~Nepu May Cry – Act 2: Mirror of Conquest~

~Chapter 5: It's been so long~

It's been six months since Neptune sacrificed her CPU memories to end the Lastation Civil War.

"Nep… gear… c'mon you can say it slowly" Nepgear tapped her feet and hands sporadically, as the newly young Neptune struggled to utter the name.

"Nep... pu? Nepu!" Neptune said excitedly.

"No! No! NEP… GEAR. Say Nep!" Nepgear breathed heavily as she rubbed thumb and index finger against her pounding forehead.

"Nep!"

"Okay good! Now say Gear…" Nepgears eyes widened as she looked concerningly at Neptune.

"Gear!"

"Okay! Good! Good! Now say Nep-Gear!" The younger sister stammered out worriedly.

"Nep… nep… Nepu!"

"For fuck's sake." Nepgear took out a cigarette only for Histoire to enter the room with haste before she could light it.

"Lady Nepgear! You should know better than to smoke around a young child! Especially your younger sister!" Histoire pouted with her arms placed firmly at her hips. "You're supposed to be a role model!"

"She's supposed to be the older sister!" Nepgear grit her teeth and hurriedly crammed the pack of cigarettes into her jacket. "When did I suddenly become her mom!? I'm not the one who bitched out and left two candidates to basically run a continent!" Nepgear looked back at the other end of the table to see Neptune tearing up.

"Does… does Nepu hate me? *sniff* I'm sorry Nepu… I don't want you to hate me!" Neptune let out an ugly cry as tears and snot crept down her eyes and nose.

"No no no! I don't hate you, I'm just… I'm just a little on edge right now…" Nepgear marched up to Neptune and picked her up. Despite being the younger sister, Nepgear couldn't help but feel like a mom instead with this very small child in her arms. "Look, stop crying. If I give you some pudding, will you stop crying?"

"Pudding!?" Neptune's eyes fastened open with glee.

"Nepgear! You can't just spoil her to stop her from feeling bad." Histoire pouted once again as she approached Neptune and took her from Nepgear's arms. "You need to give her affection yourself!"

"Histoire, she's a child, not a Tamagotchi. She'll find some shit to do on her own." Nepgear grabbed a bottle of whiskey out of the refrigerator and opened the nearby window as she finally lit her cigarette.

"Nepgear, it's nine in the morning." Histoire said bluntly as she sighed "Besides, we have visitors coming over. And it would be a very egregious impression for the basilicom if our CPU was incapable of basic communication."

"Visitors?!" Nepgear eyes brightened up ever so slightly. "Oh I-uh…"

"Don't get too excited, Uni is still busy with countless matters in Lastation. These visitors are arriving from the PC continent."

"No shit." Nepgear smirked and chucked the bottle of whiskey back into the refrigerator. "What's the special occasion?"

"Old friends." Histoire headed towards Neptune's bedroom as she urged Nepgear to leave, implying her to head toward the helipad at the top of the Basilicom.

"This is going to be an awkward reunion." Nepgear sighed as she flicked her cigarette out the window behind her.

Nepgear leaned on the railing of the staircase that led to the helipad, on her right was quite a stunning view of Planeptune as far as the eye could see. The capital city grown quite a bit even without Neptune's guidance, Nepgear had triple the paperwork she had before, but seeing countless people cheerfully walk through the city in peace - a far cry from what happened to the nation a year and a half ago – Nepgear smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her efforts would be worth it.

A roaring of distant whirring blades closed in, as a helicopter with an old but familiar symbol approached the basilicom. Upon landing, a blonde goddess sat gracefully, escorted by her long-green-haired oracle who held her hand as she stepped out of the aircraft. Despite her long since losing her CPU powers and consequently her immortality and physical enhancements, she aged like fine wine and dressed the part with a long green dress sewn with silk reflective material than her shine under the Planeptune sun.

"Lady Vert, for what do I owe the pleasure!?" Nepgear shouted as the blades of the helicopter wore down in speed.

"Nepgear, I see you've grown quite a bit. You look wonderful!" Vert's demeanor was far more subdued than the more assertive goddess she once was, her smile gave a motherly vibe that gave Nepgear a weird sense of Nostalgia, as if she was remembering memories of a mom she never met. "As much as I wish I was here to partake in some leisurely nostalgia, I'm afraid that what I have to share may be far more dire than anything we have seen before." The soft comforting smile Vert had changed to a more neutral but still assertive expression.

The rest of Vert's security detail left the helicopter and took formation both behind and in front of Vert. "I believe Histoire has arranged a room for us, yes?"

The two Goddesses walked down the corridors of Planeptune's basilicom while catching up on old times.

"Are those two adorable little things from Lowee doing just fine?" Vert asked.

"Yeah, Histoire and Uni's been checking on them more than me though, I don't like dealing with young children, even if they're uh… young children that are actually years older than me." Nepgear smirked as she took in the absurdity of the situation of her relationship with the other CPU candidates. "Mina has been doing well as active chairman of the nation, she was supposed to be a temp but with her performance and general distrust towards Lowee's government after the coercing of Blanc and other women before her into becoming CPUs against their will was unveiled to the public in classified documents, people don't trust anyone from the old parliament except her."

"It's by no means my turn to speak for the sake of a government. Lord knows I failed to protect my country with both the FN Virus and Lastation intervention, but I am glad to see that Lowee may have a chance at breaking free from it dated traditionalist values. I hope those young ladies find a bright future for themselves and their people. And I hope you find the time to guide them along with yourself."

"Don't bet on it grandma, If I keep getting the amount of paperwork I do, I'm going to be in retirement just like you." Nepgear smirked as she puffed out smoke.

"If you keep smoking those bloody things, you'll be dead before me!" Vert panged out.

"Shit I just might, blame my sister, she ruined pudding for me, and I had to grab something else, clearly."

"Speaking of which…" Vert scratched her neck and breathed heavily before continuing. "I never gathered all the details. As far as the public knows, both Neptune and Purple Heart are dead. However, Histoire just told me that the situation was far more complicated… is Neptune, okay?"

Nepgear closed her eyes, her forehead wrinkling with frustration. "Yeah! She's fine…. She's just-"

"Nepu! Found you Nepu!" A sudden voice called at the end of the hall.

"Neptune!" An exhausted Histoire further behind the excited child, ran down the hall, exhausted even with her new autonomous body. "No running… in… the hallway. Please!"

"Is that…" Vert's soft demeanor broke way though widened eyes, blinking sporadically in shock as though she was seeing a hallucination. "… a child?"

"Ah!" Nepgear screamed as Neptune pounced on her younger sister.

"Nepu! I'm bored! Play with me!" Neptune weakly pounded her first on Nepgear's chest while Nepgear tried to pry her off.

"Goddamit Neptune I'm busy right now! Get off my ass!"

"I'm not getting off your ass!" Neptune screamed back.

"Nepgear! Now you've taught her how to swear! How could you!?" Histoire scolded.

"I'm going to kick your ass if you don't get off me!" Nepgear was almost considering using her combat level of strength against the needy Neptune that latched on top of her.

"Do your worst big sis!" Neptune screamed back, she grabbed Nepgear's D-Pad and ran away with it. "Come and catch me!"

"Neptune!" Nepgear immediately chased after her older sister throughout the entire basilicom. Both the Planeptune and Leanbox staff stood in dismay and embarrassment seeing Neptune and Nepgear dash through the upper and lower floors. Soon, the chase would escalate and the two found each other jumping across chandeliers and sliding across stair railings as the chase intensified. Nepgear took a shortcut to the left of the hall. Nepgear was running down and tackled through a doorway in the hope of cutting off Neptune, but the ever-quick younger child managed to slide under and just barely dodge her younger sister from catching her.

Back at the entrance to Planeptune's intelligence room, Histoire brewed some tea for an aghast Vert who was still fully unraveling the events she had just witnessed. "So… that's what happened to Neptune I see…" Vert widened her eyes once more as she sipped the tea Histoire had gave her. "Well… it's good to see that she's not dead, however… I can't say I'd wish such a state on anyone rational."

"They'll be done chasing each other sooner or later, this is the fifth time this week, they've been at each other's necks. I should be infuriated with such unprofessional behavior but…" Histoire looked out the one-way tinted windows of the Planeptune intelligence room and saw Neptune's smile as she ran from Nepgear. And even if Nepgear didn't realize it herself, Histoire clearly saw that even in her anger, she too was smiling as she chased her sister. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy with them being sisterly with each other, perhaps the Tennouboshi bloodline can find peace with itself like this…"

"Well, no one's going to be in peace if what we found on our satellite detection is anything to go by." Vert finished her tea and signaled her oracle to open the briefcase containing stacked folders, scattered photos, and a rather blocky laptop, which the oracle opened to show satellite footage of Gamindustri graveyard.

"Caughtcha!" Nepgear yelled as she pounced on Neptune and grabbed her D-Pad head clip back. "Are you done being a nuisance yet!?" Nepgear screamed.

"Yeahhhh…" Neptune let out a long yawn and smacked her lips before falling asleep in the middle of the hallway. "Good night sis…"

"Hey!" Don't sleep here!" Nepgear picked up the sleeping nightmare and carried her into the intelligence room. "Pain in my rear… thinks she's faster than me." Nepgear held her older sister in her arms as she fell asleep on her shoulder. "Sorry about that Vert…"

"Oh please, it's actually kinda cute seeing you carry her like that. You look like a mom doing that" Vert laughed before leaning back in her chair. "I wish we could keep laughing but…" Vert tilted her head toward the satellite imagery. "It seems we may not have the luxury."

"Nepgear, in the last few months, we've started to collaborate with the PC continent, and they have given us access to their high-end advanced satellite technology, which is decades ahead of anything developed in our continent so far." Histoire used a digital interface that surrounded her and used it to expand what was being shown on the laptop, a massive light of purple emanated from the center of the Gamindustri graveyard. "The sensors on Vert's satellite indicate that a massive surge of negative share energy, not unlike the same energy emitted by the CPU Uranus' scythe, was detected in the center of Gamindustri Graveyard. Whatever CFW is planning, it could be on the same scale of Uzume or Rei Ryghts."

"So, you're saying we coordinate a strike on the graveyard?" Nepgear leaned closer at the satellite image. The more she looked at it, the weirder she felt, as though she was looking at a mirror without a clear reflection. "Me and Uni can assemble a strike-"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves first." Histoire flung another screen from her personal interface showing CFW Magic at a meeting with Lowee and Lastation senators "CFW has been recognized as an independent entity, by both Lastation and Lowee's human governments. We can't just barge in without authorization, at least not without causing more internal conflict between our nation states. The last thing we need to do is endanger the peace Purple Heart brought for Lastation. Even despite Purple Heart's sacrifice. CPU sentimentality isn't exactly at its highest, and with the last nationwide war proving that human governments stand no chance against independent CPUs, the general public believe that CFW stands as the great equalizer against CPU authority."

"What a load of shit." Nepgear slammed her hands on the table "Here we are working our asses off and the only thing people can see outside the insides of their own asses is the garbage regurgitated online. How many information wars have there been against us at this point?" Nepgear pulled out her own HDD memory and handed it to Histoire carelessly.

"Nepgear! What on Earth are you doing!?" Cried the oracle.

"As of right now, Lilac Heart is currently not in service. I, Nepgear, am working as an independent entity from Planeptune. I'll dig through that graveyard myself if that's what it takes to see what's going on in there."

"Nepgear this is insane!" Histoire pleaded.

"Let her go Histoire…" Vert asserted, however. "If you truly believe this is the right choice Nepgear, do what you must. There's only one thing I need you to understand." Vert eased herself off her seat and marched toward Nepgear, her tall body covering the light from the center of the intelligence and overshadowing Nepgear. "Your choices have consequences for everyone. Not just you. I failed to understand that when I turned a blind eye toward Lastation and let them grow as powerful as they did. Keep this in mind with every action you take going forward."

"I will." Nepgear asserted back. "I'm done playing footsies with bureaucratic shitheads. If I'm going to change the world for the better, I need to be the better person, not the complacent one."

Nepgear marched out of the room and headed immediately for the basilicom's garage.

Histoire followed Vert to her helicopter. "I sure hope Nepgear's rebellious nature hasn't disturbed you in any way Lady Vert."

"No! Of course not! Quite the opposite really. I feel young again looking at her. There's a youthful ignorance I can't help but appreciate. But she's an adult now. If she's to understand being a goddess, she must understand the consequences of having the power one."

"If you say so Lady Vert. Safe travels."

The helicopter flew away into the distance, as Histoire gazed at the setting sun far away. Indeed, this city had been built and improved by Nepgear's determination in the last six months. While she thought Nepgear was a strong worker and advocate for safety and security. Histoire couldn't help but feel as though this incessant desire to change the world was sourced from a trauma not even she knew about.

~Lastation Basilicom~

"Done… done…" Uni swiped, tossed, and scanned paper after paper, numbingly. She had been at it for so long she was considering if she could even read what was in the papers, or if she was working off her subconscious greenlighting or disapproving of each request. "So much… why…"

Uni took off her reading glasses and opened the window behind her. The sunset in the distance was a sight for sore eyes but Uni couldn't help but still feel exhausted. "This is worth it… right? We're doing the right thing… right?"

Lastation's second basilicom was lonely, no one from the previous parliament had survived except for Kei, who had to move to the PC continent for still being considered a war criminal in Gamindustri territory due to her association with Noire. Uni peaked out her room, over the railing she could see the rest of the basilicom, aside from the occasional janitor robot. Her officials were all busy in Lowee tending to Rom and Ram's education. Uni didn't have time to see Nepgear for the past three months. And even then, their last meeting was a brief kiss and hello in Planeptune before getting back to work. She wanted to be with her again, but looking back at her desk, she realized that it'd be a long while before any semblance of peace could be found in the meantime.

As Uni was soaking in the desolate nature of the Basilicom, she suddenly noticed a bright figure in the corner of her eye, a woman with two long purple twin tails appeared at the corner of her eye before disappearing.

"Who the hell?" Uni chased after the possible peripheral hallucination, the hallway that led to where the mirage walked had its lights flickering rapidly, she pulled out her sidearm and walked slowly down the hall, it seemed that only certain lights were flickering, as if it were making a trail for her to follow. The trail led to a backroom exit outside of the basilicom, but instead of basilicom lights, it was digital street signs and billboards that seemed to be guiding her somewhere. "The hell is this…" Uni holstered her handgun, despite the suspicious scenario she was in, she was still in public. Following the trail of lights and boards she suddenly realized where she was headed. "If this is some sick joke, I'm killing you myself."

Uni found herself led further away from the habitable city, as the architecture around her became more and more worn down and destroyed. She found herself headed towards an abandoned street which she knew fairly well, it had been a street she used to travel plenty of times in her younger years. Progressing further was one final digital sign that seemed to be hacked pointing towards one direction: the remains of Lastation's original basilicom.

"Alright! Who the hell are you!? Do you think this is funny!? Do you like tormenting me like this!? Do you think I *want* to be reminded of this place!? Fuck you! Where the hell are you!?" Uni marched toward the crater, only to see the woman she saw before in full view. "I know you…"

Before her was an image of Neptune and Nepgear's mother, Uzume Tennouboshi. She stood there silently, wearing what seemed to be her old outfit decades ago. The woman stood the silently, only urging her head to signal for Uni to come closer.

Uni took her sidearm back out and aimed it directly at Uzume, inching closer as she rapidly looked around, she took out her combat knife and held it under her gun while backhanding it. "You've gotten a lot of nerve showing your face around here, if that's even really you."

Uzume held her hand up suddenly to urge Uni to stop, almost triggering the on-edge CPU to fire. Uzume stood silently for a moment before disappearing. Uni, confused, looked around rapidly, aiming her gun in all directions around her to see if there were any threats nearby. A rumbling from the ground began to emerge, the asphalt that buried the original basilicom seemed to shake violently. The rumbling grew louder as Uni could feel something underground, as though the ground below her was hollowing out, she slowly stepped back as an explosion of dust and ash erupted, blinding the perplexed CPU. When her vision cleared, she held her handgun up and focused immediately, but what she saw before her was no enemy.

A giant mech, an abandoned project she read about in the few files recovered from the original basilicom: The name engraved on what seemed to be the cockpit was simply titled: "R. E. X." The mech was a large bipedal machine, it didn't have any arms, the cockpit almost looked like the large mouth of a mythical dinosaur, a creature Nepgear showed her in one of the old-world books recovered from her childhood home.

"Rex… one of Lid's abandoned projects she came up with a long time ago. Back when Lastation was just founded after splitting out from Lowee."

"You know your history, impressive for a young lady your age." The lights of the mech lit up as the disembodied voice echoed throughout the crater, it didn't take long for Uni to realize, however, that the very voice was coming from the mech itself. "You aren't a normal candidate are you though… no… you're something special."

"So, you know as well. Uzume, if that really is you. What the hell are you doing here!?"

"It seems as though when Neptune sacrificed her memories in order to save Lastation, I seemed to regain sentience as… something. Whether I'm a ghost or A.I… or something in between, that I don't know for sure, but I was able to access the underground labs buried beneath Lastation's basilicoms. It's there that I found a myriad of unfinished weapon prototypes, including the one before you now."

"You've been snooping around unauthorized. I should decommission you right now" Uni aimed her handgun directly at the cockpit of Rex.

"Do you plan on killing me, lover of my own daughter?"

"I can't kill what's already dead, besides, she's not your daughter, you forfeited that right when you threw away your family for revenge." Uni jumped up the leg and spoke without turning to see Uzume's soul that was next to her. "Your actions as a CPU have consequences to those other than yourself. My sister couldn't understand that, and because of it, this very continent was sent to what I can only describe as a purgatory, that inches ever close to hell itself."

"Hell… it's always been depicted as a fiery inferno of endless torment, a just sacrifice for sinners who have defied God. But perhaps the true hell is of our own creations, humanity's inability to be at peace with itself, as though conflict is a chain wrapped around our very minds." Uzume further activated Rex, the mech stood up more as Uni found herself climbing to the top, the sun was still setting in the distance, but its light drew out ever more. "You're right, I have turned this land to hell, I've sinned and turned this very world into a sin itself. But is that not the fate all passion is destined to?"

"Hell's that supposed to mean. You mean we can't control this… everything… ourselves?"

"Do you know where the name of our very nation is derived from, Uni? Gamindustri? It's named after a fabled land in the old world, a land in which people were able to create entire worlds, worlds in which people could experience through magical devices, not unlike the video games we have developed today. But as with all things, human greed and consumption overtook passion and principle. Soon, the so-called worlds people once used to escape reality became a casualty of reality, ever bending to whims of forces well outside our own power. Large corporations built on the exploitation of creatives whose essences were sucked away and dried, this very crime against human existence further exacerbated by these so called 'console wars' were in truth proxy wars built on propaganda for the corporation in order to not just sell their products but live far more than in entertainment but in the very hearts of mankind. Soon, no longer were humans developing these once fabled worlds of escape, soon the very humanity of art and media was drained out by automation. Standardized mediocrity ensured that complacency and profits triumphed over soul. But you'd be foolish to believe only this 'Game industry' was a victim of such. In the very politics of mankind, mediocrity was a testament. Mediocre politicians ran mediocre campaigns that governed mediocre people with mediocre lives. Mankind existed to work and to die, and even its so-called escapes from reality, their art, their humanity was ripped from them. Do you know why villains and heroes exist, Uni? They both rage against mediocrity. A true hero, and a true villain turn the ordinary into extraordinary, it's in their very existence that the mediocrity humanity is destined to can be defied. But there's one thing that both heroes and villains will always share: consequences. A true hero and a true villain will be a consequence for anyone, it's not out of selfishness, far from it. Chaos, apocalypse, genocide, rebirth, renewal, order. The concepts hinge on the very idea of consequence, when consequences are avoided, mediocrity stagnates our very lives. Mediocrity is the antithesis of existence. History will not remember the inconsequential and the complacent, history itself is the culmination of consequences. If you must become a monster, then become one, if you must become a hero then become as such. This so-called hell you speak of, it's not the consequence of people like me, nor of Noire, we are not to blame for the mediocrity of mankind. Mankind's insistence on safety and security has led to its own demise, entrapped by its own prison of self-preservation does it find itself enraptured by mediocrity. I know the truth about you Uni, but I wonder if you let that truth define you."

"Nobody needs to know about that…" Uni looked away from Uzume visage.

"Not even your lover?" Uzume teased. "So, will you allow your relationship to stagnate, never knowing the truth about each other? Say what you will about my genocide of Planeptune's politicians, my genocide was truthful. A relationship built on a lie will forever remain a lie!" Uzume shouted.

Uni without even turning, pulled out her handgun and fired a round at Uzume, the bullet has zero effect on the visage of Uzume.

"Our love… isn't a lie!"

"And yet you haven't told tell her the truth!"

"She doesn't need to know that!" Uni screamed.

"We'll see about that, besides. I'm not the one you should be angry at. Your lover is approaching the Gamindustri Graveyard alone, without her HDD."

"What!? Nepgear!? Why!?"

"She going to be a hero, that's why." Uzume smiled before disappearing.

Uni panickedly entered the mech, she found a way to connect her prosthetic arm into the framework of the mech as it lit up. "A flight unit?" Uni stammered out. As Unit activated the flight protocol, massive holographic wings appeared behind Rex, as thrusters on the side of the mech roared loudly, burning away at the asphalt below.

"Here goes nothing!" Uni soared towards graveyard as the large mech raged over Lastation, the confused public below watched with amazement as the machine soared past the country's wall.

~Gamindustri Graveyard~

Nepgear got off the blue and green motorbike, an old gift from a friend who helped her long ago. The graveyard looked exactly as she expected. But in the distance, she could see the spike in negative share energy in the distance. "Negative share energy, huh? Never did figure out what that shit is. But if the name's anything to go by… if share energy is faith of a people converted into power… the opposite of faith would be…"

The spike of negative share energy flashed once more, and a wave of said energy sliced through the air, Nepgear barely dodged in time, the very energy grazing her right arm, blood seeped into her jacket as the energy spiked again. However, it flew up into the air and slammed down, sending out a devastating shockwave of energy that launched Nepgear onto her back into the ground.

As she recovered, Nepgear pushed herself off the ground and her vision cleared to see a tall figure in a long black coat, fitted over a tactical suit and carrying a large purple sword that had a blue gem embedded in it. The figure had long purple hair not unlike Nepgear's, but she had adorned a threatening grey mask that covered everything from the top of the neck to the forehead. The only visage of a face was the red visor where the eyes would be, that streaked from left to right of the mask.

"The opposite of faith" The figure spoke "Is reality itself." As it brandished its purple sword.

Nepgear quickly approached her bike and unlatched a large case covered in bandages. The tall figure waited patiently as Nepgear opened the large case and Excalibur emerged, Nepgear took the sword with both hands and stared down at the figure opposing her.

"I won't lie, I can't say I'm a woman of faith either. I prefer taking things into my own hands." Nepgear brought her sword up into a guard stance, the opposing figure did just as such, almost mirroring Nepgear herself.

"Draw!" they both screamed in unison as the blades locked into place against each other.

To be continued.