agreed. "If the situation isn't resolved soon, there may very well be a riot."
"W-What should we do? Hmm..." Nepgear said, thinking for a moment, before coming up with an idea. "Wait! I have an idea. Uni, Rom, Ram... Listen to this."
"What?" Ram asked, curious on what the idea was.
"I wanna help Miss Nepgear..." Rom said, fully on board with Nepgear's idea, despite not knowing what the idea was.
"This better not be a waste of my time." Uni muttered.
"Yeah, let's do it! What idea do you have? I'm with you girls all the way!" Excel said, eager to know what the idea was. He had also joined the other Candidates in discussing this idea, despite not being called over.
"Um... S-Sorry, Excel. But we're not going to need you for this idea." Nepgear said politely. "This is kind of a girls-only idea."
"Oh... Okay." Excel said, somewhat disappointed, but also eager to know what the idea was. "I mean, I'll admit, I'm a little bummed out I can't help, but if you've got a cool idea going on, I'm all for it! As acting CPU, I'm so allowing this!"
With Excel's approval, the girls proceeded to get onto the stage, They introduced themselves, and the audience seemed to really like them. They then sung an amazing song, which got the entire audience cheering for them in the end, the amazied audience finding the four female Candidates so moe. After the song, they returned to Excel.
"That was AWESOME!" Excel cheered. "You girls are so cool! I knew you were all badass CPUs, but I didn't know you could sing too!"
"Y-You really think so...?" Nepgear said, somewhat embarrassed.
"It's not like I was trying to impress anyone." Uni mumbled. "Especially not you."
"Of course they loved us!" Ram said. "We're totally awesome CPUs, after all!"
"Yeah..." Rom added.
"See? The crowd loved you!" Chika said as everyone went back to the basilicom. "My plan was a success."
"Hey, don't steal credit from Nepgear, dude." Excel said. He then took out his phone, showing the girls his Chirper. "Speaking of which... You're trendiiiiiing!"
"I'm so embarrassed. Never make me do that again." Uni grumbled. "But at least I got some shares out of it, so with that, I'm going back to Lastation."
"We should go back too, Rom." Ram said. "Mina's gonna be so proud, she'll buy us new games for sure!"
"Uh-huh..." Rom agreed.
"Aw... You're all leaving?" Nepgear asked, disappointed.
"Well, I'm already home, so... Yeah." Excel said, before turning to the other Candidates. "Oh, and uh, thanks for coming to the concert, guys! It was an honour to meet you all! Hope we get to hang out more!"
"Stop rambling." Uni said. "It's not that I want to hang out with you, I just have better things to do." And with that, she left.
"Bye-bye, Miss Nepgear..." Rom said to Nepgear, before turning to Excel. "And Mr. Excel..."
"Don't say bye to them, stupid Rom. We're leaving." Ram said, dragging Rom away."
"She called me Mr. Excel!" Squeed Excel, excited over being called that by one of his heroes.
"And they're gone again..." Nepgear said sadly.
"Don't worry, Ge-Ge. We'll see them again, I know it!" Compa said reassuringly.
"It appears that the result of this concert has greatly decreased ASIC's shares." Cave said, analysing the status of the nation's shares.
"Wait, when'd they get shares?" Excel questioned. "They're not even a nation, so how does that work?"
"It's no concern of mine." Chika said. "Once my darling Vert has been rescued, their shares will all come flooding to us!" She then focused on Nepgear's group. "So what are you planning now?"
"We have the power of all four Mascots, so we're going to go back to Planeptune to figure out our next plan of attack." IF told the Oracle.
"Just leave everything to us." Nepgear said reassuringly. "I'll get our sisters back. Whatever it takes."
"Yeah, about that..." Excel said.
"Hm?" Nepgear said in response.
"Well, the thing is, do you remember earlier when you was like "We won't rest until we save everyone"? Cause I was thinking. You can't really do this stuff alone, and I also really wanna see Vert again, so can I come with you?" Excel offered.
"Wait, are you sure?" Nepgear asked. "Will Leanbox be safe without you in it?"
"Oh, sure! I mean, they'll still have Chika here, so why not?" Excel responded. "Besides, it's not every day you get to team up with your hero, am I right? Maybe you could give me some advice?"
"If it's what Excel wants, I can't stop him." Chika said. "Besides, he wants to save my darling Vert, so I will fully respect his wishes to save our dear sister!"
"Alright!" Excel said, excited to be adventuring with Nepgear. "So when are we going?" He asked her.
"WAIT!" Said the voice of 5pb, who had just arrived to the basilicom.
"Miss 5pb? What are you doing here?" Compa asked.
"Oh, good, I made it. I thought you would leave before I caught up." She said, relieved, panting. "That concert was amazing! So inspiring!"
"Oh no... We were terrible compared to you." Nepgear responded embarrassed.
"No way, you're one of the coolest people ever!" Excel said happily.
"He's right." The idol said in agreement. "I was no help in calming that crowd... And I don't want that to happen again, so... Please let me come with you."
"Wait, you wanna come too?" Excel asked in surprise.
"I want to sing for everyone, not just Leanbox." She continued. "So please..."
"Of course, you're more than welcome!" Nepgear said sweetly.
"Awesome! I wasn't expecting that!" Excel said, pleased by this turn of events.
"Well, I hate to rush you, but if we're going back to Planeptune, we have a boat to catch." IF mentioned.
"Ooh, nice!" Excel said before turning to Chika. "I'll be back, chief! And I'll be back with Vert! It'll be awesome!"
"Yes, Chika. We will do our best to retrieve Vert." Cave agreed, following Excel and the others. "Do your best to manage things properly while we are gone."
"Wait, you're coming too, Cave?" Excel asked. "This ain't about protecting 5pb, is it?"
"It is. And additionally, you may also need protection, as you have no fighting experience. Someone must look out for you."
"Oh, cool!" Excel said. "At least I get to team up with Nepgear, right?" He ran up to her, joining her at the front of the group. "Hey, you don't mind 5pb AND Cave joining us, right?"
"I don't mind! The more, the merrier!" Nepgear said sweetly.
"That's awesome! I'm so excited to fight with you, Nepgear!" Excel said excitedly, hugging Nepgear, who politely returned the hug. And the two CPU Candidates left Leanbox as they continued their journey, accompaniec by their many allies.
Finally, it's over. Man, I've missed doing this fanfic. I really hope you peeps enjoyed this part. I'm looking to keep it going until we save the sisters at least, and maybe even more. Until then, take care.