Me: "Well, it's time to get back to writing main story chapters… this could take a while."

Heero and Neptune: (Enter IC from Lounge) "Yeah, these main story chapters have been getting really long. Do the readers actually read all this stuff?"

Heero: "Most likely. Otherwise, why would they leave reviews for this story?"

Me: "Yeah, so this chapter isn't going to be about the party going to Celestia, but something else so as to lengthen the overall story."

Compa and IF: (Enters IC from Break Room) "Does that mean we'll get more time in the story? Nep-Nep and the other goddesses have been getting more time in the story than the rest of us lately."

IF: "I wouldn't normally complain about it, but Compa's right. It feels like we aren't important to the story anymore."

Me: "Sorry, but that's kinda how it turned out in these last few chapters. It's not like I meant to neglect the rest of you or anything."

IF: "Well… just as long as it doesn't happen too often. It makes the rest of us feel left out."

Noire: (Enters IC from Break Room) "You took a while to come back. Makes me wonder just what it was that you were doing in all that time. Hopefully nothing scandalous."

Blanc: (Enters IC from Lounge) "...One would hope the Author would conduct himself appropriately when we're not around to keep an eye on him. It wouldn't do if he started acting like Neptune."

Vert: (Enters IC from Game Room) "Acting like Neptune would certainly be a feat in and of itself… though I doubt anyone could act quite as irresponsible as she does. That said, I was getting the impression that you no longer wanted to work on this story."

Neptune: "I'm right here, ya jerks! No need to bash me while I'm standing here!"

Me: "You make it sound like I'd forgotten about you guys. Anyway, to those who have been wondering where I've been or what I've been doing… I've been posting gameplay recordings on Youtube, building Gundam models and jotting down ideas for this story. Just some stuff to keep me busy during these hectic times. But enough about me, we've got a chapter to move along." (Points toward the cast) "Let's hear it."

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Noire, Blanc, and Vert: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or any work pertaining to any of the franchises."

Me: "Here's hoping you guys enjoy this chapter. In the meantime, we'll be working on the next one… and I'll also be working on posting some more Let's Play vids on my channel."

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Noire, Blanc, and Vert: (Leave IC)

Ch. 46 A Cruel Twist of Fate

Dark, desolate and lifeless. Those were terms that could best describe the ruins that had once served as Histoire's place of residence… her prison. The sound of water droplets hitting the ground could be heard from inside, as could the eerie and foreboding sound of the wind passing through the ruin corridors.

Deep within the confines of the empty ruins was Arfoire, former goddess and soon to be destroyer of the world. The evil goddess was standing in front of the pedestal that once held up the tome that was Histoire, which now sat empty.

Biting her finger, Arfoire began to worry that her plans might come to ruin, "Not only have they released Histoire, they've found the Quartet Arms…! All of them! If this goes on any longer…!"

Taking a deep breath, the former goddess began weighing her options. She needed to stop the party from progressing any farther than they already had, the question was; how? After a few minutes of deliberations, Arfoire finally settled on an idea. "I do have that one spell… I can use it to control one of the CPUs. But I can only use it the one time… Which one to use it on…"

As she began think on the matter of which CPU she would cast her spell on, a more devious thought began to take shape in her mind. Something that would prove to be particularly painful. A devious smile spread across the ex-goddess's face, "Perhaps I could try that..."

Xxx

Sunshine, clear skies and a light breeze. That was the weather in the Land of Green Pastures. It was the second day after Vert had joined the party in their quest to stop Arfoire, and the Sky Harbor was finally open.

After the mishap from the previous day, Neptune had been sure to keep a close eye on both Compa and Noire that morning as the group convened in the kitchen. Both the nurse in training and Lastation's CPU had been aware of the constant staring, and were growing uncomfortable with the goddess's look.

Noire finally voiced her growing annoyance with the party's leader after a solid five minutes of tolerating the incessant stare, "I can't take this anymore. What's your problem, Neptune? You've been staring at us and it's creeping me out!"

It was no secret that Neptune had been jealous of the attention her rival had received from Heero from her time as a cat. Having seen first hand just how effective the transformation had been in regards to the Gundam pilot's affection, Neptune wasn't about to let Noire attempt such a thing again, "My problem is you, Tsundere Heart. You scored a lot of love points from Heero that were meant for me! I gotta make sure you don't pull something like turning into a cat again."

The goddess of Lastation diverted her eyes away from the purple haired leader, embarrassed that she would bring that up, "You make it sound like I planned for all of that to happen. How was I to know the potion Gust made for me was tampered with?"

Once Noire mentioned the matter of the potion being tampered with, Neptune turned her attention on Compa. "You're not off the hook either, Compa. You helped make that disaster happen yesterday."

Compa couldn't believe that her friend, rival for Heero's affection and party leader was holding a grudge against her for something she didn't mean to cause, "Why are you still mad at me, Nep-Nep? I said I was sorry."

Although she knew it was an accident, Vert was unwilling to forgive Noire for her supposed transgression, "I for one cannot overlook the fact that Noire took advantage of the situation to get closer to Heero. How could you not tell someone that you had transformed into a cat?"

Even Blanc was in agreement and she seldom, if ever, agreed with the CPU of Leanbox, "...To think you would take advantage of Heero like that. You're despicable, pigtails."

Noire didn't appreciate having the other three goddesses gang up on her over a situation she had no control over, "Hey, I tried telling you jerks that it was me! It's your own fault for not understanding what I was saying."

As the four goddesses argued amongst themselves, the other members of the party couldn't help but reflect on how surreal their current situation was. Sure, the CPUs weren't fully cooperative, but they were still working together towards a common goal. Considering that they had been fighting against one another for thousands of years, that alone was something to celebrate.

Nisa leaned back in her seat, hands behind her head as she spoke her mind regarding the quartet of goddesses, "They may not get along, but it is reassuring to have all four goddesses on our side."

It was a feeling shared by the others. While the relationship between the goddesses could use some work, just knowing that they would work together to stop Arfoire set their the girls' minds at ease. The sense of relief Lyrica felt after each CPU gave their word that they would help had certainly alleviated the anxiety she felt over the idea of facing the rogue goddess on their own, "To be honest, I wasn't sure any of them would agree to help us. I was really nervous the whole time."

While the others were talking about their anxiety, Red had been observing the CPUs as they argued. IF noticed the red head's intense look as she watched the guardian goddesses, as if she was thinking on something important, "...What's up, Red? You look pretty serious."

After thinking to herself for a moment, a broad grin spread across Red's face. It was as if she had just discovered something, "Remember when we tried using the Harem Counter? It said that there were nine girls in Heero's harem even though there were only six of us that were in to him. You thought it was broken, but I've figured it out! The Harem Counter wasn't broken." The Wifey Hunter then pointed at the arguing CPUs. "They were part of Heero's Harem the entire time! The fact that he was able to woo the goddesses so easily can only mean he has an EX rank charisma stat! To think my one and only hubby could be so powerful..."

The goddesses stopped their bickering once they heard the red headed girl state how they were a part of Heero's 'harem.' Noire was immediately flustered by the idea, as it implied that she was romantically interested in the boy. Of course, it wasn't as if she didn't have an interest in the Gundam pilot, quite the opposite in fact. Lastation's CPU just wouldn't admit to it, "Wh-Wh-What?! You make it sound as though I like Heero! I mean, I don't dislike him or anything… But I don't like him in that way! And there's no way I'd ever be part of a harem!"

Blanc wasn't sure she could believe what she was hearing, but started to think otherwise when she thought about how most of the party members had a vested interested in the lone male member, "I never took Heero as the kind of guy to do something depraved like build a harem, but…"

Even Vert was beginning to suspect that the boy she had fallen for might have been a playboy. Leanbox's goddess directed her attention to Heero, a pleading look in her eyes as she looked upon him, "Heero, please say it isn't so. That I am the girl you need."

Heero stopped working on the project in front of him once Red brought up his name… and how he was building a harem. The Gundam pilot still couldn't understand why the red head believed he was trying to build a harem. He had only just started a relationship with Neptune, and even then he was too focused on the task of defeating Arfoire to put much time toward the relationship, let alone put together a collection of girls, "I fail to see why you think I'm trying to build a harem. I don't see how it would benefit any of us."

Neptune was quick to dismiss the possibility that Heero was assembling a harem if only because she had managed to get a kiss from the boy and, in her mind, secured her place as his number one girl, "Why would Heero need to build a harem? He's already got me! He doesn't need these nobody goddesses over here."

Noire, Blanc and Vert turned their attention back to Planeptune's CPU, irritated that she was referring to them as nobodies, "Excuse me? Who are you calling a nobody?!"

The party's leader got right in Noire's face, refusing to take back what she said. "You heard me, Noire. You don't got the goods to make Heero happy."

Lowee's CPU didn't like Neptune's insinuation that she had something that they didn't that made her such a good fit for Heero, "…I suppose you're gonna say that YOU have what it takes to make him happy, assbrain?"

Compa didn't want the goddesses to continue fighting, mostly out of fear that if a fight broke out between the four of them, the safe house would end up getting leveled. The nurse in training implored the CPU of Planeptune to stop before things got out of hand, "Nep-Nep, please don't make the other goddesses angry. We should be getting along and working together to defeat Arfoire."

Lyrica had ducked behind the chair IF was sitting in as Compa tried to play peacemaker between the CPUs, "Please let us get out of the house before you start fighting. I don't wanna die!"

Doing her best to rein in her frustration, Vert attempted to assure the others that an actual fight wouldn't break out amongst them, "As much as I believe that Neptune needs to be disciplined, we won't engage in a needless display of aggression."

Slowly, the goddesses began to settle down from their states of irritation. Shortly after the CPUs had their argument broken up, Histoire entered the room to check on the party because of how lively it had gotten, "Is everything alright in here? It was getting a little loud, so I was worried that Neptune and the other CPUs would destroy the house. (,,꒪꒫꒪,,)"

IF immediately stepped in, Not wanting to risk another argument breaking out, "They just needed to work some things out. There's nothing wrong."

With the situation in the living room returning to normal, Heero turned his attention back to the object he had been working on. Neptune herself began to look at the object with genuine curiosity, wondering what the purpose was in constructing it in the first place, "So, whatcha' working on? Is it a remote to summon a super powerful robot? Or is it the switch to a bomb somewhere?"

How Neptune got the idea the construct in his hand was any of of those things was anyone's guess. No, the device wasn't anything so extravagant or violent, but something else entirely, "Nothing of the sort. One of the complaints among the group is the inability to communicate with Zero. This should remedy that problem, however, I will need to test it once we return to Planeptune. It's not that I don't trust Zero on the invention, it's just I would like to make sure it functions properly."

While the idea of the others being able to commune with their disembodied helper was nice, Neptune didn't like that she would no longer be part of a select few who could hear her, "Boo… now everybody will hear her. Why can't we be in an exclusive club, and everyone else not want to be a part of it?"

It wasn't exactly fair to the other members of the group to be unable to hear from their disembodied ally. They wanted to be in the loop too, rather than have the party leader act as the middle man all the time and possibly misinterpret important information. A fact that Compa had complained about more than once, "Nep-Nep, we want to hear Z like you, Heero and the other CPUs. It isn't fair to the rest of us."

The other members of the party that were unable to hear Zero's voice nodded their heads in approval. They too had felt excluded during the party's travels, and believed it was past time for them to hear the voice of the person that not only helped them from behind the scenes, but was, for all intents and purposes, the golden ticket to Heero's heart. Or at least to getting info on the boy that would improve their relations with him.

Vert didn't see the harm in the other girls being allowed to hear from their benefactor, not when she saw herself as Heero's number one prospect, "Neptune, isn't it selfish to keep Z's insight to ourselves? Surely it wouldn't hurt for us to be a bit more inclusive."

While the goddess of Leanbox was tying to make herself out to be the adult in the room, Blanc could tell she was being smug, no doubt thinking that she had already won Heero's heart. The idea of them being 'a bit more inclusive' was probably just an attempt to score points with the Gundam pilot, "(...Condescending bitch. Probably thinks that she's already won. I'm not giving Heero up… especially not to HER.)"

It seemed that Neptune would only be able to enjoy the air of exclusivity for a little while longer. With a heavy sigh, the CPU of Planeptune could already see the headache she was going to have from the increased competition she would soon face, "This blows..."

Heero was finished using the parts that he had gather from the four landmasses and was finished tinkering with the device. It appeared to be a projector with a blue and white exterior with three buttons on the side; one was the power button, one controlled the locking mechanism for the glass top and the other purpose of the third button wasn't readily apparent. Located on the front of the apparatus was the actual projecting device, which looked to be a clear blue vizor, and on the bottom were two blue bumpers meant to prop the projector up at an angle. The projector was about half the size of a laptop, and the interior was mostly empty, no doubt because it was meant to accommodate something specific that Heero didn't have on his person at the moment.

After giving a once over to the device in his hands, the Perfect Soldier set the projector down on the table. Although he maintained his normally impassive facial expression, the look in Heero's eye suggested that he was pleased with his handiwork, "...There doesn't appear to be any problems. Whether or not it works remains to be seen."

Lyrica focused her attention on the projector sitting on the table, wondering if it would really allow the girls to hear Zero for the first time, "So… we'll be able to hear Z with this thing?"

There was a note of skepticism in the underground celebrity's voice, though it wasn't as if it was not warranted. Heero had constructed the device based on a blueprint provided by Zero and hadn't actually tested it yet. "Zero came up with it, I merely assembled it. Until we get to Planeptune, we won't know if it will work as intended."

Testing the projector wasn't all that the party would be doing once they arrived at the Land of Purple Progress. They would be making final preparations for their inevitable confrontation with Arfoire.

Some in the party were nervous, and for good reason. They would be fighting against the former goddess, who was supposedly as powerful as the four CPUs combined. Not to mention that the world of Gamindustri was hanging in the balance.

If they failed, the world would come to an end. The stakes couldn't be higher for the girls. Lyrica had trouble containing her fear of what would happen should the party lose, "What will happen if we lose? Will Gamindustri still be here?"

A somber mood fell over the living room as everyone silently thought about the worst case. It was unlikely that Gamindustri would be spared if they failed. If anything, Arfoire would have all the more reason to destroy the world should they be defeated.

As much as she tried not to think about it, Compa couldn't help but dwell on the depressing outcome. The nurse in training threw her head from side to side, as if it would somehow get the thoughts of a devastated world out of her mind, "I don't want to think about that! We've come so far and done so much! I don't want that to be the ending we get for all our hard work..."

Nisa was disappointed with Lyrica's pessimistic mentality, when she should be having more positive thoughts, "Come on, Lyrica. You can't seriously be thinking like that now, can you? Thinking like that is going to make everyone depressed."

Heero failed to see the reason for the singer's negativity, especially when their journey had included more than a handful of difficult battles, "We have faced difficult situations in the past. Histoire said that we would need all four CPUs before we faced Arfoire, implying that she is as strong as the four of them put together. But it won't be just them fighting, all of us will. No singular force is a match for another made up of more than one person."

Red didn't completely understand what the Gundam pilot was saying, but she seemed to get the gist of it, "So what you're saying is that we're gonna win because we have a party and she doesn't? Sounds like we've got nothing to worry about."

Once the negative vibes in the air had disappeared IF turned her attention toward the cause of it, questioning why she would even thinking about such a thing in the first place, "What's with you, Lyrica? We're all hoping to stop Arfoire, and you're coming out with this bleak thought of us losing. If there's something on your mind you can tell us."

It wasn't as if the songstress was hoping that the party would lose the battle to come. She was just unable to keep her fears to herself, "Sorry, it's just… There's a lot at stake here. The world will come to an end if we're defeated, so I got scared. I just needed the assurance that we would win."

Lyrica's worries were shared amongst the group, even if they wouldn't come out and say it. Perhaps they all just needed to hear some kind affirmation from someone that they would succeed. Neptune got up out of her seat only to sit down in Heero's lap while brushing off Lyrica's fears, "I don't see what you're worried about. A party as awesome as our can't lose to that old hag. I mean, we've got four goddesses and Heero on our team! How can we lose?"

The party leader seemed to only focus on the fact that there was an otherworlder and four goddesses in the group, as if the others didn't matter as much. Heero focused his attention on the purplenette in his lap, wondering why she was putting so much stock in him in the first place, "Is there a reason your placing so much confidence in me? I doubt my injury will be completely healed by the time we go to Celestia, so I won't be able to aid you as much as I normally would."

Despite not being involved in any strenuous activity for the last three days, Heero's injury hadn't fully healed. The Gundam pilot didn't see himself contributing as much to the battle as he would like to.

Neptune was well aware of what the boy was getting at, but it did nothing to shake her resolve. In fact, she had her own counter argument… even if it didn't really make sense to Heero. "Well, Ardork is gonna be fighting us all by herself. As for us, we've got the power of love on our side! Well, I have the power of love. I was able to beat these three bozos, right?"

Noire, Blanc and Vert were irritated by the way the party leader offhandedly dissed them, with Lowee's CPU being the voice for the trio, "...We're right here, asshole. You can stop acting like we don't exist."

Planeptune's CPU ignored the complaint and went on with her justification for the overwhelming confidence she was feeling, "We've been able to beat some really tough enemies on this journey because we've always been together. As long as I've got your love, Heero, there's no one I can't beat."

It was the rest of the party's turn to be irritated with the goddess of Planeptune. She was speaking as though they weren't even there. Compa stared at the CPU, expecting her to rephrase her previous statement until she spoke up, "You mean as long as 'we' have Heero's love, right? We love Heero, too."

Noire immediately looked away as the nurse in training spouted how all of them loved the Gundam pilot, "Speak for yourself! Heero may be an OK guy, but I don't l-love him."

IF picked up where Compa left off, not appreciating how Neptune was making it seem as though they hadn't contributed anything to their victories over the course of their journey, "And don't you mean 'we've' beat some tough enemies? It's not just you that's been doing the fighting."

The leader of the group stuffed her face into Heero's chest as she continued to ignore the girls, leading the others to believe that she was doing it on purpose… that or she had VERY selective hearing, "I guess what I'm saying is, Arfork can fight us with all the doom, gloom, and darkness she wants. As long as we have light and love on our side, there's no way our party will lose."

It was certainly a moving sentiment… just 'slightly' undercut by the fact that Planeptune's CPU kept ignoring the others and acting as though Heero and herself were the only people there. As the purple haired goddess pressed her face into his chest, the Perfect Soldier felt his chest wound start to reopen, eliciting a small grunt from him, "...Neptune, I need you to let go."

Neptune pulled back to the look at the boy and was about to ask why she needed to let go, when the CPU noticed a growing red stain on his tank top. "...Oops."

The other girls saw the blotch on Heero's clothing that started to spread, and Vert immediately began to overreact, "My goodness! Heero, you're bleeding!"

Blanc set aside her annoyance with Neptune and instead focused on Gundam pilot that now had a reopened wound, "If it's that bad, shouldn't you be resting?"

It was then that Noire realized that although Neptune had used Heero's injury in order to guilt trip them into giving her a chance to recruit them, not once had the CPUs of Lastation, Lowee or Leanbox been told the specifics of how or why the boy had been injured in the first place, "That reminds me… You never told us how Heero got hurt in the first place. What happened?"

Neptune flinched in response to the question, garnering the suspicions of the other goddesses. The former amnesiac rubbed the back of her head while letting out a nervous laugh, knowing that the trio weren't going to like the answer, "Well, uh… Heero's hurt cuz… I kinda sorta… accidentally… stabbed him."

The room fell into silence once more as Noire, Blanc, and Vert looked at Planeptune's CPU with flabbergasted looks on their faces. Compa, IF and the others wanted to say something, but were concerned about the response they would receive.

It was then that Histoire descended from the second floor, levitating just above the stairs as she made her way down. The Tome of the Goddesses had been listening to the group talk amongst themselves, but grew concerned when their voices died down.

Once she was in the living room, the fairy-like being noticed the stunned looks on Noire, Blanc and Vert's faces, which served as a warning flag that something was indeed wrong. Just as Histoire was about to ask the trio about what was troubling them, Blanc suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, "YOU DID WHAT?!"

And just like that, the three goddesses were upon Neptune, furious that she had not come forward with the information sooner, and because she was the one responsible for Heero's injury. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You kept spouting all that Destined Lover crap, and then you turn around and do this?!"

Like the CPU of Lowee, Vert was livid now that the truth was out in the open, "I am appalled at you! I knew you must have played some part in Heero's injury, but to think that you were the cause. Have you no shame for what you've done?!"

Noire had been right in her assumption that Neptune had been the cause of Heero's misfortunes, this was just the proof to one such case, "Just what the hell were you doing that you 'accidentally' stabbed him?! The way I see it, that wound must have been inflicted on purpose!"

It was Neptune's turn to be angry with the other CPUs as they verbally ganged up on her, "I was upset and confused, I didn't mean for it to happen! So shut up, you jerks!"

Heero didn't want to put up with the arguing goddesses mainly because the house would be in shambles if they were allowed to continue. What the party needed to do was head back to Planeptune and use what time they had left making preparations for their battle with Arfoire, "How I got this injury is irrelevant. All that anyone needs to know is that it was the result of an accident. Instead of worrying about what already has happened, we should focus on what will happen when we get to Planeptune."

Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert dropped their argument once the topic began to shift back towards their objective; stopping Arfoire. Once things had settled down, Histoire gave the party an update on their plan to travel to Celestia, "I know everyone wants to head to there right away, but we won't be able to go to Celestia upon our return to Planeptune. We will need to wait at least a day, so if there is anything that all of you want to take care of, now would be the best time to do so."

Any last minute preparations that needed to be done would have to be taken care of at the Land of Purple Progress, and there were some in the group that wanted some relaxation from the past few days. Compa was sure that the others would agree to some relaxation before their final battle, "We've been so busy trying to save Gamindustri, we haven't had much time to relax. I think we should all take a break."

The girls exchanged glances with one another as they thought about the idea of taking some time off. While they had taken some time off during their travels, the party had spent a lot of time traveling the world in their efforts to stop Arfoire. No one was going to argue with some down time, least of all Neptune.

Planeptune's goddess had already thought of a use for her time once they arrived… and that was getting some pudding, "I could definitely use some more pudding. I can't remember the last time I got to make a trip to the store to get some. Then I'll find some place to stuff my face, and then..."

Blanc wasn't surprised that Neptune was leading with her stomach. She was just disappointed that she was being allowed to lead them at all, "...Typical. The world's in danger and you're thinking about your stomach."

Since they wouldn't be able to leave until the next day, Heero wasn't really bothered with the purplenette's reasoning, "As long as we get to our destination, it really doesn't matter how she leads us."

Just then there was a knock at the front door. Vert excused herself from the table to answer the door, the chief reason being that she had ordered a package and the delivery date happened to be today. It cost a little extra to have the shipping address changed, but for what she was getting the goddess felt it was the CPU opened the door, she found Gust with a box in her hands and a slip of paper tucked into the pouch she normally used to carry alchemic ingredients.

The young alchemist was smiling as she looked at the goddess of Leanbox,"Lady Green Heart, Lady Green Heart. I hear something you night like."

Vert smiled back at the small girl, not knowing that she was the newest target of the business savvy girl before her, "Oh? Whatever could it be?"

Gust knew that because the CPU of Leanbox was a hardcore gamer, she would be unable to resist what she had to offer. "I got free voucher code for Planeptune's MMO, Four Goddesses Online."

The goddess's eyes lit up at the news. She had already received a voucher for the game Gust was talking about from Heero, but it was for the completed game... meaning she couldn't use it yet. The only other voucher being given away was for the demo that could be played now. "Are you serious?! I didn't win that, even though I applied two-hundred times..."

The young alchemist couldn't believe that the woman in front of her had tried applying to the contest so many times when there was a limit to the number of applications that could be sent, "Well, one application per address..."

Vert had known about the rules regarding the vouchers and tried to find a workaround for it an attempt to get the vouchers for the demo and the complete game, but none of her entries achieved the results she was hoping for, "I changed the name and address each time… How did they know?"

There was a gleam in Gust's eyes as she listened to the otaku goddess. There was no way the CPU would pass up the opportunity to procure the demo voucher in her possession. "I'll sell it at good price if you want."

Just as the business savvy alchemist predicted, Vert was overjoyed to hear she was willing to sell the voucher code. Even though she would have the full came with Heero's voucher, the hardcore gamer in her simply couldn't wait that long to try the game. "You will?! That's fantastic."

Gust decided to start with a base line price in the five digits range and work from there, since she didn't know how much money Leanbox's CPU had, "How about ten thousand?"

Vert's expression changed to one of shock as soon as she heard the price, "T-Ten thousand…?!"

Upon seeing the look of shock, Gust came to the conclusion that the CPU didn't quite have that much money on hand… or at all. "...Too expensive for goddess, huh? I guess it silly to expect someone to agree to pay so much..."

What the young girl didn't know was that the reason for Vert's surprised look was that she wasn't expecting to get the demo voucher for what she believed to be a low price. The eyes of Leanbox's CPU were practically glowing at the thought of getting what she wanted for only ten thousand credits."Such a bargain! Sold!"

It was Gust's turn to be surprised. In all honesty she hadn't expected to get a five figure sum out of the piece of paper. The fact that Vert was willing to spend so much on a voucher for a demo was a painfully clear indicator that she had no concept of the value of money, "...Wow."

The CPU quickly pulled out the ten thousand credits and just as quickly swiped the voucher from Gust. Vert rubbed the piece of paper against her cheek as she thought about the game she would play using it… or at least the demo, "It's not what I was waiting to get... But at least I can try the game before it's finally released."

Turning around the goddess began to think about the package she was anticipating, humming and talking about it just loud enough for Gust to hear. "Hmhmhmm, the day has finally come. The fan-exclusive collector's set: Kichiku Megane Harlem Set for Virgins! Comes with the game disc, drama CD, art book, and series anthology… Oh, I can't wait!"

That game wasn't the only thing Vert was excited about. Apparently, because she was on a VIP list of sorts she would also receive another special item with her order, "Since I'm one of the first ten members, I get the VIP treatment! A special alarm clock with one of the actor's voices recorded to call my name."

Vert's eyes brightened at the thought of waking up each morning to an alarm that was designed for the purpose of saying her name. "My day would be that much better, getting to hear such a handsome voice in the morning." Looking over at the clock on the wall the goddess began to grow more anxious, wondering when her package would arrive, "Awww, isn't it here yet?

Gust turned her gaze to the package in her hand. The label on the side that it was addressed to Lady Green Heart, as well as what the contents of the package was. Remembering that she had been contacted to deliver the idea, the small girl tried to get the attention of the goddess that was gushing about the item she was waiting for. "Lady Green Heart, you have package."

The goddess of Leanbox immediately turned back around, then noticed the box in Gust's hands. She had not expected the young entrepreneur to be the one to deliver her much anticipated game. "Oh, little Gust. Did you deliver this for me?

In addition to being an alchemist, Gust was also a mailman… sort of. She was on an emergency contact list for when there was no one else available to deliver parcels, and she just happened to have the package the CPU was anticipating, "Yes. I'm registered under emergency contact as temporary delivery staff, so I do this sometimes. I was asked to deliver package to you."

Gust looked at the content description label and read it aloud for the goddess to hear. "Content description is 'Kichiku Megane Harlem Set for Virgins.' Yes?"

Vert continued to smile at Gust, thought she abruptlyfell silent. The CPU didn't want anyone to know just what it was she had ordered, but hadn't expected their to be a content description label on the package. The young alchemist began to worry that there might have been something wrong when she didn't get a response from the recipient of the parcel, "...Lady Green Heart?"

Vert quickly looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen to see if any of the other party members were coming out to check on her. Fortunately for the goddess, no one was coming… yet. With a sigh of relief, Vert turned her attention back to the bunny cap girl carrying her parcel, "Little Gust… Please don't tell anyone about this! Especially Iffy and Heero! Anyone but them…!"

The item Vert had ordered was a guilty pleasure of hers, and she didn't want anyone in the party, especially Heero and IF, to find out about it. In her mind, the thought of the two finding out about her parcel would make Vert die of embarrassment. "Iffy will be so disappointed in me if she learns I purchased an Adult Only rated all-male item… Heero might be a bit more understanding… But I don't want to risk it… I wouldn't be able to live with myself..."

On one hand, Gust wanted to do the right thing and agree not to say anything on the matter. After all, she did just score ten thousand credits. On the other hand, with all the monster attacks that had been taking place around Gamindustri the cost of reagents was going up, and Gust was going to need more money if she was to continue with her experiments.

Ultimately, the young alchemist decided that she might need the extra cash in the long run and decided to extend the idea of a bribe to Leanbox's CPU, "Then give hush money." Having already gotten a tidy sum of money for the demo voucher, Gust didn't want to push her luck and decided to play it safe with the hush money payment. "You're goddess, so I discount to 10% of package cost. Then, secret safe."

Although she was a little girl, Vert could just see the greed in Gust's eyes as she held out one of her hands for her 'hush money' payment, "Ugh… I can't believe I'm being taken advantage of… But it's a small price to pay if this prevents them from being disappointed in me."

Upon receiving her bribe, Gust handed the package over to Vert, who promptly began to headfor the stairs so as to hide her item among her other belongings. The young girl started to count the money she had just made, quite pleased with her handiwork, "This called easy money."

As soon as she was certain all of the money was accounted for, Gust stuffed it into her front pouch just as the rest of the group began to come out of the kitchen. Nisa looked over at the front door to see the party's alchemist and remembered that the small girl had been absent during the group discussion, "There you are, Gust. Where've you been? We were about to take off without you."

With her ill gotten gains stuffed into her pocket, Gust smiled at the Keeper of Justice as she walked by, "Delivering important package. Gust made some money on the side."

Curious as she was about how the little girl made some money while delivering a package, Nisa instead focused on the task at hand; which was to gathering their belongings in preparation of leaving party filed out of the safe house and made it as far as the front yard when Vert remembered that an item of great personal value was not among her belongings, "Excuse me, but could all of you wait for me by the Sky Harbor? I left something at the Basilicom, and I can't leave without it."

Neptune eyed the goddess of Leanbox with suspicion as she watched her head in the direction of the Basilicom. The CPU of Planeptune didn't trust Vert to return on her own, expecting her to just runaway once she was out of sight. With the idea that their newest recruit was going to ditch them, Neptune turned to the lone male member of the party, "Heero, I need you follow after the blonde whose only redeeming quality is her boobs. She's probably gonna ditch us once she far enough away."

The Gundam pilot looked at Neptune, questioning her particular choice of words when describing the newest addition to the team, "You have that little trust in her?"

It wasn't much of a question to Planeptune's CPU. Neptune saw no reason to trust Vert at that point in time. "Naturally! I just know she's looking to make a break for it. Which is why I need you to follow her, and bring her back by her hair if you gotta."

Even though the CPU of Leanbox had already stated that she was aid them, Neptune still didn't trust her to come back on her own. Rather than asking 'why' she felt that way and receive an earful from Planeptune's goddess, Heero walked in the direction Vert had gone with the intent of tailing her.

As they watched the Perfect Soldier take off down the street, Noire couldn't help but point out what appeared to be a clear oversight on Neptune's part, "You realize once she sees Heero alone, Vert's gonna be all over him, right? Not that I care or anything. I just don't want her doing anything weird to him."

Neptune had already thought of that. In fact, if they caught Leanbox's CPU in the act, that would be all the evidence they'd need to prove how untrustworthy the busty goddess was, "I know that. It's why we're going after him. If Vert tries something, we'll have all the proof we need to show the others she can't be trusted. We'll have to beat her up too, so she knows not to throw herself at my lover."

While Blanc didn't like the idea of helping Neptune, she did find the idea of physically assaulting Vert to be rather appealing, "...I wouldn't mind beating her. Just as long as no one holds me responsible for what happens to her."

Once she convinced Noire and Blanc to join her, Neptune directed her attention toward the rest of the party, instructing them to wait at the Sky Harbor like Vert had suggested, "So, we're gonna go with Heero to wait on Vert. You guys can go hang out by the bridge or whatever. Don't go talking to strangers!"

Without warning, Neptune grabbed Noire and Blanc by the wrist and ran after Heero, her fellow CPUs complaining how they could walk on their own and that she should let them go. As they watched the goddesses take off into the distance, Nisa couldn't help but point out how they had discussed their plans for Vert loud enough for them to hear, "They realize that they said what they're actually going to do out loud, right?"

Lyrica could no longer see the goddesses as peaceful, heavenly deities anymore, but as cutthroats with a predilection for brutality toward one another, "The goddesses aren't peaceful like we thought they were… are they?"

Considering that Vert felt the need to latch onto Heero's arm whenever possible, the odds that the trio of CPUs would follow through with their plan to 'beat up' their newest party member was quite high, giving Compa ample reason to be concerned, "Should we follow them? Vert might get hurt if we don't do something."

Normally, IF would have said that they should follow Neptune and stop her from doing something violent toward Leanbox's CPU. However, Red noticed the Guild Moderatist start to look slightly depressed once the goddesses talked about Vert throwing herself at Heero.

The brunette staggered in the direction of the Sky Harbor, trying and failing to banish the thought of Leanbox's CPU getting closer to Heero in a romantic sense, "We should trust them not to get too violent. Let's just wait for them at the Sky Harbor… If something happens, it's not our fault..."

Red watched her number one wifey as she trudged along, worrying about her state of mind, "Iffy has been a little off since Vert joined us. Is she gonna be alright?"

Compa believed it was merely because there was yet another girl that was romantically interested in Heero that had joined the party, "Vert professed her love to Heero for all of us to hear. Having another rival for Heero join us must have caused Iffy to reach her limit."

The nurse in training then began to make wild speculations as to what would happen to IF if she was left to her own devices in her current state. "What if she falls and can't get up? Or she dunks her head in a water fountain and doesn't pull it out?! We should trust Nep-Nep not to get too violent and watch over Iffy."

As unlikely as it was to happen, none of the girls wanted to risk the Guild Moderatist following through with one of Compa's crackpot theories of impending doom. Histoire wasn't keen on leaving Neptune to her own devices, especially when it could jeopardize their chances of stopping Arfoire, "Trusting Neptune not to cause any trouble might be asking for too much..."

Leaving Vert's safety to chance, the girls went after IF to take her with them to the Sky Harbor to wait for the CPUs and Heero.

Xxx

Once she arrived at the Basilicom, Vert wasted no time in heading straight for her room to retrieve the item she was looking for. As soon as she opened the door to her leading to her personal sanctuary, the goddess of Leanbox saw the item she had come to retrieve. And it was looking right back at her.

What Leanbox's CPU had come for was the plushie of Heero situated on the pillows of her bed. Within the dolls hands was the voucher Heero had given the goddess during their outing some time ago. Vert gently lifted the stoic plushie from its place on her bed, holding it out in front of her with a beaming smile, "It may not have happened the way I planned for it, but Heero and I are going to be traveling together now."

The goddess stuffed the doll's head into her chest as she thought about how she would use this chance to win over the Gundam pilot, "Now that Heero knows how I feel, our relationship can finally start to move forward. We'll go from traveling companions, to friends, to lovers… and finally, marriage!"

Vert's heart was beating wildly as she imagined herself descending the stairs of the Basilicom with Heero, bells chiming above and cheers from the people of Leanbox all around. A knock suddenly came from the door to Vert's room, pulling the goddess of Leanbox from her daydream before she could become too involved in it.

Looking around the room for something to put her Heero plushie in, the CPU eventually settled on a book bag on top of her desk. Once her doll of the Gundam pilot was tucked away, Vert addressed the individual on the other side of the door. "The door is open."

Once the CPU had given her permission, the door opened to reveal Chika Hakozaki on the other side of the doorway. Leanbox's Oracle was overjoyed to see the goddess, rushing over and taking ahold of one Vert's hands while stating her woes over the goddess's absence the previous day, "Lady Green Heart! I'm so relieved to see you! I came to check on you yesterday, but the staff said you had gone to slay monsters and hadn't seen you since."

Leaving with the party without anyone had caused some worry amongst the Basilicom staff. Vert was somewhat regretful of her decision to do so, even if it was for the right reason, "I was going to come back after dealing with some monsters, but something came up. I apologize for not telling you sooner."

Chika shook her head, believing that that the CPU had nothing to apologize for. "You don't need to apologize. I'm just glad you're safe. But the next time you decide to go fighting monsters, I should accompany you."

The goddess would be unable to honor the request of her Oracle, not when she was going to be leaving Leanbox to face someone stronger than any monster that had shown up on Leanbox. "Chika, I need you to listen to me. I will be leaving Leanbox for a little while."

It was perplexing to hear the goddess she worshiped state her intent to leave her land, when she never really needed to before, "Where are you going? Is there a special reason you have to leave?"

Vert walked over to one of the windows and looked out at the town that stood before her. She had a very good reason for needing to leave the land she called home, "To deal with the root of our monster problem. I once thought that if we isolated ourselves from the other lands, we could handle the monsters on our own, and Leanbox would finally see some peace."

Only after what happened yesterday did the Console Patron Unit of Leanbox get the reality check she needed. Deep down, Vert knew her idea wouldn't work, she had just been looking for a quick fix to a problem that seemed like it would never go away. "It is only now that I realize just how unpractical that idea was. Such a plan would be too difficult to implement, and the work could easily be undone. Not only that, but it would have made me seem weak to my people."

Leanbox's Oracle would never think of her goddess as weak… but that was just her personally. The citizens of the Land of Green Pastures might not share in Chika's way of thinking, and might come to resent Lady Green Heart for isolating them from the rest of Gamindustri.

The only way to safeguard the well-being of her people and rid Leanbox of the constant threat of monsters was to travel with the party to Celestia and defeat Arfoire. Chika volunteered her services to the goddess once it was apparent she was leaving. "If that is the case, I should accompany you. If something were to happen to you..."

Vert gently shook her head. She couldn't bring the oracle with her, not when she was going to be facing the most dangerous being to their world, "No. I need you here to watch over Leanbox for me until I return."

Chika wasn't too keen on the idea of letting Leanbox's guardian goddess travel to who knows where, even if it was to protect their land, "But… you shouldn't be leaving by yourself! Someone should go with you."

It might not have been the most ideal group of people, but Vert would at least be going to face her enemy with a party. "There is no need to worry. I will be traveling with a party of like minded people to handle this endeavor."

While she didn't like the idea of her goddess traveling with people she didn't know, Chika knew she would unable to persuade Vert from taking this course of action when it involved the well-being of Leanbox. "...Then all I can do is wish you good luck. I will pray for your safe return, Lady Green Heart."

Vert remembered that she had only recently received her new human name, which would explain why the Oracle of Leanbox referred to the CPU by her goddess name, "I should probably mention this now. I now have a human name so as to better facilitate relations with the people of Leanbox. From now, you may call me Vert."

The oracle of Leanbox had heard the CPU mention the idea of taking on a human name while residing in the human world and had been curious as to what sort of name the goddess would think of, "Very well then, V… V-Ve..." After a few seconds, Chika stopped trying to pronounce her goddess's new name. "...Lady Green Heart. I'm apologize. Perhaps someday soon I will call you by your human name, but until then, I shall refer to you as Lady Green Heart. As I always have."

Leanbox's goddess grabbed the book bag containing her plushie and headed for the door, taking a moment to assure Chika that she would be back before too long, "Hopefully I'll have dealt with this matter before those games I pre-ordered arrive."

Having obtained the item she had come for, Vert made her way back out of the Basilicom and was greeted with the sight of the party's sole male member once she opened the front door. The goddess was quite happy to see the boy waiting on her, and without Neptune present. "What a pleasant surprise. Were you worried about me, Heero?"

While there was some worry involved in Heero being there, it wasn't for Vert's safety, "Not exactly. Neptune told me to follow you. She was under the belief that you would run away once you were unsupervised."

And just like that, Vert's happy mood was gone with the reminder that the party leader was rather mistrustful of her. Leanbox's CPU frowned at the reason the Gundam pilot provided for his being there, "For what reason is Neptune so suspicious of me? I already gave my word that I would assist you."

There wasn't really anything Heero could say to that. It was just how Neptune was, and the Gundam pilot doubted he could do anything to change that. "Sorry if this causes you any inconvenience. If it's any consolation, Noire and Blanc have had to put up with Neptune's mistrust as well."

The 'consolation' didn't do much to comfort Leanbox's CPU, but she was still flattered that the boy had come to check on her. It was then that Heero suddenly began to question whether or not Vert had a younger sibling like the other goddesses of Gamindustri.

Neptune's younger sister was Nepgear, Noire'swas Uni, and Blanc had a pair of siblings in Ram and Rom. Remembering his meetings with Leanbox's Oracle, Heero couldn't help but note the physical similarities between Chika, and the CPU of Leanbox when she was in her goddess form.

Sure, it could have been a mere coincidence, but that wasn't always the case, and Heero wanted to find out for sure. If nothing else, it could explain why the Oracle of Leanbox was so obsessed with Vert, "I realize this is a rather off topic question, but do you have any siblings? I've ask Neptune, Noire and Blanc, and the three of them have younger sisters."

At that moment, Vert looked as though she was about to burst into tears. Unlike the other CPUs, Vert didn't have any siblings to speak of, and that fact depressed her to no end, "No… I don't. It's not fair! I'm clearly the most benevolent CPU, as well as the most deserving of a younger sister! Why is it that they have sisters and I don't?"

Heero had thought that Chika was related to Leanbox's CPU, and considering how pathetic the blonde haired woman looked in that moment... she was clearly telling the truth. The Gundam pilot started to feel just a little bit guilty over Vert's crying. Reaching over to her face, Heero wiped away the tear hanging on to the corner of Vert's eye, "Sorry to trouble you with the question. Had I known it was going to leave you so distraught I wouldn't have asked."

Vert got over her stint of sadness rather quickly, and continued to question why it was that of the four CPUs that watched over Gamindustri, she was the one that didn't have any siblings whatsoever, "I just don't understand… Have I not done enough for the people of Leanbox? I can think of no good reason why I should not have a little sister of my own."

Just then, the pair of Heero and Vert heard a rustling noise come from a row of bushes nearby, as well as three voices whispering to each other, though their voices did carry, "Noire, move over! I don't have enough room!"

"That's not my problem! If you don't like it, move somewhere else!"

"Will you two shut up?! You're going to give us away!"

It was quite obvious who it was hiding behind the bushes, and Vert was not the least bit amused. The CPU of Leanbox faced the direction of the voices, irritated that the trio had decided come to the Basilicom and ruin what could have turned into a romantic moment with the Perfect Soldier instead of waiting at the Sky Harbor with the other party members, "I can hear the three of you over there. You can stop hiding."

Seeing as their cover was blown, Neptune jumped out from behind the bushes and stormed over to the goddess of Leanbox, stopping right in front of her while maintaining eye contact the entire time, "Alright, big boobs… fess up! You were totally having lewd thoughts about Heero when you saw him all by his lonesome."

Vert was caught off guard by Neptune's accusation, embarrassed that the CPU of Planeptune would even suggest that she was having such thoughts in that moment, "I was most certainly not! For what reason do you hold me with such contempt?"

To Neptune it seemed pretty obvious why she couldn't trust Leanbox's CPU. "The same reason I can't trust those jerks over there! You tried to steal Heero from me before! And you're still plotting to steal him from me now!"

Noire sprang out from behind the bushes once the party leader started accusing her of wanting to kidnap Heero. The flustered goddess of Lastation quickly ran over and pinched and stretched Neptune's cheeks while undermining the idea proposed by the CPU of Planeptune, "Neptune, you little…! I have never thought about trying to steal or kidnap Heero! You're just a paranoid, delusional little brat!"

It wasn't long before Blanc stepped out from behind the shrubbery and joined the others, though not without casting the evil eye at Neptune, who was currently engaged in a cheek pinching contest with Noire, "...Why would I need to steal Heero? I'm pretty sure he would love to get away from you."

Planeptune's CPU smacked Noire's hands off her face before changing her focus to Blanc, "Why would Heero wanna run from me? I'm Neptune, goddess of Planeptune, cutest girl in all of Gamindustri AND his lover!"

Vert was mildly upset over the appearance of the three goddesses, as well as the fact that they were now ignoring her. The blonde haired CPU cleared her throat with an *ahem* to get the attention of the arguing girls, "Would one of you care to explain why you're here?"

Putting aside her spat with Blanc, Neptune addressed the irate goddess of Leanbox, "I sent Heero to watch and make sure you didn't try to run out on us. And obviously we can't trust you alone with Heero. I don't need you grabbing onto him and getting your germs all over him!"

To say that Vert was offended would be putting it mildly. Leanbox's CPU was visibly angry with Neptune over her nonfactual, callous remarks. "I will not tolerate such rude comments from you, Neptune. If you are going to be so openly hostile with me, I may need to reconsider my decision to assist you."

The scene playing out before Heero was one example of what he was worried might happen once the CPU were brought together. They hadn't even left Leanbox yet, and already Neptune and the other goddesses were already getting into a heated argument, and it wasn't even warranted. Only after they had dealt with the threat posed by Arfoire would Heero stand aside andallow the CPUs to return to a state of perpetual bickering and fighting amongst themselves, "Can we not do this here? Our focus should be on getting rid of Arfoire. If you want to fight each other after that, then at least wait until AFTER we've finished our mission."

Each of the four CPUs let out a huff as they looked away from one another. While they may have been in the same party, that fact seemed to do little, if anything, to influence the goddesses' opinions of one another.

Neptune latched onto Heero's arm and began walking in the direction of the Sky Harbor with the Gundam pilot, looking to get him away from Noire, Blanc and Vert, "C'mon, Heero. I don't want you catching some kinda disease from these losers."

Before the duo could even take one step, the CPU of Leanbox had already attached herself to Heero's other arm while frowning at Neptune, "The only thing Heero should be worried about catching is your laziness and rude manners."

Noire suddenly popped up next to Neptune while casting a glare at the party leader, "I wanna know what the hell it is that you think makes you better than us."

The small group of five walked away to rejoin the party at the Sky Harbor, bickering the entire way… all while completely oblivious of a certain Oracle of Leanbox that was screaming at the top of her lungs inside the Basilicom, though her screams did not make it outside of the building. Chika had been watching Vert through the window to see her off, and she had witnessed her goddess clinging to a boy… one that she had interacted with. Chika finally knew the identity of the adventurer that her goddess was smitten with.

Xxx

As soon as the party touched ground on Planeptune, everyone went about their own business to prepare for the coming battle with Arfoire, whether it was buying something from one of the stores, or enjoying some down time.

Neptune was walking down one of the many streets of the capital city a small box of takoyaki in one hand, a sizable smoked drumstick in the other, and a bag of small chocolate candies tucked under her arm. Planeptune's CPU happily ate away at the food in her hands while looking back at the two members of the party that were there with her, "Isn't this great, you guys? It's been awhile since we've gotten to just kick back and relax."

Compa and IF had been going about their own business when they came across Neptune. Compa had been restocking the supply of synthesis materials used in their healing items, and IF had to get a replacement phone, because one of them had ended of damaged.

The nurse in training was feeling quite elated, the stress of the back and forth movement between landmasses and need to be somewhere important melting away from her being, "After we defeat Arfoire, we should take a nice, long break. I think we deserve it."

IF was feeling rather pleased herself. Recruiting the goddesses of Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox was a major step forward for the party, and left them one step away from stopping Arfoire and saving Gamindustri. The Guild Moderatist thought an extended vacation was in order once the battle with the former goddess was over, "I could go for an extended vacation. Not like I haven't earned it or anything."

As the trio made their way to the end of the street, they caught sight of Lyrica and Gust sitting on a park bench with a few plastic bags on the ground next to them. Gust looked to be exasperated, while Lyrica appeared to be apologizing to the young alchemist.

Compa was curious as to what had transpired to cause the display in front of them, "Gust looks a little upset. I wonder what's going on."

With nothing better to do other than wonder aimlessly, the trio walked across the street to their traveling companions to see what the problem was. As they drew closer, the girls were able to hear the conversation between Gust and Lyrica, and it seemed as though the cerulean haired songstress was wearing out the small girl on the bench next to her, "Lyrica's social phobia is most tiring."

Lyrica lowered her head as she apologized to the alchemist, "I'm sorry. I still can't quite get over it."

IF remembered how they had tried to 'cure' Lyrica of her overly shy nature, but the results weren't quite what they had hoped. While she was able to interact with members of the party, anyone outside of that would garner a less than favorable response from the underground celebrity, "So that's what this is about."

The cerulean haired girl turned her attention toward the trio of Neptune, Compa and IF. She hadn't expected to run into any of the other party members so soon after they split up to enjoy their free day. Lyrica hung her head as she thought about how her social anxieties were still making her life difficult. "We've been so focused on saving Gamindustri that I haven't really done anything about it. Not that anything would've worked..."

Neptune took a bite of her takoyaki before throwing out an idea for the songstress to try, "We could try shocking you? That might work."

Compa gave a stunned look to the CPU of Planeptune, unable to believe she could suggest such a thing, "Nep-Nep, isn't that a little cruel? Lyrica could really get hurt by that."

Unlike the nurse in training, the goddess of Planeptune didn't see a problem with her idea. "She'll be fine. Lyrics is a meat shield that can tank with the best of 'em. There's no way she'll get hurt."

Hearing that term drudged up a number of bad memories for Lyrica as she thought about the instances during their adventure in which Neptune tried to use her as a human shield, "I'm not a meat shield! You just kept hiding behind me!"

Naturally, Neptune still wasn't going to see the problem when that was Lyrica's complaint. IF decided to intervene on her behalf, so as to keep her from getting shocked as the party leader was proposing, "We need a plan that will cure her anxiety issues that doesn't involve any bodily harm."

As they were talking, Red suddenly appeared from underneath the bench that Lyrica and Gust were sitting on, "What'cha guys talking about?"

Lyrica let out a surprised yelp at the red head's sudden appearance before heaving a sigh once she was sure it was someone from the party that she was speaking to, "Don't scare me like that, Red. Heero has scared me a number of times with sudden appearances."

Gust answered the question posed by the self proclaimed wifey hunter, "Trying to figure out way to help Lyrica overcome shyness."

Taking a minute to think, Red threw out an idea that had been suggested just moments ago, "Have you tried shock therapy? It's supposed to be painful, but I hear it works!"

The party's singer froze at the mentioning of using pain to overcome her social phobia. IF shook her head, shooting down the idea for the second time, "We want to CURE Lyrica, not give her a complex."

Looking around the park, Neptune notices that there wasn't any sign of her Destined Lover and bodyguard anywhere, "Hey, did any of you see where Heero went? I don't want some no-name hussy trying to put the moves on him while I'm not looking."

Gust had gone to the store to pick up a few items she had been missing and had noticed the Gundam pilot walk by the front of the store, but other than that she didn't know where he went, "Gust saw Heero pass by store while shopping. Do not know where he went."

The party's leader didn't like the thought of Heero wondering around unattended, but wanted to believe that he wouldn't end up ensnared by one of the other CPUs or some nameless person in the city.

Xxx

Unlike the other members of the party, Heero was making it a point to keep tabs on the three newest additions to the group. Given that the alliance between the goddesses at the moment was shaky at best, there weren't likely to be seen together.

Heero thought it best to follow after each CPU in order of which was the most likely to get ambushed by monsters, given how unlike the other landmasses Planeptune still had a very precarious monster problem.

After ascertaining her whereabouts, Heero tracked Noire to a forest on the outskirts of the capital city. While it wasn't too far away from the city, it was far enough to warrant some concern from the Gundam pilot. When the boy found her, Noire was standing in the middle of a clearing in the forest. She was talking to herself and appeared to be deep in thought from the Perfect Soldier's perspective. Believing the self monologue to be of some importance, Heero hid behind a tree so as not to give himself away or disturb the CPU.

Contrary to what Heero thought, Lastation's goddess wasn't thinking about anything major, rather… her quandary had to do with her presentation during battle, "I'd like to have something to announce for when I transform to get more attention." With no clear cut idea of what she was looking for in her announcement, the CPU decided to just shout whatever came to mind until she found something that would stick, throwing her hand in the air while reciting what she thought of. "Transformation, ho!"

Heero just stared at the CPU as she shouted the words. He wasn't sure what she was doing or why, and it seemed a bit unfitting for the goddess that had come off as being the very embodiment of what a goddess she be like, "...What is she doing?"

Having actually said it, Noire only needed a split second to think on it before deciding that it didn't fit her. "...Nah." Lastation's CPU went silent for a moment, trying to think of something else she could say that would deliver the impact she was looking for, while fitting her personality. After a moment of deliberation, the goddess tried an idea that suddenly came to mind, "Ah. Wind and light, earth and night! Roar! Ninja Special Goddess Transformation!"

The Perfect Soldier couldn't believe what he was watching. Was this really so important that Noire felt the need to be by herself in order to do it? She was just going to be shouting it out loud for the others to hear anyway. "I don't believe this… THIS is why she came out here?"

Noire spent more time thinking on whether or not to stick with "...That doesn't work." Once more, the goddess went silent as she tried to think of a pre-transformation line that suited her more. After another minute of quite musing, Noire tried another line of thought that came to mind, "Lastation Prism Power! Busty in Black!"

After hearing her latest thought blurted out loud, Heero was suddenly questioning whether or not this was actually Noire, and if she was in a right state of mind, "Did she really just say that? I'm beginning to call her mental stability into question."

Once again, Noire wasn't satisfied with what she came up with. "...That's not regal enough for me." Rather than coming up with another pre-transformation line that followed a magical girl trope, the CPU of Lastation tried something a bit more simple, "Black Heart, comin' through!"

Stopping to think on her latest line, Noire didn't quite understand what she was going for with it. "...What am I aiming for with that?" The goddess felt as though she was on to something with her last idea, it just needed a bit of tweaking, "Black Heart, target locked on!"

Of the ideas Noire had shouted out, the last two sounded the most fitting…at least to Heero. In his mind, if Noire absolutely had to have this, then the last self-introductory line was the one she should stick with.

Unlike her last idea, it wasn't as though Noire didn't think it was bad, she just felt it might have borrowed a bit from the party's sole male member. "...Too much. Besides, I think Heero's the only one who could pull that off." After yet another moment of deliberation, Lastation's CPU was coming up short on ideas that would fit her, "...Meh. I can't think of anything that would do me justice."

Noire didn't want to give up on the idea of a cool introduction, but her current train of thought just wasn't giving her anything to work with. "I need something cool to say after I transform. Maybe I should transform first before I start brainstorming."

While not the most practical use for HDD, it certainly once an idea that could serve to get Noire's creative juices flowing and give her something to use in order to get her ideal pre-transformation announcement. A disk appeared out in front of the raven haired girl which she promptly took hold of with one hand, and the flash of light enveloped Noire that soon gave way to reveal her goddess form; Black Heart, "...There. Back to the topic."

The sword maiden immediately started going over a few ideas in her head about what to say for the next time she underwent her transformation in battle before she finally start speaking to see how they actually sounded. "In the name of the Basilicom, I'll punish you!" Taking a moment to let the sound of the introduction she thought of to sink in, Black Heart quickly dismissed it as a bust, "...Wrong."

After a few seconds, the CPU tried another spur of the moment intro that came to mind. "Servants of Niflheim, return from whence you came!" It wasn't long before Black Heart shot down the idea, though for a different reason compared to the last, "...D-Different mythology, huh?"

Heero began to suspect that Noire's transformation into Black Heart didn't so much give her a spark of inspiration as it just shifted her mind to a different, equal nonsensical train of thought.

It was then that Black Heart decided to take a different approach with her introduction. "Allow me to explain. By transforming, the CPU Black Heart from the Land of Black Regality..." The snow haired girl promptly cut herself off. She already didn't like where this intro was going, "...I don't want to explain it like that."

When the goddess fell silent, Heero thought that she might have run out of ideas already… until she started shouting once more. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Can't you see this holy crest?! Who do you think I..." Once again, Black Heart stopped before she could finish, "No… That's not right either."

Black Heart stopped to consider some more ideas before she finally thought of one that might work for her. "Oh, how about this?" Clearing her throat, the goddess proceeded with what she thought would be the cool intro she was looking for, "You fool, have you forgotten my face?!"

While it might have sounded good, it was only when Black Heart said it out loud that she realized the flaw with her idea. "...I suppose they wouldn't know it if I've transformed." The CPU tried to use a bit of imagery in her next idea, "Through fire, justice is served!"

Although it sounded cool, Black Heart felt as though she had heard that line used somewhere already, meaning it was taken. "I think that's used, but I'm on the right track." With some idea of what she wanted for her pre-transformation line, the sword maiden tried to build off of the last spoken thought, "For the sake of humanity, Black Heart will strike down the ambitions of the evil goddess! If you're not afraid of this glimmering darkness, bring it on!"

Even though it wasn't perfect, Black Heart was much more satisfied now than with everything else she had thought of. "Yeah! I think I'm getting better at this."

Heero wasn't sure just how much longer he could keep watching the goddess talk to herself like this, mainly because it made it look as though Black Heart was having mental health problems. After she was satisfied were her brainstorming session, the CPU turned to leave… and caught sight of Heero.

Black Heart had not expected to run into the anyone out there in the forest, and yet here was the party's only male member looking at her as though she had a screw loose. The goddess of Lastation had feeling the boy had been there for some time, "H-H-Heero?! H-How long have you been standing there...?"

There was no way Heero could lie about his reason for being their. Not after listening to the CPU shouting for the better part of five minutes, "Since you started this little audition of yours to decide on 'something cool to say' when you transformed."

He had been there the entire time. That was what he was saying. The snow haired swordmaiden's face turned bright red as she thought about the boy standing their listening to her shout into thin air. Black Heart's immediate response was to act as though the boy was at fault for being there, "Y-You idiot! If you were watching then you should have said something! Better yet, you should have gone somewhere else!"

Had the CPU of Lastation been closer to the city, Heero might have done just that. However, with the number of monster attacks on Planeptune on the rise, there was no way he was simply going to leave the goddess by herself. "With the threat of monster attacks increasing, I had reason to be concerned about your well-being. I couldn't just turn and leave."

Black Heart recoiled slightly upon hearing the boy say that he was concerned about her. While it was touching, the CPU didn't want the Perfect Soldier to know that. As such, in typical tsundere fashion, the goddess put up her tough front while dismissing the idea that she would be defeated by monsters, "Well, thanks… but it's not like I need your help. There's no way I'd ever be beaten by a couple of monsters."

Perhaps he was just being overly cautious at the moment. Certainly the CPU was right and even if she were to come under attack, she could fend off whatever monsters happened to try her. Heero walked into the clearing and took a few steps past Black Heart before turning to face her, "Noire, I need to ask you something. And I want you to be honest with me."

The seriousness in Heero's voice caught Black Heart off guard, causing all of the embarrassment she had been feeling in that moment to vanish. Heero focused his attention on the CPU, having a fairly good idea how she would answer his question, but feeling the need to hear it from her. "How would you rate your relationship with the other CPUs?"

Lastation's goddess looked away as a scowl formed on her face. While in front of the human members of the party, she looked as though she had an okay relationship with Neptune, Blanc and Vert. However, it was when she wasn't being watched by the others that her malcontent for the other goddesses boiled to the surface. Black Heart could not stand the other CPUs even a little bit, "How would I rate my relationship with them? How does abysmal sound? Each one of them has done something to irritate me over the years! If it weren't for the fact that you asked for my help, I would never have agreed to joining them!"

Black Heart's relationship with the other goddesses was unfavorable, to put it mildly. Even though the four CPUs were in the same group now, that might not mean as much as everyone thinks if they're not working together… and Heero had the suspicion that Blanc and Vert held a similar view as Noire.

With a quick nod the Gundam pilot began to head back the way he came. Before completely leaving the Black Heart to continue with her auditioning for the cool entrance line she was looking for, Heero stopped to look over his shoulder and speak his on the matter, "Black Heart, target locked on. I think that one sounds the best."

It was embarrassing to hear the boy say one of the lines she had thought of and provide feedback on it… even if it carried an element of bias. With her cheeks taking on a brilliant red hue once more, Black Heart tried to pass off Heero's input as unimportant. "Whatever. Just because you think it sounds good doesn't mean I'll actually use it. You probably don't even have some kind of special line to say when you transform, so your input doesn't really matter."

Heero continued on his way once he was certain the CPU was finished verbally lambasting him. As the Gundam pilot disappeared from sight, Black Heart began to dwell on the boy's words, looking in the direction he had gone before looking elsewhere, "But, if Heero likes it… I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it for now."

Xxx

Heero's second stop was to one of the islands orbiting Planeptune. He had picked up a tip that Blanc had traveled to one of the few snow covered islands, and felt it best to track down Lowee's CPU next. Upon his arrival at the island in question, the Perfect Soldier found dead monsters scattered here and there, indicating that Blanc had been through recently. As he was about to start looking for anything that could tell him exactly where the CPU of Lowee had gone, the sound of people screaming caught his attention.

Following the screams of terror, the Gundam pilot eventually came to a wide open clearing in the snowy forest. Before Heero could take another step, two men ran into the clearing from behind a row of trees across from where the boy was.

Both men appeared to be running as though their lives depended on it, crying out in the hopes that someone would hear them, "H-Help!"

"I don't wanna die! Eeeeek!"

Heero had learned that there were ruthless bandits on the island that never ran away from anything, but clearly that was a lie. As the bandits were about to give up on being saved, Nisa descended from one of the nearby trees and landed behind the two men, "No need to squeal in terror! Nisa is here!"

The man that was supposedly the bandit leader took refuge behind a tree while speaking to the heroine, "Help! Sh-She's coming for us. The White Demon!"

Nisa was visibly perplexed over what the bandit was talking about. She thought he might have been talking about a monster of some kind, but she the blue haired heroine had never heard of such a monster before. "...White Demon?"

As the Modest Breasted Heroine was about to ask about the 'White Demon' a familiar blue haired girl clad in a white plug suit walked into view. Blanc, or rather White Heartappeared to be very irate as she focused her red eyes on the bandits behind Nisa, "...Found you, you little shits."

Seeing the goddess of Lowee there took Nisa by surprise. She hadn't expected to run into one of her traveling companions quite so soon, and certainly not under these circumstances, "...What?! Lady White Heart?! I mean, she's white, so..."

Lowee's CPU wanted Nisa to stand aside, having no interest in dragging the heroine into her business. "...Move, Nisa. I don't wanna involve you."

Nisa couldn't believe that one of Gamindustri's guardian goddesses was wantonly attacking what she believed to be civilians. "How could you? They're just civilians!"

Even from where he was standing, Heero could see a vein bulging on the side of White Heart's head as she explained her reasoning for attacking the two men, "...They're bandits. And they mocked my chest." Simply remembering what they had said about her chest was enough to reignite the CPU's fury. "So, I'mma kill 'em dead!"

Having a clearer picture of what was going on, the Keeper of Justice wasn't quite as serious about defending the two as she was before… though she was still willing to protect them from the goddess before her, "Bandits are criminals, and making fun of a girl's chest is unforgivable… But that's no excuse to attack people in your HDD state!"

The bandits hiding behind the trees shouted what they thought were words of encouragement at Nisa, "Yeah! You tell her, pimple-nipple!"

"No matter how jacked her weaponry, your justice will triumph! We believe in you, flatty!"

Nisa went silent following the remarks of the two bandits. Heero could just see what was coming next from a mile away. The Keeper of Justice was just as sensitive about the topic of her chest as Blanc was, and the insensitive words of 'encouragement' from the two bandits were about to have the opposite effect of what they intended, "They've just signed their own death warrants."

Sure enough, the Keeper of Justice no longer felt the desire to protect the bandits… and instead, felt the need to grind them to dust. "...Lady White Heart, I'll be your wingman."

Having the heroine her side meant there was nothing keeping Lowee's CPU from having her way with the bandits that had mocked her, "Let's go, Nisa! Burn 'em to ashes!"

With rage burning in her eyes, Nisa turned to face the two men that had insulted her with the intention of dispatching some 'justice' upon them, "Kill all those who deny the allure of modest-breasted girls!"

The duo proceeded to viciously assault the bandits for the better part of two minutes. By the time they were done, Heero couldn't tell whether or not they were still alive, considering the fact that they were buried under the snow, not that he actually cared.

Heero approached Nisa and White Heart as they stopped to catch their breath after the savage beating they inflicted. As soon as she saw the Gundam pilot, Nisa froze up, believing that the boy had saw what had just happened, "H-Hey, Heero! You, uh… didn't happen to see that… did you?"

He had seen everything, but it wasn't as if it was going to change his opinion of the heroine. "I'm not going to judge you for it."

Although the boy had said he wouldn't judge her, that wasn't the main issue for the Keeper of Justice. Someone had seen her toss aside her ideals in favor of brutalizing people over remarks made about her chest. Even if Nisa felt her actions were justified, the outside perception would most likely be that she wasn't a hero, but rather the villain.

Ignoring the now dismayed Keeper of Justice, Heero turned his attention to White Heart. "Blanc, I came here because I need to ask you something."

Even though she was still somewhat irate, White Heart was curious as to what the boy wanted to ask her. Sticking the head of her axe in the snow, Lowee's CPU gave her undivided attention to the Perfect Soldier, "...Alright, what do ya want?"

He knew that the CPU was most likely not going to respond favorably, but Heero needed to know where the goddess stood regarding her relations with Neptune, Noire and Vert, "How would you rate your relationship with the other CPUs?"

As soon as the boy finished his question, White Heart looked as if she was about to explode. Heero knew nothing good was about to come out of the goddess's mouth. "How would I rate my relationship with them? How's this for an answer? Those bitches fucking piss me off! I can't stand them, especially not that asshole, Thunder Tits!"

There was more profanity than he had expected in that short answer, but it did get the point across. Just as Heero had expected, the CPU of Loweecared nothing for the other goddesses. After giving her answer, White Heart walked off to go about her business on the snow covered island, leaving Heero and a stunned Nisa on their own.

Nisa watched as the goddess stormed off before inquiring as to the boy's reasoning behind the question, "Is there some reason you asked that question? I think it might have just made her even more mad."

The Gundam pilot turned to head back the way he came while answering the heroine's question, "I needed to know what exactly I had to work with regarding her level of cooperation."

Heero had gotten his answer, and it was just as bad as Black Heart's. The Gundam pilot still needed to speak to one more goddess, and he had enough reason to believe that she would give a response similar to that of Noire and Blanc.

Xxx

Vert was the last of the trio Heero was keeping tabs on, and she wasn't hard to find. Unlike Noire or Blanc, the CPU of Leanbox had stayed within the city limits and was occupying her time with the arcade.

When Heero found Vert, she was in the process of cleaning out a crane game. There were two bags next to her, one that was full and the another that was almost full. The goddess of Leanbox was humming to herself as she maneuvered the crane in order to extract her next prize from the machine, "I don't see why people make such a big fuss over these crane games. It's rather easy to win. I'm just sad that I've almost collected all of the prizes."

The Perfect Soldier approached the CPU as the crane descended and grabbed a stuffed doll contained within the machine, "...I'm assuming you already have some place to put all of those once you're finished?"

Leanbox's goddess took her eyes off of the crane that was transporting her newest catch as soon as she heard the Perfect Soldier's voice. It just so happened that Vert did have a place to put her growing collection of prizes, and the party provided it for her, "Well, I thought I would drop these off at your house. After that, I was thinking I would have lunch before playing a few games at the arcade."

Heero thought that might have been the case. It wasn't as if he or anyone else could really say no to her, but Vert really should be mindful about what she brings home with her. After all, once the party had defeated Arfoire it was likely that the CPUs would return to their own lands to handle the remaining monsters and go into damage control… except perhaps Noire, but her situation had yet to be finalized.

Hoping to get a date from the Gundam pilot, Vert proposed that the boy join her for the afternoon. "If you don't have anything else to do, why don't you join me? It would be a good chance for us to get to know each other better."

While it would have been a good idea to know more about one of the girls he would be counting on in the coming battle, Heero had other preparations to make that were going to take up the majority of his time, "Sorry, but I will have to decline this time. I have something I need to take care of, and it will take up most of my time. Although, I do have a question I want to ask while I have your attention. How would you rate your relationship with Neptune, Noire and Blanc?"

The smile on Vert's face disappeared, and a frown took its place just as quickly. Suffice it to say, the goddess of Leanbox didn't have a good opinion of the other CPUs, "If I am being honest, then I will tell you now that I don't have many pleasant memories of them. They have tried my patience on more than one occasion."

Vert's answer was about what Heero had expected, just more tame than that of Noire and Blanc's. With his question answered, the Perfect Soldier took off in the direction of the safe house while dwelling on the answers given by the three goddesses. "We might be in trouble..."

At first glance, having all four of Gamindustri's CPUs in one party might sound great. They were stronger than any other being in their world, so having all of them working together would surely make them a virtually unstoppable force… at least, in theory.

The problem was that despite being in the same party, the goddesses didn't trust one another. Without some kind of common ground, they would never put aside their differences and actually work together. In which case, having the four CPUs together might not improve their chances of success… and instead, might hurt their chances for victory.

As the Gundam pilot continued to dwell on the matter of the goddesses working together, he soon came to an empty park. It was further from the shops than most of the others which was the reason for the lack of traffic, with only the sound of the water fountain and chirping birds to break the silence.

Heero stopped to appreciate the peace and serenity of the park, taking the time to sort out his thoughts. While thinking about how to deal with the uncooperative CPUs, the sound of barking got the boy's attention.

Looking down, the Gundam pilot found a small dog looking up and barking at him. Taking a quick look around the park, Heero didn't see anyone that might have been the dog's owner. Returning his attention to the animal in front of him, the Perfect Soldier knelt down to pet the dog.

Because Heero had his attention fixed on the puppy, he was unaware of the approaching trio of Neptune, Compa and IF. Having finished the various snacks she had bought, the goddess of Planeptune felt like wandering around the city until she thought of something else to do with her time.

Compa and IF continued to accompany the CPU, mostly because they were concerned that the party leader would get lost if left on her own. As they followed after the goddess, the party's nurse in training was curious about what Neptune did as Planeptune's CPU before they went on their journey, "Hey, Nep-Nep? What do you do as a goddess?"

The purplenette stopped to look at the pink haired girl, wondering where her question came from, considering how random the timing for it was, "What're you doing asking random questions like that? That's my thing!"

It wasn't as if Compa's question was completely without merit. She was genuinely interested to know what a CPU was supposed to do for their job. "Well, goddesses talk to the people of their land and go to big events, right? But is that all you do?"

Neptune stopped to think about the question, before she began to look exhausted. "One of the things I had to do was sit at a desk and do lots of boring paperwork. It really sucks."

IF was rather surprised that the leader of the party had actually sat down at a desk to do paperwork, considering what that entailed, "You actually doing paperwork? That kind of work requires you to have patience and think, which kinda isn't your strong suit. It also sounds like the kind of work you would try to get out of."

Planeptune's CPU didn't like the brunette's insinuation that she didn't work hard, "That's so rude, Iffy! I'll have you know I worked really hard on that paperwork, even though it bored me to tears!"

Even though Neptune said that, IF was convinced that the CPU either pawned the work off on someone else, or just left it on the desk to pile up. As the trio continued walking, Compa caught sight of Heero and the small dog, "Look, it's Heero! And he has a puppy with him!"

After the incident involving Noire and the Neko-Neko Potion, Neptune was wary of any small animals that approached Heero, "We should check to make sure that isn't Noire trying to pull something. If that's her, I'm giving her a swift kick in the ass!"

Although they suspected it was just an ordinary dog, Compa and IF still followed after Neptune. The girls were about to call out to the boy to check the furry animal, when they suddenly came to an abrupt stop. The reason being… that Heero was smiling at the dog.

During their travels the girls had caught glimpses of Heero's smile, but the instances in which the boy actually smiled were so exceedingly rare, and the period of time in which it was visible was so short that the girls questioned whether or not they had actually seen the change in Heero's facial expression.

IF rubbed her eyes as a means to check and see if she was hallucinating, but soon found that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, "I'm not the only one seeing this, am I? That is OUR Heero, right?"

Unlike the Guild Moderatist, Compa wasn't questioning whether or not what she was seeing was real, but why it was the boy wasn't showing that smile to her, "I wish I was that puppy… I'd like it if Heero smiled at me like that."

The smile that was displayed on Heero's face was a stark contrast to the stoic facade he usually had. Just looking at it made the hearts of the three girls melt and grow weak in the kneed as a result. Although Neptune wanted to check and see if the four legged animal was Noire trying to woo Heero again, the CPU dared not take another step forward for fear that if he noticed them, the Gundam pilot would quickly change back to the impassive expression he wore most of the time… and the goddess of Planeptune wanted to savor the moment.

As Heero stroked the dog's head, the sound of a child's voice traveled through the air traveled through the air. Upon hearing the voice, the small dog in front of Heero turned it's head to find the source before taking off in the direction it came from.

Heero could only watch as the dog ran off to find who he presumed was it's owner. While he hadn't discounted the possibility that the puppy already had an owner, the Perfect Soldier was still somewhat disappointed that he wouldn't be able to keep the animal.

When the Gundam pilot turned around, he suddenly found himself face to face withNeptune. The CPU of Planeptune had taken the opportunity to sneak up on the boy while his attention was else where, and she had a broad smile on her face, "Aww, look at you. Being all happy and smiling with a little dog."

The Gundam pilot had been so focused on the dog that he failed to notice the CPU's approach, and was under the impression that the party's leader had been watching him, considering her choice of words, "What are you talking about?"

Just as Neptune had thought, the Perfect Soldier had gone back to his usual stoic facial expression once he was aware of her. But she had already seen it. Neptune had seen the rare display of emotion from Heero, and she wasn't about to let the boy forget. "You don't gotta pretend like you don't know. I saw you smiling at that little furball. You always act all tough and serious and cool… But underneath all that you're a big ol' marshmallow, Heero."

It was rather embarrassing for Heero to hear the purple haired girl talk about an instance in which he showed actual emotion. An invisible blush coated the boy's cheeks as he responded to Neptune's comment. "I see nothing wrong with showing emotion during everyday life. It's only on the battlefield that emotions have no place. You make it sound as though it's a bad thing that I'm willing to show emotion of any kind."

Remembering why she had started walking over, the goddess of Planeptune started look rather miffed, "Well, it would be if it turns out that little booger was Noire after drinking another whacked out potion! I might have to kick her."

Obviously, Neptune clearly wasn't going to let that incident go purely because the person who she saw as her greatest rival was involved. As soon as the CPU brought up the name of one of their newest members, Heero realized that he had not asked Neptune the question he had asked the other three goddesses. Even though he suspected her answer would be the same as theirs, the Gundam pilot still needed a definitive answerbefore he could come to a final decision on the party's chances of success, "While I have your attention, there is something I need to ask you."

Neptune, being Neptune, had already started coming to some of her own conclusions of what the boy wanted to ask her, "What did you wanna know? What we're having for dinner? What color I'm wearing? If I'm free for a date? ...If I'm ready for our M Rated scene?"

As the purplenette listed off a few of the questions she thought the boy had for her, IF suddenly popped up next to the CPU. The brunette was narrowing her eyes at Neptune as she thought of more outrageous question the Perfect Soldier might ask her, "What are you doing telling him that? There's no way Heero would ask about the color of your underwear!"

Just by the tone of her voice, Neptune assumed that IF was trying to say that Heero had no interest in her underwear. The Guild Moderatist wasn't wrong, it was just that Neptune didn't see anything wrong with the boy potentially asking that question, "As my lover, Heero's free to ask! Besides, he's gonna see them sooner or later!"

Compa didn't want to be the one to burst Neptune's bubble, but with the current situation of the world, there really wasn't any time for what Neptune was thinking of with that line of thought, "Nep-Nep, I know how you feel. I wanna do some really romantic stuff with Heero too, but we gotta stop Arfoire first. If we don't, there won't be a world for us to come back to and do that stuff in."

Putting aside the back and forth between the trio, the question Neptune had thought of were very 'Neptune' questions for sure, none of which were even remotely related to what Heero wanted to know. "None of the above. What I want to know is, how would you rate your relationship with the other CPUs? You were in a constant state of conflict before all of this, so I would imagine that you still have some misgivings about this situation."

The party's leader hadn't expected such a question. Scratching her head, the goddess of Planeptune thought about Noire, Blanc and Vert, and how she felt about them personally. After allowing her thoughts to dwell on the other CPUs for a minute, Neptune gave the Gundam pilot her answer. "I guess I'm okay with them. I mean, I use to not like them at all. But I realize that they were lied to like I was… so I kinda feel sorry for them. I can't hate them over stuff they did cause of Arfoire, right?"

Having said that, the goddess of Planeptune did think of one thing she didn't like about the other goddesses… and it concerned the boy in front of her, "Oh, but there is one thing I don't like about 'em… the fact that they keep trying to steal you from me! I betcha they're plotting something right this second cause of how jealous they are of me. Well, too bad! I found you first! They can throw themselves at somebody else! Or off a cliff!

While Neptune hadn't expected Heero's question, Heero had not expected Neptune's answer. The Perfect Soldier had expected the CPU to blow up and start calling them names, but instead she sounded rather level headed. Heero overcame his initial surprise to comment on her answer, "...In all honesty, I was expecting a rather immature answer, so this is a pleasant surprise. If that's how you really feel, then this might work after all."

The trio of girls turned their attention to the Gundam pilot. Each of them was trying to figure out what the boy was talking about, but none of them could deduce what he what he meant by 'this might work.' Before they could inquire, Heero turned and headed toward the safe house. "I have something I need to take care of. I'll see you back at the safe house."

Heero had been worried about whether the CPUs could actually work as a team, and for the most part he was right to worry. Noire, Blanc and Vert were still upset with one another, and with Neptune. It was Planeptune's goddess that didn't really have anything to be upset over anymore.

Knowing that at least one goddess could see reason gave the Gundam pilot some sense of hope that the remaining CPUs could be made to come around to the same way of thinking. They just needed a push in the right direction.

Xxx

Upon returning to the safe house, Heero occupied his time with maintenance checks of the various suits he had acquired throughout the journey. It was mostly just fine tuning that needed to be done, which wasn't too much trouble… until the Gundam pilot got to the Exia. In order to perform his checks on the machine, he had to remove the supplemental equipment,which took some time on its own.

Over the course of several hours, the Gundam pilot checked over each of the five suits he had come to possess during the party's travels. As the Perfect Soldier went about examining his machines, the front door of the house opened and closed from time to time, indicating that the members of the group were returning to their place of residence. And on occasion, one of the girls would come to check on the boy to see what he was doing.

It was late in the afternoon when the last of the party had returnedto the safe house. Having spent a good deal of time recuperating, the group felt a bit more energized than they did that morning.

While the other members of the group were busy checking their belongings or socializing with one another, Neptune popped in to the garage to check on Heero. The Perfect Soldier was bending wrenches, and checking the computers of his small array of suits.

Since the mishap on Leanbox in which Noire had turned into a cat, Planeptune's CPU had noticed that Heero seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for small animals. Neptune had become curious as to the reasoning behind it, not that there was anything wrong with it. It just seemed as though the boy wanted to have a pet of his own, and didn't have one… not even in his world.

Remembering that they had yet to really get to know each other, the goddess of Planeptune approached the boy in an attempt to strike up a conversation that might reveal something about him, "How's it going in here, Heero? You playing around with your awesome robots?"

While it wasn't 'playing around,' Heero was tinkering with the Gundams to make sure they were ready for tomorrow, "It's just maintenance and fine tuning. Every little thing we do to improve our chances now will help."

Rather than drag out the conversation, Neptune decided to spring her suggestion for an exchange of sorts, "So, you've been really lovey with small animals lately. Don't you got one where you come from? Did you want one?"

It was certainly an odd time to be asking such a question. While Heero had considered owning an animal, his current lifestyle would certainly make pet ownership a bit difficult, "I've considered it, but it wouldn't be a good idea to take ownership of a pet at this time."

The reasoning behind Neptune's question was to find out more about Heero. Now that the other CPUs were in the party, she would be facing some rather stiff competition for the boy's affections, and thought it would give her an edge to learn a bit more about him. "Y'know, we've never really gotten to know each other. How about it? Wanna tell your lover about some of the stuff you did before coming to Gamindustri? I'll tell you about some of the things I did. Sounds fair, right?"

Heero flinched at the suggestion posed by Neptune. She wanted to know about the things he had done before coming to Gamindustri. She wanted to know his past. It was a topic the boy really didn't want to share with anyone.

Neptune had seen the bodily reaction from the Gundam pilot and thought that she might have asked something she shouldn't have. When she didn't get a response, the CPU of Planeptune began to fear the worst, "Uhh… you okay, Heero?"

Thinking back on what had happened before coming to this world, Heero could just see the CPU's opinion of him changing in an instant. To make matters worst, Neptune wasn't one to just let a subject go. She would most likely keep poking and prodding at him until he divulged something. Keeping his back to the goddess, the Gundam pilot responded to her. "...That's not exactly a subject I'm comfortable talking about."

Naturally, Planeptune's CPU thought that Heero meant something like a small misdemeanor and passed it off as nothing. "What did you do? Dine & dash? Did ya beat somebody up? I don't care about that stuff. We've all done something bad at least once."

How little she knew. But then that was why she was asking, wasn't it? Heero looked over his shoulder at Neptune, and the purplenette could see yet another rare display of emotion… but not the kind she wanted to see out of the boy. All she could see was pain and sadness in his eyes, "If you knew, I have no doubt that you would reevaluate your opinion of me."

Neptune was taken aback by Heero's statement. Did the boy have so little faith in her? Or did he believe that what he had done in that past would be enough to sway her opinion of him now? "C'mon, Heero. You don't seriously think that, do you? We're lovers! You and me, together forever! That's how it's supposed to be!"

She may say that now, but Heero had enough reason to believe that it wouldn't be so once the truth came out. Looking away from Neptune once more, the Perfect Soldier continued to hold on tohis belief that her thoughts wouldn't be the same if the truth came to light, "I say this now, because I don't want you to get hurt."

The longer the conversation dragged on, the more Neptune started to grow depressed listening to Heero. She refused to believe that her feelings for the boy would change if she learned more about him. Neptune decided to change the subject for both their sakes, and to avoid becoming any more depressed than she was now, "So, uh… You were asking me earlier how I felt about the other goddesses. What was that about? Is it something important?"

Although he didn't say anything, Heero welcomed the change of topic. Of course, it was something he was going to have to bring to Neptune's attention anyway. "I asked becausethere is a problem in the team that we need to make some effort of fixing now while we still have some time."

Planeptune's CPU found herself lost as she tried to figure out what could be wrong with the party. They had a party with a diverse skill set, and they had recruited the other CPUs just as Histoire had recommended. While she couldn't see anything wrong with the party herself, Neptune knew better than to doubt Heero. "Well, what's the problem? Did we not grind enough levels? Are we missing some uber rare, powerful weapons? Are the meat shields not tanky enough?"

A sneeze was heard from the kitchen that was followed closely by what sounded like Lyrica complaining. Disregarding Neptune's ideas on what the problems she thought they had, Heero explained his reasoning for the question he had asked of her earlier, "I asked the other CPUs that question… their answers didn't inspire confidence. They still hold one another in contempt, including you. I also know that despite your answer, you yourself have some reservations about the new arrangements."

Neptune rubbed the back of her head while admitting to her own misgivings about cooperating with the other goddesses, "...Kinda. I mean, I know we fought each other cuz we were lied to and all, so we shouldn't be mad at each other. It's just… we've been fighting a really long before Compa, Iffy and the others were born! Now that we've gotta work together, it feels super weird."

The discomfort Neptune was feeling was understandable. She may not have had any reason to be upset with the other CPUs, but that didn't change the fact that the goddesses had been at each others throats for thousands of years. Now the four CPUs were expected to fight against a common enemy, while still harboring ill-feeling towards one the CPUs to just forget all about the Console War and everything else that had happened between them before now was NOT going to happen. They weren't going to forget the malice and contempt they had for one another over night.

Heero began to explain what he had in mind to address the lack of teamwork on the part of the CPUs, "We don't have much time, so at the very least the four of you need to learn how to work together during battle. If we can fix that, we should have a better chance of achieving victory tomorrow."

Unless Neptune, Noire, Blanc and Vert spent some time hashing out their problems and actually working together, there was no guarantee that the party would come out victorious in their battle with Arfoire. In fact, they could very well be defeat because of the rift between the goddesses.

While she wasn't so sure it would be easy, Neptune was at least willing to give the idea a chance for Heero's sake, "I'll try… but do you think the others will go along with this?"

The Gundam pilot didn't think they would go along with the idea quite so readily, but they didn't have a choice. Too much was riding on the battle, and they needed to make some effort to bridge the divide between the goddesses. "I can't exactly make any guarantees about that. Even if they do agree, I'm not sure we can iron things out between the four of you completely with what little time we have left. But at this point anything is better than nothing."

Heero wasn't wrong about that, and Neptune knew it. Even she had her doubts about their odds with the way things were between herself and the other CPUs. At the very least, the goddesses had to give the idea a chance. "If it's what you want, I'll try. I just hope they don't try to kill each other while we're doing this."

With their next course of action decided on, Heero and Neptune left the garage to speak with the party. The Gundam pilot left his collection of machines in the garage, seeing no reason to move them until tomorrow. Once in the living room, Heero took a quick head count to make sure everyone was there before voicing his thoughts of what was a clear and present problem to the team, "Before we start to wind down, we need to address a problem in the group."

From Compa's perspective, she couldn't see any problem with the party as it was now, "What problem? I'm pretty sure we have all the supplies we need. And we have someone to fit just about any role when we have to fight."

Naturally, the human members of the party weren't going to see the problem, which was why the Perfect Soldier was bringing it up before the battle against Arfoire, "The problem lies with our four most crucial members."

It took a moment before it finally dawned on the girls what the boy was getting at, the key words being 'four most crucial.' Noire frowned at the boy over his choice of words, specifically how she was a problem, "Just what do you mean I'm a problem? There's nothing wrong with me! If somethings wrong, then it's with these three!"

Once Noire started implying that any problems lay with the other goddesses, Blanc began glaring daggers at the CPU of Lastation, "...Where the hell do you get off saying I'm the problem? If anyone here has a problem, it's you three bitches."

Just as Noire's words earned her Blanc's ire, Vert wasn't going to stand by and let the CPU of Lowee get away with saying that she was a problem for the group and that there was no fault on her part, "What nerve! Are you implying that you, the most vulgar and short tempered of us are not at fault for any of the discrepancies between us? I would say you are a major factor in the rift between all of us!"

Less than a minute after the matter was brought up, and Noire, Blanc and Vert were already getting increasingly aggressive with one another. Neptune worked to break up the argument before it really got out of hand, "Don't fight, you guys. We gotta save it for Arfoire!"

Noire turned her heated gaze on Neptune. Lastation's goddess was just as infuriated with Planeptune's CPU as she was with the other goddesses, "Don't even try to act like you're above this! Whenever we weren't fighting, you were either stuffing your face or goofing off. You're a lazy, good for nothing excuse of a goddess!"

While she had meant to break up the fight, Neptune soon found herself getting involved in it because of Noire's verbal attack. Sure, Neptune still liked to stuff her face, but only when time allowed it. As for goofing off, Planeptune's CPU scaled back on that quite a bit, and obviously she wasn't as lazy as Noire made her out to be either, "Hey, I'm not the lazy one here, Tsundere Heart! While you guys were doing whatever, I was running around with my party saving the world! You should thank me for sticking my butt out for you jerks!"

Blanc found her anger shifting towards Neptune as she talked about how the other CPUs should thank 'her' for strutting around on 'their' landmasses. From her perspective, Neptune's arrival on Lowee brought almost nothing but trouble, "Thank you?! I've had to deal with a lot of crap whenever you showed your stupid face on Lowee! If it weren't for you having a party, I would've kicked your sorry ass out sooner!"

It was bad enough having Noire on her case, but to have Blanc trying to bite her head off wasn't helping Neptune any, "Well, sorry! But we had to fight some whack jobs that were making everything in the world really bad and all! I can't help it that some stuff on your land got messed up cuz if them!"

Vert was just as upset with Neptune as Noire and Blanc, feeling that the recent disturbances on her land were directly attributed to the goddess of Planeptune, "You caused a great deal of unrest on Leanbox as well, Neptune. I cannot simply overlook your transgression, regardless of the reasoning."

Even though she was clearly going off of events that had already been resolved successfully, Vert was still weighing into Neptune like Noire and Blanc. The girls could only watch in shock as tensions between the four CPUs quickly began to escalate.

Before the arguing could transition toward physical violence, Heero slammed his hand down on the living room table while raising his voice over that of the feuding goddesses, "...That's enough!"

The girls all froze up upon hearing the Gundam pilot shout over the CPUs. Once the arguing ceased, Heero continued with his explanation of the problem, "Case and point, the four of you are still at odds with one another. That could very well jeopardize the success of our mission and get someone killed."

Trying to put aside the heated argument they just had, Blanc wanted to know what exactly was to be done about it, "...What are you suggesting we do? Obviously, we still can't stand one another, and that's not going to change."

That was much painfully clear. While the possibility existed that the goddesses could reconcile their differences, that was mostly likely not going to happen until some time after Arfoire had been dealt with. Heero knew better than to ask for a miracle at that point in time, "I'm not going to ask that you put everything that's happened behind you, that's asking for the impossible. What we need is for the four of you to at least cooperate with one another. Only then will the odds of victory be in our favor."

Noire didn't like the idea of having to actually cooperate with the other CPUs, but knew that the rest of the party was most likely going to be behind Heero's decision. Lastation's CPU huffed as she looked away from the goddesses in front of her, "Fine, I'll humor you. It's not like I actually need to work with them, though. I could probably beat Arfoire by myself."

Vert had a similar line of thinking as Noire, and only acquiesced to the idea purely because Heero had been the one to propose it, "I am only going along with this because it is what Heero wants. Were it not for that, I would never agree to cooperate with the three of you."

Because of the back and forth she had gotten dragged into, Neptune was in just as bad of a mood as Noire, Blanc and Vert. "I'm only doing this cuz my Destined Lover needs us to do it. You guys better not screw up."

The purplenette's talk of Heero being her lover began to touch on Blanc's nerves once more. Lowee's guardian goddess turned her back to the other CPUs while grinding her teeth, "...Would you shut up about that? There's no way you're Heero's lover."

Even though they said they would go along with the idea, everyone else in the party could clearly see that getting the goddesses to cooperate with one another was going to take a lot of work. Histoire was concerned that Heero wasn't actually going to be able to pull off whatever it was he had in mind, "Are you sure this is a good idea? They appear reluctant to actually work together. (,,꒪꒫꒪,,)"

As bad as it looked, Heero still felt that they might be able to make something work. It was either that, or face Arfoire in their current state of preparedness… or lack thereof, and risk defeat, "Before we can make any final judgments, I'll need to see what I have to work with. For that reason, we need to go out and practice."

Because they had been given almost the entire day to relax and recharge, the goddesses weren't going to complain too much over heading back out. And although they didn't really feel like working with one another, the CPUs saw this as an opportunity to prove themselves better than each other in front of Heero.

Not wanting to risk the health and safety of the CPUs when the final battle was so close at hand, Compa volunteered to go along, "I should go, too. In case one of you gets hurts or gets sick. It is supposed to rain soon."

IF felt it might have been in the group's best interest if everyone went to supervise the goddesses that seemed ready to go to war with one another, "We should all go. It would be a problem if something happened to one of them before we go to Celestia tomorrow."

With the exception of Histoire, everyone in the party made their way out of the safe house for the impromptu practice session for the CPUs. As the group left, Histoire could not help but feel a sense of foreboding. That something was going to happen soon, and not in the group's best interest, "I can't help but feel that… something bad is going to happen. I pray that it is just that… (╯•﹏•╰)"

Xxx

In order to build some degree of teamwork between the goddesses, the party traveled to the outskirts of the capital city, stopping in the middle of a wide open grassy field with a trees here and there and a few boulders. There were gray cloud forming in the distance, indicating that there was some inclement weather moving in just as Compa had said.

Rather than going all the way out to one of the islands, Heero felt it might be better to conduct a test of sorts near the city in case things actually did get out of hand between the CPUs, and where they were now seem like a good place to find out how much work would be needed to fix the obvious lack of teamwork on the part of the goddesses.

Turning to the goddesses, Heero laid out what he wanted them to do for their improvised team-building session, "Before we start on your lack of teamwork, I want to see what each of you is capable of individually. That way I'll have an idea of how to go about fixing this problem."

Basically, the Gundam pilot wanted them to transform so he could see their full strength. Since they were looking to upstage one another, the CPUs saw no reason to refuse. The four goddesses activated their HDD simultaneously, filling the area with the bright light from their transformations.

The light only lasted for a moment, and in place of the four CPUs were Purple Heart, Black Heart, White Heart, and Green Heart; the true forms of Gamindustri's guardian goddesses. Each of the goddesses continued to watch the others out of the corner of their eyes, still weary of whether or not she could trust the other CPUs in that moment.

As the goddesses continued to eye one another with suspicion, the rest of the girls could practically see the tension in the air. Although they had come to supervise them, none of them were really sure that they could stop any of the CPUs if a fight broke out between them.

Despite her mistrust, Purple Heart knew that she and the other goddesses weren't going to get anywhere fast by constantly watching one another for any signs of aggression. In an effort to get things moving, Planeptune's goddess attempted to strike up some kind of conversation to get the proverbial ball rolling, "I believe this is the first time all four of us have gathered in one place since our battle in Celestia."

Black Heart's lips curved into a smirk as she recalled the battle in Celestia that her Planeptune counterpart was speaking of, "If I remember correctly, we defeated you and kicked you out of Celestia that day. That continues to be one of the best days of my life."

The CPU of Planeptune narrowed her eyes at Black Heart. Purple Heart had brought up the subject to break the ice, and instead her rival touched on a nerve. Everyone in the party had come to learn throughout their travels that Planeptune's goddess didn't like to lose, so Black Heart's comment was already leading the conversation off in the wrong direction.

Having the defeat she had suffered at the hands of the other CPUs brought up, the goddess of Planeptune was reminded up something she wanted to do. "Since you brought it up, there is one thing I need to do before we actually try working together..." The swordstress of Planeptune pointed her sword in the direction of the other CPUs, her intentions clear as day, "I want a rematch. Against all three of you."

White Heart had expected something to happened as a result of the conversation, she just hadn't expected something that was obviously crazy, "...You definitely fell on your head after that fight. You forgotten the ass kicking you received that day? Or are you just a glutton for punishment?"

Purple Heart had only forgotten about her battle against the other goddesses due to her amnesia. Now that she had remembered everything, the sword maiden of Planeptune burned with a desire to best the three CPUs that had forced her to taste defeat, "That was then, and this is now. The outcome will be quite different from last time."

Due to the feeling of frustration she was having to manage, Green Heart saw Purple Heart's idea as a way to vent a little, "It is a rather interesting idea… But pray tell, how exactly is this time going to be any different from last time? You still have to face the three of us, and we all remember how that ended."

Being taunted by the three CPUs over her defeat was quite aggravating to Purple Heart, but rather than meet their provocations with sharp wit of her own, the goddess of Planeptune began to smirk. She felt quite confident in her chances of victory this time, "I'm glad you asked. I have a very good reason to be so confident right now."

Compa was in awe over the display before her. Here was her friend, party leader, and rival for Heero's affection stating her intent to defeat the other three goddesses, and she sounded so confident. The nurse in training couldn't help but admire the goddess of Planeptune for her bravery, "Wow… Nep-Nep, you sound so cool."

Even IF had to admit that she was humbled by the CPU's confidence. Sure, the party had fought against the other CPUs before, but during those battles the goddesses were holding back, and Purple Heart was talking about fighting the other three at once. It was a tall order to be sure, yet there wasn't the slightest bit of fear in her eyes, "You sound pretty confident… You sure you're up for this?"

Heero himself was intrigued by Purple Heart's declaration, and suspected thatthe goddess had some kind of plan for what was essentially a three versus one fight, "I would imagine she has some kind of plan. Otherwise, this will be an uphill battle."

Unlike the other party members, Black Heart wasn't really impressed by all of the boasting done by her Planeptune counterpart. She wanted to know where Purple Heart was going with all of her blustering and how it would actually influence the outcome of the match they were about to have, "If you're so sure, then enlighten us. What exactly makes you so sure you'll succeed now where you failed last time?"

Just as Heero had said, it would be an uphill battle for Purple Heart without some kind of plan. Even then, it was still asking for quite a bit for one goddess to defeat three when they were evenly matched.

As Heero started to analyze the three goddesses that the party's leader would be going up against, he felt something loop around his right arm. Looking to his right, the Gundam pilot found Purple Heart right next to him, her attention still on the other CPUs, "What makes me so sure that I'll win is that this time I'll have Heero by my side."

The Perfect Soldier hadn't expected to get pulled into the rematch between the CPUs… and neither did anyone else in the party. Black Heart was very much surprised by the development, as was apparent by the look on her face. However, the CPU's shock was quickly replaced with outrage over Purple Heart's intention of involving Heero in their match, "Excuse you?! What do you think you're doing, dragging Heero into this?!"

White Heart was far more furious over the decision and was more verbal about it than the snow haired goddess, "You go to hell, Neptune! You can't just say you want a rematch with us, thenget Heero to help you! That shitsnot fair!"

Black Heart and White Heart weren't the only ones visibly upset, Green Heart couldn't help but voice her disdain over Purple Heart's actions, "You are deplorable, Neptune. It's obvious you cannot defeat us by yourself, so you're using Heero to win this time."

Planeptune's goddess wasn't swayed by the attempts by the other three CPUs at shaming her. If anything, she took it as a sign of fear on their part. Purple Heart continued to smirk as she tightening her hold on the Gundam pilot, taunting the triobefore her, "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you three are scared. Not that I blame you. Heero and I are unbeatable when we're together."

Lyrica stared at the twin braided swordstress whoseemed to take pride in the dismay caused by involving Heero in her rematch. Like Compa and IF, she had been in awe of Purple Heart's show of confidence… until she dragged the Gundam pilot into it. And just like that, she felt that the goddess of Planeptune wasn't so much confident, as she was underhanded, "I was rooting for her before at first… but now, she's just playing dirty."

Before anyone could even do anything about the situation unfolding before them, an all too familiar melodramatic laugh filled the air, "Haaaah ha ha ha! What a sight the four of you make, bickering with one another like the little brats you are."

The arguing that had taken place between the goddesses had ceased, and the party turned in the direction of the melodramatic laughter and pompous sounding voice. Standing a fair distance away from the group was the former goddess and enemy of not just the party, but the entirety of Gamindustri; Arfoire.

Purple Heart had expected the ex-goddess to make an appearance at some point, but not until the party had arrived in Celestia. Planeptune's CPU saw it as a chance to defeat the fallen goddess that was planning to destroy the world, "I was wondering when you would show yourself. Have you decided to stop hiding? Or is this another one of your pitiful clones?"

Judging by the tone of Purple Heart's voice, White Heart gathered that the woman before the party was supposed to be the reason for Gamindustri's CPUs being brought together, "...You telling me this pale looking bitch is the reason you dragged me out of Lowee?"

Black Heart couldn't believe that the supposed former goddess before her was actually a threat. Lastation's CPU saw the woman in goth as a sort of sideshow freak that wasn't worth her time, "This is a let down. I was expecting something that was… I don't know, more threatening. She looks like she'll fall over if I bump into her."

Just like the other CPUs, Green Heart felt as though her time was better spent elsewhere than on what was in front of her, "To think that someone like her is responsible for the monsters all over Gamindustri. I'm having to waste valuable gaming time on someone that is a mid-boss at best. Quite frankly I find this rather insulting."

She hadn't even been there for two minutes, and Arfoire was already getting bashed by the four goddesses. The former goddess voiced her irritation over their treatment of her, "How dare you treat me like a joke! I will have you know that my power make me more than mid-boss level material! Do you even know who I am?!"

Purple Heart knew exactly who was standing before her. Aside from the fact that Arfoire was the one responsible for starting the Console War with her lies, she had threaten Heero enough times for Planeptune's CPU to commit her to memory, "You're the fool that threatened Heero in front of me. Twice. Also, we've beaten you on more than one occasion. It's hard to forget someone so pathetic."

IF cast a sideways glance at Lyrica, who had pulled a bottle of water seemingly out of nowhere, "...That, and Lyrica keeps tossing water at you. That's pretty hard to forget, too."

It went without saying that the party viewed Arfoire as something of a laughing stock. Her numerous failed attempts at trying to stop the party made Arfoire seem weak and incompetent, and made it next to impossible to take the former goddess seriously.

Despite how little she thought of the ex-goddess, Nisa stated her intent to bring Arfoire to justice, "As weak as you are, summoning monsters to threaten the people of Gamindustri is a serious crime. It is my responsibility to make sure that justice is served!"

As furious as Arfoire was at that point, the fallen goddess didn't blow up at the belittlement she was subjected. What the party was unaware of was that the goddess dressed like a witch had a very sinister plan up her sleeve, "Make all the jokes you want now, because you will pay for your insolence very soon."

Heero had heard the former goddess make similar declarations in the past to no avail. No matter how confident she sounded, unless Arfoire actually had a plan to deal with the party this time, she was just full of hot air… like every time they dealt with her before, "Unless you actually came prepared, you're fighting a losing battle. Either way, this works out for us. The sooner we eliminate you, the sooner we can focus on putting out the small fires you've left behind."

While the party had every reason to think little of the former goddess, this may have been the one time in which they should have taken her more seriously. A wicked smirk formed on Arfoire's face as she began to enact her scheme. "Oh, but I did come prepared. And you helped to ensure that."

The Gundam pilot was suddenly stricken with a headache that came out of nowhere. Because it was only a mild annoyance, Heero brushed it off as nothing while Purple Heart began to interrogate the pale woman, "...What exactly do you mean by that?"

Once again, Heero was hit by a headache. This time the negative stimuli was bad enough to make him visibly wince and grunt from the only grew worse as Arfoire prattled on, "You like to go on and on about how you and that boy are supposed to be lovers and all that crap. So I thought the best way to get back at you would be to turn your precious human lover against you."

Planeptune's goddess scoffed at the idea that Arfoire could turn Heero against her. Not only had the boy stated long ago that it was his mission to protect her, but after everything they had been through, the idea that the Perfect Soldier could be made to fight her was preposterous. "You're joking, right? There's no way Heero would turn on me after all we've been through."

Purple Heart was about to ask the boy for his affirmation on the matter, but when the goddess looked at Heero she could see his face start to contort in pain. Arfoire's plan was coming along just as she had hoped, andthe former goddess had every intention of making the twin braided sword maiden struggle for the indignation she had been forced to endure, "I suppose a demonstration of my power is in order. The consequences for defying me are steep, and your lover shall pay the price for your arrogance!"

In that instant, a magic circle formed underneath Heero and the boy felt as though something was pushing against the sides of his skull... and it hurt like hell. The Gundam pilot doubled over from the pain, collapsing to his knees and holding the sides of his head with his hands as his grunts turned into cries of pain.

IF had only ever seenand heard the Perfect Soldier react to pain in such a way once, so whatever was being done to the boy must have been agonizing, "What the hell is happening?! What's she doing to him?!"

Because she couldn't see the cause of Heero's pain, Compa was unable to diagnose the problem, "I-I don't know! I've never seen anything like this!"

Purple Heart knelt down next to Heero, holding the boy by his shoulders while trying to figure out something she could do for him in that moment, but came up with nothing, "Well, we need to figure out something! Heero's in a lot of pain!"

As the girls tried to figure out some way to help the Perfect Soldier, Arfoire was laughing maniacally, taking joy in the panic and confusion brought about by her actions, "Haaaah ha ha hah! I'd imagine having someone take control of your mind is quite painful. If you don't want to suffer, then submit to me!"

If Arfoire was using some kind of mind control, then it stood to reason that by defeating her, the pain that was being inflicted on Heero would cease. White Heart headed straight towards the former goddess, her axe resting against her shoulder and primed to be usedon the pale woman, "...Cut that shit out, you damn bitch!"

Lowee's CPU swung her axe at Arfoire, the heavy melee weapon crashed down onto the ground where the pale witch was standing and kicked up a cloud of dust as bits of rock were tossed around. Unfortunately, White Heart failed to hit her target, and Arfoire emerged from the cloud of dust unscathed.

When White Heart failed to bring down Arfoire, Green Heart tried her hand at dealing with the fallen goddess, "It would seem that it falls to me to deal with this nuisance."

Leanbox's goddess launched a flurry of thrusts at the ex-goddess with her lance, and while some of her attacks almost landed, none of them found their mark. As Arfoire continued to back away from Green Heart, Black Heart quickly approached the former goddess from behind with the intent to rectify the current problem herself.

Arfoire looked over her shoulder in time to see Lastation's CPU approaching, and turned around in time to block the sword swing aimed at her. A loud clang reverberated in the air as Black Heart began to push the former goddess back while metaphorically looking down on her, "I still can't believe that YOU were the one plotting to bring down my home."

Even as she was being forced back, Arfoire took a mocking tone of voice as she addressed Lastation's CPU, "Is it that hard to believe? Are you angry? Gonna cry and throw a tantrum?"

Saying that Black Heart was angry over having her landmass attacked by Arfoire was an understatement, as was made clear by the steadily increasing force the CPU was exerting on the former goddess. "Oh, I'm more than just angry. I'm absolutely livid! But more than that, I'm embarrassed that someone as pathetic as you was responsible for damaging my Lastation!"

The goddess of Lastation pushed Arfoire back by hitting her glaive with a strike powerful enough to leave the fallen goddess's arm numb. Remembering that Green Heart was still approaching, Arfoire quickly moved out of the way to avoid the oncoming CPU, who flew right past her with lance outstretched.

Black Heart barely had enough time to raise her sword and block the attack heading her way, quickly deflecting the strike before turning her angry gaze on Green Heart, "What the hell are you doing?! You're supposed to be aiming at the weirdo in the tacky witch costume!"

Green Heart failed to see why it was that the CPU of Lastation was getting angry at her when she had been aiming at Arfoire to begin with, "I will have you know that I was aiming for her. You should have moved out of the way."

As Arfoire prepared to attack the bickering goddesses, White Heart charged straight for her once again, "...Damnit, hold still!"

Because of the CPU's shouting, Arfoire knew not to stay where she was. Once more the former goddess moved out of the way of the incoming attack, and White Heart's axe struck the ground once more. After witnessing the failed attempt, Black Heart pointed out the problem with White Heart's strategy, "You know, she's just gonna move out of the way if you tell her to stand still."

Even Green Heart couldn't help but take a jab at the failed attempt by Lowee's CPU, "Perhaps if you didn't shout what you were going to do, you might actually hit her."

White Heart shifted her attention to the CPUs that had decided to ridicule her methods, growing more irritated at the duo with each passing second, "Why don't you assholes do something useful, instead of sittingthere and judging me the whole damn time?!"

The trio of goddess began arguing once more, almost as if they had forgotten that they had a common enemy right there before them. With the three CPUs preoccupied, Arfoire pointed her glaive at Heero and continued working on her spell, "There's no point in resisting me, child. My power is too great, and my reach is too long. You will submit to me whether you like it or not!"

Heero wanted to shut the former goddess up himself, but the pain he was feeling in that moment was sodebilitating that he was unable to reach for his pistol. The Perfect Soldier slowly lifted his head, a defiant look on his face as he focused on Arfoire, "...I'd rather diethan… take orders from you."

It was Arfoire's intention to kill the Gundam pilot, but his demise would come only after she had used the boy to satisfy her demented plans. As another wave of pain fell on Heero, Purple Heart turned her attention to the trio of goddesses that appeared to be too busy arguing with one another to focus on the real problem, "Would the three of you stop fighting each other and focus?! Heero is suffering, and you're wasting time with your pointless arguing!"

Any hope Lyrica had of the CPUs working together quickly evaporated the moment they went back to bickering, "This is bad… I thought they might stop fighting once we found this weirdo."

Nisa wasn't holding out much hope for the goddesses either, "They're too busy fighting each other to fight Arfoire. Honestly, I'm beginning to lose faith in them."

Between Purple Heart refusing to leave Heero's side, and Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart wasting their time arguing, it was becoming increasingly clear that the party couldn't count on the CPUs to fight Arfoire. Red was quickly losing confidence in the party's chances, "I don't think they're gonna fight. What do we do?"

IF didn't really see any other option other than for the girls to fight Arfoire without the goddesses, "We'll just have to fight her ourselves. Compa, I need you Lyrica, Nisa, andRed to come with me. We have to at least try and stop her from taking control of Heero!"

As much as she didn't want to leave the Gundam pilot in his current state, Compa knew that there was nothing she could do to alleviate his pain, other than stop the cause of it. While the four girls took off to face Arfoire, Purple Heart shifted her gaze over to Gust. The goddess of Planeptune hoped that the alchemist was capable of producing a potion of some kind that could help the Perfect Soldier, "Gust, tell me there's something you can do for him! Anything!"

Not only was it painful for Gust to see Heero writhing in agony, but it also hurt to see the pleading look in Purple Heart's eyes. Sadly, despite her knowledge of potions and the various ingredients that could be used to make them, Gust didn't know of a potion that could help the Gundam pilot, "Am very sorry… Gust does not know of potion that cures mind control."

Her lover was screaming in pain, and Planeptune's CPU couldn't make that pain go away. Purple Heart bit her lower lip as she watched Heero. Never in her life had she felt so powerless. As for Heero, while the pain was intense, it wasn't as bad as the time he self detonated the Wing Gundam. The problem was that not only did it feel like something was drilling into the sides of his head… it felt as if something was trying to get out.

IF and Nisa were rapidly approaching Arfoire as she continued to work on the mind control spell she was using on the party's lone male member. The brunette lunged at Arfoire with her short blades, only to have the former goddess evade her attack. Nisa leapt over IF and attempted an axe kick that just narrowly missed, followed by a roundhouse kick that was blocked by the pale woman's glaive.

Compa and Lyrica tried their best to hit Arfoire from where they were, but all of the ranged attacks they fired failed to land, and Red's luck wasn't any better as her yo-yo and frisbee didn't hit her intended target, that being Arfoire's face.

Not wanting to risk getting hit and have her plan come to nothing, Arfoire began to raise into the air until she could no longer be reach by IF and Nisa. The brunette grit her teeth as the former goddess hovered in the air, "Damnit, we can't reach her now! I doubt Compa and Lyrica are going to have an easier time hitting her, too."

With the CPUs too busy fighting one another, or in Purple Heart's case too focused on Heero, and the rest of the party unable to reach or even land an attack on her, Arfoire was free to finish her spell, "You have no choice but to submit to my power. Become my servant and do my bidding!"

The level of pain Heero was being subjected to quickly reached it's peak, and a blank HDD disk began to hover out in front of him. Black electricity began to emanate from the transformation disk as Arfoire's mind control began to take hold, meaning that whatever was going to come from it would serve Arfoire's will.

Slowly, the Gundam pilot's vision began to blur, and he was unable to hear the pleas of the goddess next to him as he lost consciousness.

Xxx

Heero found himself in a familiar dark void. Mere seconds ago he had been in excruciating pain, but now he felt nothing. Normally whenever the Gundam pilot found himself in this seemingly endless space, there was usually something else there with him, "...Why am I here, now?"

Looking around, Heero found nothing but pitch black nothingness. As the Perfect Soldier tried to figure out how to get out of the dark space he was in, Heero suddenly felt his arms beingpinned to his sides as an unseen force took ahold of him, lifting him into the air. "What the hell is this?!"

The Gundam pilot struggled against his restraints, but found himself unable to break free. The silhouette of the boy's captor slowly became visible, giving him an idea of what was keeping him restrained. At first it was hard to make out what he was looking at, but eventually Heero was able to identify just what was in front of him… and the Gundam pilot was visibly surprised by what he saw, before his surprise turned to anger, "You…!"

Xxx

(For added effect; Play: Gundam Wing: Legend of Zero – XXXG-00W0)

A red light was cast upon the area and black lightning marred the ground as a transformation took place, and Heero was at the center of it. Unlike the transformations he had undergone before or those of the CPUs, this transformation seemed to radiate with a very palpable evil and malice.

When the light subsided, a robotic entity with red and black colored armor, a green jewel in the center of it's breastplate, and awhite colored face mask and thigh armor was kneeling where Heero once was. It had a large shield on it's left arm with a segmented whip contained within it, the handle of a beam saber of some kind on it's right hip, a pair of gold talons on it's lower arms and rather intimidating wings on it's back.

Obviously, it was another of the Gundams that Heero and Zero had been talking about, and none of the girls were sure whether or not to approach the suit. Purple Heart wanted to believe that Arfoire wasn't in control of the boy, but she didn't have any way of proving that was the case.

Up in the air above the party, Arfoire looked down at the newest addition to Heero's collection of transformations. The former goddess was mildly intrigue by the form that had come about from the mind control spell she had cast, "Another transformation… I've lost count of how many the kid has. But in terms appearances, it'sjust fine for what I have in mind."

Arfoire raised her right hand, and the red and black Gundam began to stand up from it's kneeling position in response to the motion. A feeling of dread washed over the party as they watched the suit rise to it's feet, believing that Heero really had been placed under Arfoire's control.

Hoping that the Perfect Soldier wasn't actually going to be used against her, Purple Heart tried speaking to him, "Heero? Are you alright…?"

There was no response of any kind from the Gundam, just silence. Any hope that Planeptune's CPU was holding onto was quickly fading away. Arfoire's lips curved into a malicious grin as she could see the despair in Purple Heart's eyes. "It's high time you paid for your meddling, Neptune. My new servant shall see to that!"

The former goddess snapped her fingers, and the Gundam's eyes lit up for a moment before the menacing mobile suit turned it's attention to the party's leader. The Gundam approached Planeptune's CPU as it grabbed the Beam Sword on it's hip, a green thermal blade protruded from the weapon.

Purple Heart couldn't believe what was happening. Heero, her bodyguard and Destined Lover, was taking orders from Arfoire. The goddess kept thinking that she was just having a bad dream, and that she would suddenly wake up. But try as she might, the CPU was unable to change the reality of her situation… and the realization that what was happening was real left Purple Heart frozen in place.

As the Gundam raised it's Beam Sword to strike, Compa shouted for the stunned goddess to move, "Nep-Nep! Run!"

Planeptune's CPU snapped out of her stupor in time to avoid the attack aimed at her, resulting in the energy sword slamming into the ground and sending bits of rock into the air as a cloud of dust formed from the impact.

The party's leader wasn't given any time to relax as the red and black mobile suit emerged from the cloud of dust, beam sword raised overhead. Purple Heart held up her sword and braced herself for the incoming attack.

A crater formed in the ground underneath Planeptune's goddess as she fended off the thermal blade bearing down on her. The twin braided swordstress hadn't expected so much force behind the attack, and was down on one knee as she tried to keep the sword from getting any closer to her, "I knew Heero was strong… but I didn't expect this…!"

Before the Gundam could break through Purple Heart's guard, the red suit was forced to retreat as a string of bullets flew through the air towards it. Compa, who was the source of the attack, was visibly shaken over having to shoot at the Gundam pilot in the first place. The nurse in training look as though she was about to cry as she looked at the red and black mobile suit, "Heero… please don't do this… We're supposed to be friends… you can't let her control you!"

Compa's words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the Gundam took off in her directions, moving at alarming speeds. Before the pink haired girl could even defend herself, the red and black suit grabbed the oversized syringe in her hands and wrenched away. In a matter of seconds the glass casing of the syringe began to crack, and then break, resulting in small shards of glass falling to the ground along with the liquid that had been contained in the medical appliance.

After breaking Compa's weapon the Gundam delivered a painful haymaker to the pink haired girl, sending her tumbling onto her side a few feet away. The nurse in training slowly got back up, but her right arm was in a lot of pain from the hit she took. With herdamaged limb and weapon lying broken on the ground, Compa wasn't going to be of any help now.

With their situation growing worse, IF hoped that the party's leader would be able to pull the team and come up with a plan, "Nep, we need to come up with a plan. Help us out here!"

There was no response from the goddess of Planeptune. When the Guild Moderatist looked over at where she was, Purple Heart had collapsed on her knees and was looking at the ground. Clearly, she was still coming to terms with the fact that Heero was being used against her.

With the reality that Heero was under Arfoire's control, and the team's leader having a breakdown, IF saw no other option but to fight the Perfect Soldier. Through gritted teeth, the brunette relayed the harsh fact to the others. "We don't have a choice… we have to defeat Heero."

Nisa questioned whether or not the party had the will or even the ability to win a battle against the Perfect Soldier, "...Do you think we've even got a chance?"

In all honesty, IF didn't favor their chances. In all of the time the party had been traveling around Gamindustri, not once had she ever seen Heero be defeated in battle. He had proven to be a seemingly unstoppable force that could potentially rival that of the CPUs. On top of that, the boy had been a source of inspiration and support for the girls when things looked bleak. To have the only male member of the group turned against them was a huge blow to the their morale.

Putting aside her personal feelings, the Guild Moderatist believed that they still had to make an honest attempt if they were going to bring Heero back, "We have to try. Otherwise, who knows what that bitch is going to make him do?"

Lyrica wasn't enthused by the idea of fighting the boy she had feelings for, but acknowledged that they had to try something, "If you think it will work, then let's it a try."

Looking over at the bruised nurse in training, IF advised Compa to take refuge somewhere. "Compa, find some place to hide for now. You aren't gonna do us any favors if get any more bruises." Knowing that IF was right, Compa took shelter behind a boulder to avoid getting in the way. Not wanting to risk the only other healer in the party, IF made the same request to Gust, "Gust, you should probably hide, too. We'll be in real trouble if only other healer gets caught up in this. We can handle this. Red, you should go as well."

Gust wanted to assist the group in trying to get Heero back on their side, but the brunette made a valid point. Doing as she was told, the young alchemist retreated to safety as the trio of IF, Nisa and Lyrica prepared to face off against the Gundam. Red started to run after Gust, but stopped long enough to provide some last minute encouragement, "Good luck, you guys! Try not to get hurt!"

Casting a brief glance at the Guild Moderatist, Nisa had to commend her attempt at trying to look brave despite their predicament, "I applaud your courage in the face of these insurmountable odds."

A nervous smile made it's way onto IF's face. In truth, she would rather have had as many members of the party as possible face the mind controlled Gundam pilot than just the three of them. Playing it save and having Compa, Gust and Red flee was putting them in an even worse position than before, "I'm not gonna lie… We're probably gonna get our asses kicked. But Nep is out of it, and the other CPUs are probably still fighting each other. We're on our own here."

Doing their best to brush aside their nervousness, IF and Nisa charged at the red and black mobile suit that served Arfoire's will. IF continued straight toward the Gundam as the Keeper of Justice leapt into the air to perform her signature move, hoping that at least one of them could land a hit.

The Guild Moderatist lunged at the red and black suit with her short blades, only to miss with her initial attack. Quickly recovering from failed attempt, IF launched a series of attack from simple slashes, to kicks and even a shots from the gun she kept hidden in her sleeve… all of of them were evaded with no effort.

Nisa came flying out of the air with her right leg outstretched to deliver what was supposed to be her strongest move, yet the Gundam merely sidestepped the attack as the heroine shot past it and hit the ground instead. The blue haired girl quickly recovered and joined her fellow party member in trying… well, anything that might land a hit.

Without really trying, the Gundam evaded or blocked every attack the two girls tried. Even when there was an opening between IF and Nisa's attempts, Lyrica failed to land a hit as well. Suddenly, the red and black suit drove it's beam sword into the ground, breaking up chunks of rock underneath itself and the two girls.

A slab of rock that jutted out from underneath IF and tossed her into the air, and before she could react to the situation she was in, the Gundam elbowed the brunette in the stomach and sent her crashing into the ground.

Nisa wasn't safe either, as while she was trying to regain her footing, the heat rod contained within the Gundam's shield leapt out and wrapped around the heroine's leg. The Keeper of Justice was lifted into the air by the segmented whip without warning before promptly coming back down to the ground on her back. The blue haired girl waslifted into the air again, brought down to the ground once more, and then a third time before the heat rod retracted into the shield, pulling Nisa along with it.

Battered and disoriented, Nisa wasn't able to stop the red and black mobile suit as it grabbed her by the leg. The Gundam kicked IF up into the air as she tried to stand, then, using Nisa as a human bat, struck the Guild Moderatist and sent her flying in the direction of the boulder Compa, Gust and Red were hiding behind.

IF stopped just short of hitting the oversized rock, landing on her stomach in front of it instead. As she tried to get up, the Guild Moderatist felt a sharp pain throughout her entire body, and no matter how hard she tried, IF couldn't muster enough strength to stand.

The brunette lifted her head in time to see Nisa crash land right next to her. Unlike IF, the Keeper of Justice landed on her back and was able to get back up… to a certain extent. As soon as she got on her feet, Nisa collapsed onto one knee. There were a number of bruises on her arms and legs from the rough treatment she received, and it was starting to take it's toll, "I knew this was gonna be difficult… But I didn't think it would be THIS difficult!"

Just as IF was about to respond, the sound of machine gun fire drew their attention over to the only other member that been helping them face the Gundam. Lyrica was holding her guitar up in front of herself as though it were a shield, and smoke was rising into the air from the base of the musical instrument.

Once she was sure the bullets had stopped flying, the songstress examined the guitar in her hands. The instrument had proven durable enough to withstand vulcan fire, and aside from some scratches it was largely fine. The same could not be said for the guitar strings, as all four of them had snapped, rendering Lyrica's 'weapon' useless.

Not long after she finished inspecting her guitar, the red and black mobile suit landed in front of Lyrica. She had been so occupied with checking her guitar that she didn't think to run away, and the Gundam almost immediately backhanded Lyrica before she could respond.

The cerulean haired girl was sent sliding across the ground on her side and ended up in front of IF and Nisa. Since Lyrica hadn't received a vicious beating like the two girls behind her did, she was able to sit up without much issue, though her cheek was sore from having been struck, "That really hurt! I hope it doesn't swell..."

IF was mildly annoyed by the fact that the songstress hadn't incurred as many injuries as she or Nisa did, "Hey, you weren't the one that got beaten and tossed around like a ragdoll, don't complain."

As the Guild Moderatist complained, Nisa got back onto her feet and voiced her opinion of their worsening dilemma, "He's way too strong up close… Compa and Lyrica can't fight anymore, and we can't risk Gust getting injured. I think we may need to retreat."

It wasn't an idea that IF particularly liked, but she didn't see any other options when they were fighting without aid from the CPUs. Heero had beaten them down with no effort, and they were likely to incur even more injuries if they were to make a second attempt at fighting him.

While the girls were discussing what they should do, Purple Heart was finished pulling herself together. As the goddess of Planeptune stood up, she heard a manic laughter coming from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Purple Heart saw that Arfoire had come back down to the ground to watch the one sided battle between Heero and the rest of the party.

With her rage quickly building and the belief that Heero would be released from the former goddess's control is she was defeated, Purple Heart immediately went after Arfoire. The fallen goddess hadn't been so caught up with the show in front of her that she didn't see Planeptune's goddess heading towards her, but she barely had enough time to block the incoming attack.

Purple Heart got in Arfoire's face as the former goddess tried to hold her back, the CPU's anger plain to see on her face, "Give him back!"

Arfoire laughed at the goddess's demand, seeing no reason to relinquish control of the Gundam pilot when the party was now on the receiving end of her wrath, "Not a chance. I'm going to make you suffer for all the indignities I've had to endure because of you."

If the former goddess wouldn't give Heero back willingly, Purple Heart was more than happy to use force to get the result she was looking for. Arfoire tried to escape, but the twin braided swordstress was not about to let the former goddess get away with her transgression.

Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart had stopped their arguing shortly after the forced transformation Heero underwent. The trio thought that Arfoire wouldn't actually be able to control Heero, but after watching the red and black mobile suit roll right over most of the other human members of the group they found thosebeliefs dashed to nothingness.

Lowee's CPU grimaced over the fact that she would have to face the Gundam pilot now that the rest of the party was either down, held back to treat the injured, or in Purple Heart's case, too busy with Arfoire, "...Shit, do I really have to fight him? This sucks!"

Trying to resolve herself for what was to come, Black Heart stated her intent to fight Heero, "I don't like the idea of fighting Heero, but what choice do I have?"

Green Heart was just as reluctant to take aggressive action against the Perfect Soldier due to her personal feelings, "Being forced to point my lance at Heero like this… I'm not sure my heart can take the abuse. But I must endure, if I am to save him."

The three goddesses were still stuck in the mindset that they couldn't trust the other CPUs, and that they alone could save Heero. However, before any one of the CPUs could come up with a plan of some kind, the red and black Gundam turned it's sights on the goddesses and headed straight for them.

Black Heart intercepted the mobile suit, her large blade clashing with its beam sword. Both the CPU and Gundam were locked in a stalemate until White Heart and Green Heart approached the mobile suit from the sides.

Both CPUs tried to land an attack on the Gundam at the same time… and ended up getting in one another's way. As Green Heart aimed at the beam sword with her lance in an attempt to disarm the red and black suit, White Heart's axe came down to knock off the Gundam's shield, and instead came down across Green Heart's lance.

With the two goddesses interfering with each other, the Gundam was able to back away before either of them could make a second attempt. Frustrated at the failed attack, White Heart took her anger out on who she felt was responsible for thebotched attempt, "Damnit, stay the hell outta my way, Thunder Tits!"

Green Heart firmly believed that her Lowee counterpart was at fault for the failed attack and refused to take any verbal abuse for her mistake, "Excuse me, but you were the one that was in the way. I would appreciate it if you would not interfere."

From Black Heart's perspective, both CPU's were at fault, and she couldn't understand why Heero even wanted her to cooperate with them in the first place when fighting and bickering with one another was all that the two girls were good for, "(Heero seriously wanted me to work with these idiots? If saving the world is what he wants, I'm all he needs. The others are just dead weight.)"

After a short spat, the CPUs returned to what they were supposed to be doing, which was trying to get the Gundam pilot under control. While each of them had their own plan for how to do that, they didn't bother to communicate what their plans were… and things began to go downhill.

Despite having the numeric advantage, the three goddesses repeatedly got in one another's way whenever they saw an opening. The haphazard teamwork between the trio ensured that the Gundam always had an escape route.

After two minutes of dodging, blocking and parrying attacks, the Gundam went on the offensive. Green Heart briefly clashed with the mobile suit, but was quickly overpowered when the size of the beam sword's thermal blade suddenly increased.

Leanbox's CPU was tossed aside with little effort by the oversized beam blade, and White Heart was knocked off balance by a parry before getting swatted aside by the Gundam's shield. Believing that she had found an opening, Black Heart charged toward the red and black suit to seize on the opportunity, "C'mon Heero, snap out of it!"

The goddess of Lastation nearly landed a hit on the Gundam, when the suit brought it's beam sword down across the back of her sword, causingthe blade to getthe in the ground. Before Black Heart had a chance to pull her sword back out, the red and black suit holstered it's beam sword before grabbing the CPU by her arms.

Because of the Gundam's tight grip, the snow haired sword maiden of Lastation couldn't free herself no matter how much she struggled and squirmed. With the goddess unable to escape, the Gundam leaned back slightly, only to abruptly shift it's weight forward and ram it's forehead into that of Black Heart's.

A jolt of pain shot across Black Heart's head as she reeled from the concussion she had just received. Lastation's goddess dropped her sword and blood ran down the center of her face as a bruise formed on her forehead. Even after the Gundam had released it's grip on her, Black Heart was unable to run or do anything, having lost most of her motor abilities from the blow to her head.

Even after delivering the a debilitating head injury to Black Heart, the Gundam wasn't quite finished with the CPU of Lastation. Extending it's heat rod once more, the red and black suit ensnared the goddess and tossed her into a tree, a boulder, and into the ground. With the segmented whip still keeping the CPU bound, the Gundam turned around with it's thrusters already alight and took off, dragging the CPU along behind it.

After a few seconds of dragging the defenseless CPU, the red and black Gundam flung Black Heart overhead and into another boulder, retracting the heat rod just before she hit the large rock. Lastation's goddess slammed into the boulder with enough force to shatter it, and shortly after her painful landing, the CPU fell unconscious in the freshly made pile of rocks while reverting to her human form.

White Heart and Green Heart had recovered in time to watch the physical beating Lastation's CPU had been subjected to, and the end result made them visibly wince. The goddess of Lowee couldn't believe that Heero had actually incapacitated Black Heart so quickly, "...Damn, I didn't think Heero would beat her down that fast."

Wanting to take advantage of lack of attention on her, Green Heart sped towards the Gundam with her lance out in front of her, "(Please do not hold this against me, Heero.)"

Despite not looking directly at her, the Gundam already knew that Green Heart was coming. Turning back around, the heat rod extended from the mobile suit's shield once more and caught the lancer of Leanbox well before she could actually get close. Green Heart had been taken completely by surprise by the weapons actual length and tried to break free, but found that she lacked the physical strength needed to break free of the heat rod.

As the goddess of Leanbox tried to figure some way out of her bondage, the metal whip began to glow red as it heated up dramatically. Green Heart could feel her own body temperature spike and it wasn't long before she started to overheat, "This isn't good..."

Whenever Leanbox's CPU had overheated, she lost power at an accelerated rate, and the goddess soon found herself falling to her knees as the tightly coiled heat rod caused her to lose her strength, and eventually revert to her human form.

It was only once Vert was completely drained of her energy that heat rod stopped emitting high levels of heat and returned to its usual black color. The Gundam flung the exhausted CPU of Leanbox aside now that she was no longer a threat.

During the time that the mobile suit had dealt with the Leanbox's, White Heart had taken to the air to try an attack from above. As the axe wielder of Lowee descended upon what she felt was an unaware Gundam pilot, she mentally cursed Arfoire for putting them in this position, "(When I get ahold of that bitch, I'll ruin her whole damn life!)"

The Gundam quickly scanned the area for the goddess of Lowee, and when it didn't see the blue haired CPU, the red and black mobile suit lifted it's left as it looked up. White Heart hadn't anticipated that the Gundam would find her so quickly. With no time to come up with a different plan of attack, Lowee's goddess pressed forward with her attack.

A thunderous bang echoed across the grassy plains as White Heart's axe slammed into the Gundam's shield, and the ground underneath the mobile suit broke apart under the immense force of the attack.

No matter how hard she tried to force her axe through, White Heart was unable to break the Gundam's shield. With the CPU unable to get through it's defense, the mobile suit used it's free hand to grab Lowee's goddess by her head and slammed her into the ground face first.

Dazed from the abrupt face first landing, White Heart loosened her grip on her axe, which the Gundam then took from her. Once it was in possession of the CPU's weapon, the mobile suit raised it overhead and brought the axe down across White Heart's back.

Lowee's CPU was flattened into the ground just as she tried to get up, and the ground underneath her began to break under the force being used to plant her into the earth. White Heart didn't get a chance to move before the Gundam raised her axe up once again, holding the weapon with both hands this time, and bringing it down with even greater force than the first strike.

While the axe didn't cut into her, White Heart could definitely feel the marks on her back where she had been hit and suffered enough damage from both strikes that she blacked out, reverting to her human form just as Noire and Vert did.

Almost all of the party had been sufficiently beaten as to leave them unable to fight. With the exception of Gust and Red, there was only one member of the group left that was still able to fight, and the Gundam had set it's sights on her as she battled against Arfoire.

Purple Heart and Arfoire's battle was fast approaching it's end, and the former goddess was losing. The CPU of Planeptune had continued to pressure Arfoire since their initial clash until she was forced to fight defensively the entire time, and the fallen goddess was fighting it difficult to fend off the swordstress.

The series of rapid and powerful strikes from Purple Heart's sword seemed to exhibit a blind fury that quickly overwhelmed Arfoire, eventually putting her in a position to disarm the former goddess.

With one last powerful strike, the goddess of Planeptune successfully disarmed her opponent. Arfoire had made the fatal mistake of using both of her hands to hold her glaive when blocking the attack, which resulted in the former goddess losing her weapon andgetting launched into the air.

Before Arfoire could start thinking that her impromptu flight gave her some kind of reprieve, Purple Heart immediately took to the air after her and appeared right in front of the former goddess. Planeptune's CPU struck the former goddess across her torso and sent her crashing back down to the ground.

Not wanting to risk Arfoire getting away, Purple Heart moved to finish the job she had started, "This has gone on long enough. Time to end this."

Just as Planeptune CPU was about to reach Arfoire, something crash landed on the ground in front of her and blocked Purple Heart's sword. The green thermal blade was a giveaway as to what was standing between her and the former goddess.

Arfoire smirked at the failed attempt by the twin braided swordstress as she stood back up, "Looks like time is up for you, Neptune."

Purple Heart was forced back by the red and black Gundam that now served her enemy, digging her heels into the ground and skidding to a halt as she reoriented herself. Planeptune's goddess had heard the party discuss their intention to battle Heero, though she hadn't been paid any attention to what had went on.

Looking over her shoulder, the CPU saw Gust and Red quickly running back and forth retrieving the now defeated party that had taken on the unenviable task of battling Heero. Purple Heart grimaced at the damaged done to the group during her battle with Arfoire, and lamented that they couldn't hold the Gundam at bay for a while longer, "If they had just held him back a little longer..."

Returning her attention to the one standing before her, Purple Heart felt her resolve start to waver. She had faced Heero once before, and the experience had been unpleasant to put it mildly. Now she was having to face the Gundam pilot while he was being manipulated by Arfoire.

There was no way she could fight Heero. Even after he had forgiven her, Purple Heart was still racked with guilt over what had happened last time. In the hopes that she could get through to him, the goddess tried appealing to his heart, "Heero, you have to snap out of it! I don't want to fight you!"

Arfoire found it amusing that Planeptune's CPU thought she could break her mind control spell simply by speaking to Heero, "You're wasting your breath. The boy is my servant and only listens to me now."

A snap of her fingers was all it took for Arfoire to convey her orders to the red and black mobile suit. Heeding the orders of the former goddess, the Gundam sped towards the swordstress of Planeptune and went on the offensive.

Due to her reluctance to fight Heero, Purple Heart focused on defending herself rather than attacking. After the flurry of attacks from it's beam sword was blocked, the Gundam took aim at the CPU and fired a short burst from the head mounted vulcans.

Purple Heart deflected or cut down the bullets that came at her, and recovered in time to block the sword strike that followed. The CPU tried to put some distance between herself and the Gundam, but the moment she started to retreat, the suit's heat rod extended from it's shield a streaked through the air towards her.

Instead of ensnaring Purple Heart, the tip of the segmented whip pierced into her right arm before she could deflect it. The goddess winced at the injury she had just incurred before grabbing the heat rod and pulling it out of her arm.

Planeptune's goddess placed her free hand over the wound as blood began to fall down her arm. Although it didn't go all the way through, the heat rod had pierced just far enough that a sharp pain would shoot through Purple Heart's arm when she tried to strengthen her grip on her sword.

There weren't many options that Planeptune's goddess could see out of the situation she was in. The injury to her sword arm was going to make defending herself difficult, and with Arfoire being in control of him, Heero wasn't going to hold back.

As the CPU weighed her options, the Gundam retracted the heat rod, only to redeploy the weapon again. Purple Heart tried to get away, but metal whip approached her even faster than it did before. The goddess soon found her arms pinned to her sides as the heat rod wrapped around her torso, keeping her from moving.

Purple Heart would have been able to break free of the segmented whip, but the pain coursing through her right arm kept her from using all of her strength and made escape impossible.

A sense of weightlessness overcame the CPU as she was suddenly pulled towards the Gundam along with the heat rod. Right before the heat rod finished retracting into it's shield, the red and black mobile suit reared it's right arm back and through a punch that connected with Purple Heart's stomach the moment she had been drawn close enough.

Pain spread throughout the goddess's abdomen and something began to rise from inside her. After a few seconds, Purple Heart vomited blood onto the Gundam's breastplate, staining the green jewel located at it's center.

Shortly after emptying her mouth of the red fluid, Planeptune's goddess reverted to her human form of Neptune, at which point her hands slowly made their way to her stomach as she fell to her knees, and then onto her side.

As Neptune coughed and struggled to regain her senses, a low rumbling noise could be heard and rain began to fall as gray clouds gathered overhead. Arfoire had gone back to laughing like a maniac once the battle was reaching it's conclusion, elated over the sight before her, "Haaaah ha ha ha! I was taking a chance using that spell on the boy, but I didn't expect things to go so well!"

Compa and IF had left the others to check on Neptune and Heero, and were shocked at the sight of the party leader lying on the ground in front of the Gundam. As they feared for the worst, the red and black suit began to move once more.

Despite her blurred vision, Neptune could see the movement taking place in front of her. The Gundam began to reach for her, but unlike before, the motion seemed forced. Instead of making an aggressive move towards the purplenette, the Gundam held out it's hand to the CPU on the ground.

Neptune felt a glimmer of hope from the gesture, believing that Heero was slowly beginning to regain control of himself from Arfoire. Planeptune's CPU slowly lifted her arm and reached for the Gundam's outstretched hand.

Unfortunately, Arfoire had not been so caught up in her fit of laughter that she didn't see what was happening. The former goddess extended her hand in the direction of the red and black mobile suit as she prepared to dole out punishment to the Gundam pilot. "You're still resisting me? I suppose I should give you some credit, you're tougher than I thought. But now you will suffer the consequences for daring to defy me!"

Black electricity enveloped the Gundam, and although his voice was muffled, Neptune could hear Heero's cries of pain from inside the suit. The Gundam fell to it's knees as the Perfect Soldier received his punishment from Arfoire, and the party's leader began to force herself back to her feet.

Compa couldn't believe what was happening. Heero had made one simple attempt to help Neptune, and this was how he was to be treated? The nurse in training covered her mouth with her hands as tears streamed down her face, horrified by what was happening, "Please… make it stop..."

Even IF was beside herself over the cruelty exhibited by Arfoire, unable to comprehend how the pale woman was ranked among divinity, "How the hell is someone like her a goddess…?! She's completely messed up!"

Through no small amount of effort, Neptune was finally back up, though she was still disoriented from her injuries. The goddess's breathing was labored and it was hard to ignore the pain in her right arm. Picking her sword back up, the CPU of Planeptune staggered past the Gundam had headed toward Arfoire.

The only thing that was keeping Neptune going was the thought of releasing Heero from his torment by putting down the one causing it, "If I can just… reach her… If I… beat her..."

Arfoire had ceased torturing the Perfect Soldier once she was certain that she had regained control of him. The Gundam that had been kneeling returned to it's feet and took the air, flying just past Neptune and landing in front of her with it's beam sword active.

Neptune stopped moving and look up at the red and black machine that had raised it's sword overhead to strike her down. Before the Gundam could follow through, Arfoire stopped it with a verbal command, "Wait."

Acknowledging the order it had been given, the red and black mobile suit halted it's attack. After a moment of deliberation, the former goddess had decided on how to proceed. "You know, it's strange. I thought that if this plan of mine worked, I would waste no time in killing you and the other CPUs." Arfoire's lips curved in a cruel smile as she looked over the beaten and weary party, "But after seeing all of you struggle, I realize that it wouldn't do to get rid of a source amusement just yet. So I'll let you live for now."

The former goddess ascended into the air while issuing another command to her new servant. "Teach them what happens to those that would dare oppose Arfoire!"

A brief glow of it's eyes was the only indication that the Gundam had acknowledged the fallen goddess's order. The thrusters on the mobile suit's back roared to life, and the red and black machine rose into the air.

The rest of the party looked toward the Gundam ascending above them, and both Noire and Blanc had regained consciouness in time to see what was happening. Raising it's beam sword overhead once more, the Gundam increased the size of it's primary weapon once, twice, and by the third time the thermal blade seemed to reach into the heavens, being as tall as a skyscraper.

In one swift motion, the red and black suit swung the beam sword horizontally at the ground in front of the girls. Large chunks of rock were thrown about, and the force of the ensuing attack tossed the party back and into the air.

When the attack was over, all of the girls were either lying face down or on their backs. Satisfied with the end result, Arfoire turned to leave the now defeated party, "Come, my servant. We have much work to do."

It ached. Neptune's entire body ached. Never had she experienced such pain across her whole being, and the rain did little to soothe her. Despite the pain she was in, Neptune slowly got back up as Arfoire left the area. The party's leader wasn't really concerned with her anymore. All that was on her mind was Heero.

Looking up at the red and black suit, Neptune reached out to the Gundam with her right hand, having grown numb to the pain from her injury. Neptune's voice began to break from both exhaustion and her emotional turmoil as she pleaded to the Perfect Soldier, "Heero… don't go..."

Even after Arfoire had issued the order for it to follow, the Gundam had remained in the same place it had been when it had delivered the attack that had left the party in shambles. The mobile suit looked over the group before focusing it's attention on Neptune.

The rain water that fell over the suit's head pooled up in it's eyes before cascading down it's body. It looked as if the Gundam was crying… Or perhaps the 'tears' falling from the Gundam were emblematic of how the boy contained within the suit really felt in that moment.

Taking one last look at the group of girls, the Gundam turned to follow after Arfoire. With the Gundam pilot under the fallen goddess's control, the suit had no allegiance to the party.

Neptune could only watch as Heero left her sight. Tears welled up in her eyes as the CPU watched the Gundam disappear from view, her right arm falling limply to her side as she collapsed to her knees. Neptune could feel her spirit breaking as she sobbed in the rain.

Xxx

Me: "Another chapter done, and it turned into our longest chapter yet coming in a little under 33,000 words by the time we finished. And It featured quite the twist at the end there, huh?"

Neptune: (Storms into ACCC) "That's not a twist! That's down right cruel! You took my Destined Lover away and gave him to that old crone!"

Compa and IF: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "Why would you do something like this? Now that mean lady in goth is going to do who knows what with Heero!"

IF: "Don't you think you're going a bit too far with this? How are we supposed to fight Arfoire without Heero?"

Me: "Sorry, but I didn't want the story to be predictable. I needed to do something unexpected that would really get our readers' attention."

Neptune: "Well, couldn't you have given her Noire, Blanc or Vert… or something?! You know, somebody unimportant that we DON'T need?!"

Noire: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "What do you mean I'm unimportant?! I'm just as, if not more important than you!"

Blanc: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "You know, the rest of us can hear the horseshit you're spewing out in here."

Vert: "While I do share in the sentiments regarding Heero, I find it more than a little insulting that you would refer to the rest of us as 'unimportant.'"

Me: "To answer your question, if I gave one of the others to Arfoire, it wouldn't have had as much of an impact. Let's face it, you wouldn't hesitate to beat up on one of them. Someone in the review section of the story was talking about having Heero get possessed, but let's be honest… that idea sounds stupid and really wouldn't work. But the idea of having the male lead switch sides unwillingly was a good idea. Also, I wanted to address an obvious problem that the game doesn't mention or take advantage of. That being the distrust between the CPUs. Now sure, it might be different here in this story because there's a boy in the party… but still."

Neptune: "You're making me a very sad goddess by taking my lover away! You're gonna scar me for life!"

Me: "You'll be fine. These arrangements should last for only one or two chapters, then Heero will be back. In the mean time, we'll be addressing that problem we've been talking about in the next chapter, so look forward to that." (Looks at watch) "And on that note, we should probably wrap this up. Nep, I'll leave it you."

Neptune: "But I don't wanna do it without Heero!"

Me: "Well, I sign your paycheck so… you don't have a choice. Come on, people. We got work to do for the next chapter."

Me, Compa, IF, Noire, Blanc, and Vert: (Exit ACCC through Left Entrance)

Neptune: (Turns to readers) "This chapter is being ended by a very sad goddess. Please read and review this chapter, and look forward to the next update. And tell the Author to give me back my lover! I'm so sad that I can't even eat pudding! Do you know how sad I have to be to NOT eat pudding?! You don't even know, that's how sad I am! Just tell him to give me back my Destined Lover!" (Exit ACCC through Left Entrance)