? ? ? , Gamindustri

Place: ? ? ?

Date: September 26, 2012

Time: 4:47 P.M.

A large round table with seven tall seats stood in the dimly lit room. Each chair was occupied, but one, as the person herself was too agitated to sit still.

"Who does she think she is, banning me from Planeptune City like that?" Abnes complained as she stomped her foot. "All I did was voice my complaints to Planeptune's Basilicom! There's a thing called freedom of speech! What was she even doing in Planeptune anyway!? She's not even their CPU!"

"Calm down, chu. You didn't come here just to complain, did you?"

Abnes felt a vein pop as she shouted, "Shut up, you rat!"

"It's Warechu, chu!" The chubby little rat crossed his arms as his spade tail swished around.

"You both should be quiet," said the witch-like woman.

"Um…" The woman with long blue hair fidgeted in her seat. "Th-Thank you all so much for coming to the Seven Sages Headquarters today. I-I know some have traveled…. a long way…"

"Hey! I'm sitting on the other side of the table! Can't you speak a little louder!" shouted the green and orange robot.

"O-Oh! I apologize, Copypaste! I-It's just… a bit hard for me… to speak up…"

"Why did we make this wuss our leader again, chu?"

"W-W-W-W-Wuss?! I-I may not be the bravest here, but at least I'm not the weakest!"

Warechu rolled his eyes. "Suuuuuure, chu."

"Okay, enough cutie pies. Little Rei here is just a bit shy. Cruel to tease her like that."

Rei softly smiled at the man wearing the full-body mech suit. "T-Thank you, Anonydeath."

"Can't we hurry this meeting up?" The man in the black suit looked at his wristwatch and said, "I'm a very busy man with a hectic schedule to keep."

"O-Of course, Badd…"

"That would be 'Mr.' Badd to you." He readjusted his glasses with a frown on his face.

Rei stuttered as she corrected herself, "M-Mr. Badd!"

"Who even called this meeting? I came a long way to this damned HQ, so if it's about something trivial, someone's dead."

Rei turned to the woman with the pointed hat. "U-Um…. I was the one who called today's meeting, Arfoire… I-I wanted to talk about-"

"That arrogant, snotty, self-conceited CPU of Lastation!" Abnes finished Rei's sentence as she finally sat in her seat.

Rei cleared her throat and continued. "Y-Yes… It seems that Lastation's CPU is on good terms with Planeptune's CPU."

Copypaste slammed his hands against the table. "Get outta town?! With that monster?!"

"I can't think of anyone being on good terms with Planeptune's CPU," Mr. Badd voiced.

"Well, they sure are! They are both forcing kids to work!" Abnes accused.

Anonydeath hummed as he tapped the metal table's surface. "I don't know how close they are, but my research has shown them working together. Just yesterday, they announced that a new train station is in the works for free movement between Planeptune and Lastation."

"That's quite something, chu. With the way Planpetune's CPU is, I thought they would start duking it out already, chu."

"So that's why Lowee's shares have been dropping," Mr. Badd grumbled. "This is quite the predicament."

"Y-Yes… because two CPUs are working together, people have thought that CPUs are good," Rei said. "T-They are completely disregarding the fact that White Heart and Iris Heart are at war with each other…"

"If CPUs always clash when seen together, people wouldn't want CPUs around, but seeing two CPUs being able to work together peacefully destroyed that stigma," Anonydeath concluded.

"Is it not time to put White Heart back into action?" Arfoire asked Mr. Badd. "The war is at a stalemate currently and people are starting to think the war has ended…"

Mr. Badd repositioned his round glasses and sighed, "White Heart wouldn't come out of her Basilicom. After her defeat by the current CPU of Planeptune, she's been completely traumatized. One can only imagine what she went through by that monster of a CPU."

Rei whimpered, "The plan was going so well when Lilac Heart fell…"

"Who knew a new CPU of Planeptune would arise from that outcome, chu chu chu," Warechu laughed.

"Whatever had happened, White Heart refused to touch Planeptune directly since that day," Mr. Badd informed. "I'm able to manage the Loweean borders and send the air force to keep pushing that tiny nation, but that CPU would shoot them down before even flying a mile into her nation! It's taking a lot of our resources so I have no choice but to back down for now."

"If we are no longer able to touch Planeptune with Lowee, why not direct our attention to Lastation? This should not be a big problem for White Heart, as the country is run by a rookie CPU, right?" Arfoire suggested.

Mr. Badd grumbled, "I can try, but I cannot promise anything. Lastation's CPU also sent a letter of formal introductions. Luckily, I handled Lowee's documents before they ever met White Heart's eyes. She only knows of Lastation's neutral standing at the moment."

Rei was deflated by the news. "S-So we can't touch Lastation with White Heart either if she knows of Lastation's position in war…"

Mr. Badd adjusted his glasses as he repeated, "That's why I said 'I can try'. The sound of Planeptune and Lastation on excellent relations bothers me as much as it does for you all. It would affect the frozen war. All I can do is pull some strings."

"All I care about is freedom for the children! If you can do that, I don't care how you deal with Planeptune or Lastation," Abnes claimed.

"Hmmmm, I'll see if I can pull off anything myself." Arfoire hummed as she observed her painted black nails.

"T-T-Then that will be the plan… W-We shall find ways to stop Planeptune and Lastation's growing relationship!"

Anonydeath clapped. "Well said, Rei."

Rei grinned, feeling somewhat more confident. "M-Meeting adjourned!"

Lastation, Gamindustri

Place: Jet Set Range

Date: September 29, 2012

Time: 3:02 P.M.

Noire sliced through the flower monster with her sword. She twisted her body and kicked a sunflowery that leaped at her. The CPU quickly cut through the horde of plant monsters in the area. The sooner the area was cleaned out of monsters the faster the train rails could be set up.

Since Jet Set Range was the safest route to Planeptune, it was the designed place to set up the train rails. Of course, as this was a trade and mercenary route, the rails would not be placed directly on the main road, but rather a few miles away. Additionally, there was a village close by, so the trains could bring in more guests.

"Ugh!" Noire was suddenly tackled from behind. She quickly caught her footing and turned around to see the red and white mushroom monster. "Why you!" She thrust her sword through its face and sliced upwards.

The goddess took a moment to catch her breath. The monsters here aren't that strong, but there sure were a massive amount of them. A lot more than Noire last remembered. She's already been at it for hours. It will take a few more days for the rails to be started on her end.

"Squwaaaaa!"

"Huh!" Noire was caught off guard by the shaking ground. She glanced back to see the oversized blue bird that squawked. "A shoebill!"

The shoebill swung its head and Noire rapidly rolled away as it pecked the round. Noire gripped her sword and dashed at the large body. The monster flapped its wings and sent Noire back. The Black CPU crashed into the sunflowery, softening her back. The sunflowery immediately clung to her body, trapping her.

"H-Hey, get off of me!"

"Squaaaaa!"

The shoebill charged at the CPU, its talons flicking up dirt in the process. Noire screamed to see the large monster coming at her.

"Hyaaaaa!"

Abruptly, a strong kick knocked the shoebill away. It rolled across the ground and struck a tree with a pained squawk.

"Plutia!"

Plutia turned to the girl covered in plant monsters. She swung her serrated sword at Noire, creating a powerful gust of wind. The sunflowery lost their grip and were carried away by the wind.

"Behind you, Plutia!" Noire warned.

The shoebill had gotten up and was already behind the other goddess. Plutia glanced up to see the large beak coming down on her. The girl didn't flinch as she used her sword to parry the bill. She leaped off the ground, doing a backflip. Her soft slippers smack the bird in the face as if they were made of bricks. As soon as she landed on her feet, she spun around, using the momentum to slash her sword at the shoebill. In the process, she summoned her Nepgear plushie in her other hand and slammed it at the bird sending it flying. The shoebill gave its last squawk as it exploded into little light particles.

Plutia's shoulders relaxed as she let out a relieved sigh. "Phew! Noire, are you okaaaaaay?"

Noire was staring at the shorter girl with a shocked frozen expression. She knew Plutia was strong in her HDD form, but she never actually saw the girl fight in person. She didn't think someone as sluggish as Plutia could move like that. It was almost like she was a completely different person. No wonder Plutia was the feared CPU of Planeptune.

Plutia blinked as she waved her hand in front of Noire's face. "Noire? Did you fall asleeeeeep?"

The Black CPU blinked. "How can I sleep after what just happened? By the way… was it smart to use Lilac Heart like that?" Noire pointed to the poor caved-in plushie of Nepgear. "I feel like you're being a bit disrespectful by using it as a weapon…"

Plutia dematerialized her sword and held up the plushie with both hands. She beamed. "Oh, it's okay! I made this plushie!" Plutia pulled and squeezed the plushie and it went back to its original shape as if it was never used to abuse any monster. "Seeeeeeee?! Good as new! I made sure this Lilac Heart doll wouldn't break so easily!"

Noire hesitantly chuckled. "Wow… I wonder how this harmless-looking plushie was able to deal damage to a monster. Did you stuff it with bricks?"

Plutia giggled, "Oh, silly Noire! That would make this plushie un-huggable!" The Iris goddess squeezed the doll in her arms. "It's stuffed with cotton! Soooooo soft and squeezable! Would you like one?!"

"Ah, I'm good," Noire turned down the offer. "So what are you doing here?"

Plutia stuffed the doll into her inventory and answered, "I came to see how the progress on the rails was. I already cleaned out the Jet Set Range on my end, so the construction has already started."

Noire became shocked. "That quickly?!"

"Weeeeeeell, there weren't a lot of monsters at my end." Plutia sparkled as she announced, "They seem to run away whenever I appear!"

Noire felt like she was slapped in the face. No wonder there were so many monsters on her end. It was because they escaped to Lastation when Plutia went to clean out Jet Set Range.

"It looks like you might need some time to clear out the area, I'll leave you to it! Since I've checked up on you as Histy asked, I'll go take my nap now!"

Noire grabbed Plutia's shoulder before she could run off, "Oh, I'm putting you to work, Plutia. This was your fault, after all."

"Eh?" Plutia blinked in confusion. "Whaaaaaaat do you mean?!"

"You're the reason why there are so many monsters here in the first place!" Noire exploded. "I'm not letting you off the hook! Do you have any idea how long I've been killing monsters?! There's no progress! I can even see another herd of monsters right now!" Noire pointed to the horizon where they could see a mob of wiggling flower and mushroom monsters on the grasslands. "You will be helping me!"

"B-B-But my naaaaaaaap…" Plutia whined.

"You can nap when we've finished clearing out the monsters!" Noire stated as she pulled Plutia by the back of her dress.

The shorter goddess didn't resist as she was dragged down the dirt pathway. "Awwwwwwwwe…"

Author's Note

Honestly, I finished this chapter last week, but the art wasn't done at all which is why it took longer to update. I might just update this story on ff. net without waiting for the art since the art is only for ao3. There's really no reason for ff. net readers to wait for the art if the chapter's done since you guys can't even see the art.

Yeah, I think that's what I'll do if the art takes too long again. It just means that ff. net and ao3's update will be a week or so apart instead of a single day.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Sorry for the wait! Your patience is much appreciated!