Chapter 4: The Soul of Purple


~Planeptune Outskirts~

Neptune once again stood at the doorstep of her old family home. She knew there would be mass fighting at Lastation and would join the fight soon, but she wondered what the point of it all would be.

"I destroy the insurrection, people calm down, business as usual…" Neptune kept telling herself that, but she still couldn't find the strength to leave home and face the world for what it was.

The CPU took out her younger sister's CPU memory, staring down at it unsure of why she still held onto it.

"Mom told me that the greatest power was the ability to choose, yet here I am, unwilling to do anything…" Neptune looked down at the share memory, the same memory she took from her sister without hesitation. She pondered if she really did choose to take Nepgear's share memory, or if she merely acted on instinct.

"The power to choose…" She repeated once more. She looked back at her past year of being the goddess of Gamindustri, she had stopped terrorist groups and organizations, she helped the construction of important organizations and services in Planeptune, but never once during all that time did, she ever make a choice. She left it to the Planeptune government and other officials to make the decisions for her.

"Was Nepgear right? No… she couldn't have been!" Neptune clamped her hand against the memory, a futile attempt to crush it. "I did my job, that's all that mattered right!?" But deep in her heart she couldn't hide the truth to herself, that she wanted to hide from the world and never be responsible for its changes.

Neptune fell to her knees, before the house that was abandoned for so long. She now realized why she stayed here for so long. Because deep inside she wanted control, she wanted to be able to choose but was never willing to deal with the consequences. So, she hid in her home, a place she believed she could do whatever she wanted without repercussions. She could imagine and daydream all she wanted without fear of the world around her.

"All these years… and I've truly never grown up…" Neptune curled up with her legs and stood there. Even though she knew the problem with herself she couldn't find the will or the way to fix any of it. "Why am I wishing for mom to come save me, she's gone now…"

Neptune closed her eyes, numb to the world around her.

"Hey! HEY! Get out of the way!" A familiar voice called out.

Neptune stood right back up and saw a blur of purple and black just before it crashed into her on the ground.

"What in the goddamn!?" Neptune found a huge weight placed upon her body as she was partially lodged into the ground. Upon looking up, she saw the spitting image of herself sitting atop her.

"Oh! My bad! So sorry!" the doppelganger choked out as she swathed away the large cloud of dust surrounding the two. "Why does this always happen in every dimension I go to!?" Pouted the doppelganger.

"Can you get off me!" Cried Neptune as the doppelganger still sat atop her.

"Ah, right." The doppelganger stood up next to Neptune and dusted off her parka. Unlike the one Neptune had, her Parka was donned with a deep black and dark violet. Her hair was not unlike the hair she had when she was younger but extended. And even upon the top of her head were D-pads clips, also donned with black coating instead the white Neptune had herself.

"Who the hell are you!?" Neptune stood up and took off her black robes which had been ruined and stained by dirt and rock. "How the hell do you look so similar to me!?"

The doppelganger tilted her head, confused by Neptune until it finally hit her. "Wow! No way! Did I seriously just land into this dimension's Neptune as well!? That's the third time in a row!"

"What the hell are you saying, woman!?" Neptune was growing furious.

"Alright alright alright… this is gonna be kind of crazy for you at first, but what if I told you there were other dimensions just like yours? And that those other dimensions had other versions of you who turned out differently" The doppelganger was sweating slightly, even she could sense an aura of intimidation from Neptune.

"So… you're saying you're me… from another dimension?" Neptune's anger quickly faded into confusion. She sat on the steps of the porch to process everything. "Well, I've always thought about other dimensions existing… never thought they'd come to me first." Neptune looked away with a slight chuckle, the last thing she needed to do was panic.

"Yeah, something like that! The Neptune's from the other dimensions always just called me Big Nep." Big Nep bent downward and brought her hand toward Neptune who reciprocated and shook it.

"Okay… Big Nep" The very concept made Neptune laugh inside a little, considering the two weren't far off from each other when it came to physique.

"Well, you aren't exactly small, should I also call you Big Nep? Biggie Nep… Large Nep… Nep Plus?" Big Nep paced around the front porch trying to come up with names for Neptune.

Neptune saw the woman before her with bewilderment. Was this cruel fate taunting her? She was once ailing over the fact that she may have never truly grown up, and now what seemed to be the opposite face of the same coin right in front of her. Neptune had changed her appearance in the hopes of at least looking far more mature than she really was, yet this woman before her seemed to be the exact opposite. Here she was dressed almost no different to her when she was younger yet the aura around her seemed to exude a sense of confidence and comfort that Neptune couldn't even dream about having.

"Ms. Tennouboshi will do fine." Neptune quickly interrupted.

"What! No way! You're also Uzume's daughter in this dimension?"

"Is that not… common?" Neptune concerningly raised her eyebrow.

"Well, you were her daughter in another dimension where you're stuck in an academy in Lowee… and you were also her daughter in another dimension where you become a dictator of Planeptune after destroying an AI network that was actually fragments of Uzume's conscious reformed to maintain her power after she went insane and used her candidate to assassinate her own husband. Those are the only other dimensions I can think of where you're her daughter…"

Neptune was horrified by the second universe Big Nep proposed, even in another universe her mother was a mass murderer.

"Anyways… what are you up to right now. Ms. Tennouboshi?" Big Nep quickly brought to avoid and further conversation about the other worlds.

"Well… there's a war going on between the people of Lastation and its government. And I'm supposed to help the government silence the rebellion. But… I can't bring myself to do it."

"Geez! Another war torn Gamindustri!? What's going on here?" Big nep shook her head with her palm placed against her forehead.

Neptune explained everything to Big Nep. How there was a war that devasted the continent, and how Neptune was supposed to lead everyone afterwards. Neptune went on about how she couldn't handle the power and hid, relying on others to give orders and fix problems.

"What about the candidates? What's going on with them right now?"

"Hell if I know… they're probably wrapped in the battle as well."

"Can't you do anything to stop the battle!?" Big Nep cried.

"Probably not… if I go, I'll just massacre the insurrection and that'll be that. If I don't go then the military will take care of them. Regardless, people will die, and it will be my fault. The world will move on, and I will have done nothing." Neptune stared down at the dirt floor. She couldn't bear to look at Big Nep in the eyes as she spouted her defeat.

"Ms. Tennouboshi… Neptunes never give up!" Big Nep cheered.

"The hell? Did you not listen to anything I said!?"

"It doesn't matter what happens, or what the problem is. You're the protagonist! Every dimension I've seen me and you in, we've been able to decide what we can and can't do!"

"So what the hell am I supposed to do!?" Cried Neptune as she dug her face into her hands.

"Lady Neptune!' A small voice shrieked in the distance. "Why are you still here? The battle is already beginning, President Hatsumi has already ordered a full assault on the insurrection!"

"Woah, Is that your Histy? She looks kinda big compared to others…" Big Nep stepped back.

"Who… who is this, Lady Neptune?"

"Ignore her, where's Nepgear and Uni?"

"Erm…" Histoire couldn't help but make a couple of confused glances at Big Nep before focusing on her report. "Nepgear and Uni are headed to Lastation's Basilicom. I don't know what they plan on doing when they get there but… I do know one thing. Uni has activated the Kill Switch program. So far, she's sacrificed her left eye, and I fear she may be using it to repair Lastation."

Neptune stood up and realized, there was a choice. A choice that could stop this fighting.

"What the Nep is a Kill Switch? Sounds scary" Big Nep shuddered.

"In our dimension, each CPU has access to their own share memory and can manipulate it at will, if necessary, we can sacrifice components of it to change matter across four-dimensional space. Uni is a special case as her memory was already damaged long before she ever received an HDD. Lastation's head scientist at the time, Vio, modified her body to be able to sacrifice body parts instead of memory shards."

"And you guys didn't remove that kill switch!?" Big Nep wearily asked.

"Removing the kill switch would be like removing mankind's ability to think. A process so unstable yet necessary for existence. A CPU exist to serve her people, and our memories are the physical manifestation of that oath. I guess that's why…" Neptune pulled out her own memory, which was blackened and distorted. "I guess that's why it's been like that."

"What is your plan Lady Neptune!?" Histoire pleaded.

"Simple, I need to get to Lastation basilicom before those two… but before that… I need to make a detour back to the basilicom."

"I can help you with that!" Big Nep pulled out a book as an annoying voice kept barking at her. "Let me just get the coordinates to your basilicom."

"Histoire, help her." Neptune ordered.

"B-but Lady Neptune, what's in the basilicom that you need?"

Neptune smirked as she looked down at the muddied robes near the entrance of her home. "Tell me Histoire, how long has it been since you've tailored an outfit?"


~Lastation Basilicom~

"UNI DON'T!" Nepgear didn't care and kept walking toward Uni.

A loud gunshot ran through the sky, and the whole world as a whole came to a stop.

The caliber of the shot was far too familiar, and both Uni and Nepgear stopped what they were doing to see Purple Heart, not Neo-Alpha, descend from the sky.

"Sis…?" Nepgear rubbed her eyes to make absolute sure of what she was seeing.

"What are you doing here!?" Uni screamed. "Neptune please! I need to do this, I need to fix this problem, it's MY responsibility!"

Purple Heart transformed back into Neptune, and both candidates were shocked to see Neptune in her classic parka dress, with two D-Pad clips upon the top of her head.

"No Uni… it's not your responsibility. It's mine to bear, as it should've been when I took control of this world." Neptune approached Uni and held her hand, easing it away to bring away the kill switch menu. "I've had more than a year to fix things by now, and yet I've done nothing but pity myself. You've had it way harder than me and you've done more than enough on your end…"

Neptune pulled out her handgun and gave it to Uni. "I'm entrusting this to you, Histoire told me how you liked to modify your firearms, I did my best to match them."

Neptune turned to her younger sister and summoned Excalibur before her. She struck the sword in the ground and tilted the hilt toward her. "I'm likely not going to be needing this for a while. Take care of it, alright? I know you like to play rough, but's it's all I have left of mom, so treat like you would've treated her, okay?" The CPU patted her sister on the shoulder before walking away.

"Neptune what the hell are you doing!?" Nepgear roared as she ran toward her sister.

"You were right, I've been doing nothing but hiding all this time. I'm going to fix that with this…" Neptune pulled out her CPU memory and approached the edge of the basilicom's roof. There she saw her the civil war below only worsen. "I'm afraid of my power, and I'm afraid of the consequences that come with them. As such, I have no right to have them!"

Nepgear and Uni ran toward Neptune but the blast that ensued of crushing her own memory had launched the two candidates back, and she uncouthly crashed down on the roof.

As the candidates ran toward the CPU to check on her health, they were immediately taken away by the rapid changes that took over Lastation. Every firearm near the basilicom vanished into nothing, all injured combatants were fully healed, and even those in worse critical conditions were stabilized.

The plethora of buildings that were destroyed from both the old war and the recent riots had repaired themselves completely. The air around the country was purified, and the years of smoke and smog that built up from relentless arms manufacturing disappeared in an instant.

In the far off distant across the outskirts of Lastation, the dilapidated and decrepit wastelands that surrounded the nation were cleansed, and from the pure slate rose fertile ground and luscious forest that immediately bore fruit.

Lastation had changed in its entirety, and the sun rose in the sky for the first time in decades.

Both candidates looked down to see the unconscious Neptune regress back into the form she was in before the war had even started. A slightly younger and smaller Neptune, the same one that Nepgear recognized as the woman her raised her from the depths of Lowee eight years ago.

Nepgear picked up her elder sister, her heart was beating faintly, but there were no signs that she would wake up soon. Uni's transport with her officials flew down to check the source of the mass release of share energy, they fell to their knees in horror as they saw the lead goddess of Gamindustri unresponsive.

"You just needed to prove me wrong one more time, didn't you, sis?" Nepgear smirked bittersweetly as they two headed for the transport and back to Planeptune basilicom.


In the span of a week, the fundamentals of Lastation society changed drastically. And Uni's first order of business was to improve relations with her citizens. In order to do so, she took take advantage of the new refurbished land left behind by Neo-Alpha's memory.

With unanimous support from the people and the elected officials, Uni declared the forest and fertile lands to be sanctuary zones, designed solely to be used for academic and scientific research as well as to be strictly maintained to bear its fruit but to not exploit it.

Along with the expanded farmland, the reconstruction of many of Lastation's infrastructure provided free housing and resources to Lastation citizens who contributed to society. Quality of life skyrocketed into its peak and even the elites of Planeptune grew jealous of Lastation's sudden prosperity.

What was once considered a desolate wasteland that couldn't adapt to the new world was now changed into one of the most beautiful and scenic destinations one could hope to see in the Planeptune Federation, even outclassing the long-standing amusement parks and reservations from Lowee.

And Uni, humbled with the world granted to her by Neptune, pledged to ensure that the sacrifice Neptune gave would not go in vain.


~Six months later, Planeptune basilicom~

Nepgear and Uni stood at the balcony of Planeptune's basilicom, even from this distance they could see the forest of Lastation sparkle in the night.

"That forest… it so hard to believe it really exist. That was… a miracle, Neptune's doing. I won't lie… I'm still nervous if I'll truly be able to protect this world Neptune gave me." Uni breathed the new air in, her eyes opened to see the bustling light's of Lastation shine far greater than it ever had before.

Nepgear was happy for Uni but was almost starting to get jealous at Lastation for it taking Uni's attention more than her.

"You two! Come to the infirmary! Quickly! It's important!" Histoire yelled as she ran in with papers fly amok from the folder she was carrying, an odd sight for both candidates considering they had never seen Histoire so unorganized and panicked.

"Woah hey, who got hurt-" Uni was quickly interrupted

"Neptune's awake!" Histoire screamed.

Both candidates immediately dropped whatever was on their minds and immediately ran back into the basilicom with Histoire.


~Planeptune Infirmary~

The two ran to the center front room designed specifically for Neptune, pushing past the purple curtain, the two saw a confused Neptune staring blankly at the both of them.

"Neptune… you're alright!" Nepgear came in to give her younger sister a big hug, only to be hit by three words that pierced her soul.

"Who are you?" Neptune asked.

Nepgear immediately put it together. The destruction of Neo-Alpha's memory also meant the destruction of any memories Neptune ever had. It was so much to take in. But Nepgear realized the worse pain of it all. All those fights she had with Neptune, the insults, and the threats, she would never be able to take any of them back.

"Umm Neptune…" Histoire choked out. "This is… this is your younger sister. Her name is Nepgear."

"Nep… Nepu? Nepu?" Neptune seemed to have trouble forming the full name.

In essence, Neptune had died, and this girl before was the monument to that which she lost. She buried her head into Neptune's lap, who was still confused and shaking her head. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." Nepgear hopelessly cried.

"Sorry for what?" Neptune tilted her head, still confused, and looked toward Histoire who was tearing up as well.

"Nothing… it was nothing! I'm sorry for nothing!" Nepgear gripped Neptune's hand, a hand she recognized well. It was a hand she had sparred with, blocked against, and clashed constantly. Yet that feeling slowly faded away, and the hand seemed to be foreign, as if Nepgear had never felt it in her life.

"Well, uh… whatever happened, I forgive you!" Neptune cheerfully spoke.

Nepgear wiped away her tears and looked away. "I'm not supposed to cry… I'm really not supposed to fucking cry…"

"But why… why can't Nepu cry?" Neptune leaned further toward her sister, trying to get her sister's face to face her. "You don't look any different from anyone else here… you don't seem any different from any of the nurses here. Why can't you cry?"

Nepgear looked back to face Uni, who was also silent and shocked.

Neptune got up on her knees and wrapped her arms around Nepgear. "Well, I hope you get better, Nepu!"

"Yeah…" Nepgear hugged her sister back as well. "I'll try sis… I'll try…"


~Gamindustri Graveyard~

"Still… I can't believe you let her go away, just like that." Magic was at her throne tapping her feet impatiently.

"Well, it seems Lastation has returned to peace, has it not? I stand by my decision, Captain. It would've tarnished the name of CFW to strike down an injured opponent."

"Hmph, fine… I guess, our true enemy are the Tennouboshis specifically." Magic rested her chin on her fist as she looked out the makeshift windows.

"Oi boss!" A grey skinned woman with pointy ears entered the room, "The new guy's here!"

"So soon. I'm pleased."

"A new recruit?" Brave stood up straight with concern "Was our plans not to restore judge?"

"Plans have changed. Besides, I'm not interested in saving a pathetic buffoon who couldn't even beat a CPU candidate without an HDD. Our new recruit on the other hand…"

A woman with a black suit and purple tie entered the room, the tails of the suit extending far and long almost akin to a trench coat or cape. Her face was completely covered by a mask that seemed to have a neon purple light where the eyes would likely be seeing out of.

At her right side was a long briefcase that emitted a faint purple glow from its edges, and a killer aura that even brought shivers down CFW Magic's spine.

"Introduce yourself." Magic demanded, as she stuck up her neck and maintained eye contact.

"My name, is Conquest." The woman opened the suitcase and revealed a long purple glowing sword with a blue and yellow crystal placed on its hilt. "And this will be arbiter of the Tennouboshi bloodline"

Magic leaned in, taking a deep look toward the blade, the faint screams and cries slain goddesses echoed from the blade.

"I like what I'm seeing already..."

To Be Continued