Quick note: This will be based on the remake rather than the original version of the game. I want you to know that in case you get confused over anything you didn't notice. Anyway, this fic will take place after the event where Nepgear's party meet Chika, who's actually Underling in disguise. Also, the script will be heavily borrowed from the game, but some bits will be changed and altered. For example, rather than meeting Uni in Leanbox, the group will meet Excel instead. Enjoy!

Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune, had currently been on a mission, traveling Gamindustri to find the mascots of the four nations, hoping to rescue her sister and the 3 other CPU's from ASIC, who had captured them 3 years ago. And with the help of her friends, Compa, IF, as well as 2 other girls she encountered in her travels earlier, Red and Broccoli, Nepgear and her party had arrived at Leanbox, currently investigating the odd actions of the Leanbox oracle, Chika Honozaki, attempting to find information from her regarding the whereabouts of the mascot.

"Getting info now would be like a dream come true." IF said. "How can we learn anything without a single lead?"

"I know, right?" Compa replied. "Asking people about Chika willy-nilly makes us look super fishy."

"Do we know anyone who can help us out?" Red asked.

"Help us, huh?" Nepgear responded. "That would be convenient, but I'm not even sure who the CPU Candidate of Leanbox is."

As the group pondered this, Excel, the male CPU Candidate of Leanbox, the only male CPU in all of Gamindustri, and Vert's younger brother walked past them, not noticing them, instead playing some random game on a mobile device. As he walked by them, he mumbled to himself, regarding Vert's disappearance.

"Man, I really miss Vert." He said. "Can't believe big sis has have been kidnapped by those ASIC guys for over 3 years now. Good thing I'm still around to look after this place, I guess, but dude... I'm falling apart on the inside over here."

This caught the attention of Nepgear, who overheard Excel referring to Vert as his big sis, and addressed the blonde boy.

"Um, excuse me, sir. But are you the CPU Candidate of Leanbox by any chance?"

Having heard Nepgear call out to him, Excel turned around and saw Nepgear, as well as the others, and his eyes widened in shock upon seeing her. Nepgear was a bit worried by his shocked expression.

"Huh? What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Nepgear asked worriedly.

Completely starstruck over meeting Nepgear, he stammered his words, because he had no idea what to say to her.

"Um... What-what are you doing . . .? Hey! Uh, I'm-Im-I'm Excel. CPU Candidate of uh, Leanbox." He said, shocked and excited to see Nepgear.

"Nepgear!" She replied happily. "I never knew there was a male CPU Candidate."

"Um, I'm like, the uh, first of those types of CPU's. But uh, what are . . .what are you-what are you-what are you doing here?" Excel stammered.

"We're here to find the mascot of Leanbox, and to investigate the actions of your Oracle, Chika." IF answered.

"Holy cow, you know Chika?" Excel asked excitedly, not really asking the others, but more or less asking just Nepgear.

"Yep. There's something fishy going on with her though." Compa answered.

"Oh, yeah! That reminds me, have you seen her recently? She's been acting weird for the past few days and I didn't see her earlier when I went to the basilicom earlier for a snack and to charge my phone." Excel answered, beginning to ramble. "I mean, it ain't like her to leave the basilicom. Vert, sure. She does it all the time when there's justice to be done or monsters to go fight. Me, also sure. Cause I mean, I'm out here talking to you right now. She doesn't let me go with her to fight monsters though, I just go out and buy myself some cool stuff. But not Chika. She's always in the basilicom 24/7. I'm just saying, something's up with her today."

This caught IF's attention, who now believed Chika was behaving even more suspicious than before.

"Even the candidate himself is talking about that Oracle." IF responded. "She went from sketchy to full-blown modern art."

"Yeah." Excel said in agreement. "Gotta say, I knew something was weird about Chika since she green-lit the policy allowing ASIC freedom to thrive here. I mean, I don't make the policies here usually, Vert does. But I'm not really good with that sorta stuff, so I said Chika could do it. Man, it's no wonder there's no faith left in us CPU's. Also, I think modern art is cool."

"That sounds serious..." Compa responded worriedly.

"Yeah, it really is. But hey, least I'm still around." Excel responded. He then turned his attention to Nepgear.

"Also, I gotta get this off my chest. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Nepgear, CPU Candidate of Planeptune, right?"

"Um, yes?" Nepgear answered, a bit confused.

"Can I just say, it's an absolute honor to meet you! You're like, my hero and everything! I look up to you! Oh, and your sister too!"

"Eh? Y-You're a fan of me?" Nepgear asked in response, blushing a bit over meeting someone who idolizes her, and the CPU Candidate of Leanbox no less.

"Yeah! By the way, I heard you knew Vert too? Is she still stuck at the Gamindustri Graveyard?" Excel asked with slightly worried tone.

"Yes. I'm trying my best to save her, and the other CPU's too." Nepgear answered.

"Awesome! That's why I love you so much, Nepgear! You're so cool and brave!"

"O-Oh... Um, thanks!" Nepgear responded, giggling slightly over the praise she was getting.

"She thanked me!" He squeed in response.

"So do you know where Chika is right now?" IF asked.

"No. Wait Nepgear, who are these girls again? I haven't been introduced properly, I don't think." Excel asked.

"Oh! This is IF, Compa, Broccoli and Red." Nepgear answered.

"What's up, nyu?" Broccoli greeted.

"I can't make him my wifey..." Red pouted.

"Hullo! Good to meet you guys!" Excel said, greeting the other girls. "So how do you all know Nepgear?"

"Iffy and I are best buds with her and Nep-Nep!" Compa said.

"And she's my wifey!" Red added.

"I just followed them, nyu." Broccoli said.

"Okay." Excel replied.

"So what were you doing out here before we found you, nyu?" Broccoli asked.

"Well, I was screwing around on my phone, playing some cool apps on there, and checking out my Chirper. I was also looking to find that Underling girl that's been snooping around the place to see if she had Chika holed up someplace. Why? Are you girls gonna help me out?" Excel asked, a bit excited, since that meant he'd have Nepgear teaming up with him.

"Of course! Anything to rescue our sisters!" Nepgear answered happily.

"Alright! This is awesome!" Excel cheered, excited over getting to team with Nepgear. "I know the way around this place, so if any of you get lost or anything, I'll lead the way. Sound good? Alright, let's do this!"

He went ahead to his next destination, and the others followed him.

"He seems really nice." Nepgear said.

"Yeah, but he seems a bit annoying." IF admitted. "Not in a bad way though. Like you said, he's still a pretty nice guy. He actually seems pretty endearing too, given his enthusiasm."

"How come he likes Ge-Ge so much though?" Compa asked curiously.

"I don't know. Hehe..." Nepgear giggled in embarrassment over meeting someone who's a massive fanatic over her.

After a while of walking, Nepgear's party with Excel in tow, took a short break.

"We just need one more solid piece of information to make our case..." IF said.

"S-Still, we can't say for certain that Miss Chika is in the wrong, can we?" Nepgear asked.

"I don't know, Boss. It just feels weird, you know?" Excel responded.

"D-Did you just call me Boss?" Nepgear asked in a confused tone.

"Yeah! You're the one in charge, right? Not here, I mean. I mean, I'm technically in charge, but in Planeptune, and your crusade to save our sisters overall, I mean. You get what I mean, right?"

"Um... Can you please just call me Nepgear instead?" Nepgear asked politely.

"Oh, uh, sure thing, Nepgear!" Excel complied.

"But Miss Chika isn't even around to see how bad things are..." Compa said sadly.

"I'm around!" Excel replied, raising his hand.

"But what have you really done in Vert's absence?" IF asked. "Apart from Gear, most of the other CPU Candidates have been fighting among themselves to get shares."

"Oh, I don't really care about the whole share war they got going on." Excel admitted. "Besides, I don't have any real reason to go after the other Candidates just to take shares from their nations. They're all my heroes anyway and I respect them all."

"You're a fan of the other 3 Candidates too?" IF asked, surprised how much of a fanboy Excel was not just to Nepgear, but presumably all the CPU's.

"Yeah, dude!" Excel answered. "They're all awesome! Nepgear's awesome too! I pretty much idolize all the CPU's. Kind of ironic considering I'm a CPU, myself, am I right? Also, I think Nepgear's one of the coolest people I've ever met!"

"Hehe... Thanks for the praise, but it's not really that necessary." Nepgear said.

"Sorry, I'm just excited." Excel replied over hanging out with you. "But to answer your question, ever since Vert went missing, I usually do what I usually did when she was around. I play a lot of video games, fool around of Chirper, watch some movies on our TV, go to 5pb concerts, and not much else. Hey, any of you girls play shooters?"

"No." All the girls replied.

"Okay." He answered back.

"You're a gamer. Just like Vert..." Nepgear said, noticing Excel's passion for gaming is shared with his sister.

"Hi, everyone! Listen to my song!" A mysterious voice said, followed by the sound of a crowd cheering. Excel's face lit up in excitement, but the others were all confused.

"Huh? Where'd that come from?" IF asked.

"Holy crap! That was 5pb! She must be doing another street concert! Like, right now, dude!" Excel answered in an excited tone.

"Whoa, a street concert! We're gonna watch, okay!?" Red responded, also in an excited tone as she and Excel high fived in excitement.

"But there's no time for-" IF said, before being cut off by Excel.

"Hold up! It's IF, right?" He asked.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"Okay, IF, here's the thing. There's always time for a 5pb concert. There's never no time for such a thing." Excel enthusiastically responded. The others all went to the concert, except for IF and Compa.

"Ugh, well, not like we have any more leads at the moment." IF said, as she followed the others.

"Knowing when to rest is very important for your health." Compa responded. She followed the others and was flanked by IF.

Eventually, the group made it to the concert, where 5pb was currently making a speech.

"Thank you all for coming today! You've given me the energy I need to sing my heart out!" 5pb said to the audience. "This next song is my personal favorite, so I hope you'll enjoy it!"

5pb then sung her next song. As she sang, Nepgear and her party commented on the performance.

"It's a very catchy song." Nepgear said.

"Yep. Everyone is staying quiet and listening to her voice." Compa said in response.

"I know, right? There's a reason why everyone loves 5pb." Excel said in agreement.

"Hard to believe this is the same Leanbox that's being overrun by ASIC." IF commented.

"Well, whenever 5pb does one of these concerts, it makes us all feel relaxed. We're away from it all. These concerts are real and authentic. And also, it's a cool place to listen to some outlandish music too." Excel explained.

Elsewhere, Underling was in the same area Nepgear's party was before going to the concert.

"Dammit!" She said annoyed. "My shoulders are still really sore... Idiots, making me do all the heavy lifting... And what's all this racket!? Futzing around and playing that garbage noise at a time like this..."

She soon changed her tone and thought of an idea.

"Hmph. Maybe I'll use this concert to let off some steam. This hellhole has brought nothing but misery." She declared.

Back at the concert, Nepgear's party was still commentating on 5pb's performance.

"Oooh, this song's cool too!" Red said. "Could this be...love? Yep, she's gonna be my wifey."

Suddenly, IF was distracted by something.

"Huh? Hey, I just saw something." She said.

"What's up, Iffy?" Compa asked.

"Ugh. Just when I was about to relax. I can't unsee it, so I guess I have to address it..."

IF suddenly walked off somewhere, confusing Nepgear.

"Oh, where are you going? The concert isn't over yet..." Nepgear asked.

"Let's keep our energy up!" 5pb announced. "Time for the next song!" Excel responded to this by cheering like an annoying fanboy.

Suddenly, Underling appeared at the concert, with evil intentions.

"Hehehe... I'll silence this dumb broad's voice for sure." Underling declared. "I can't wait to see those bimbos' faces..."

But thankfully, IF overheard what she said and confronted her.

"Gee, so sorry for being a bimbo." She responded sarcastically.

"What? Oh, are you serious!?" Underling responded angrily. "What are you idiots doing here?"

The others soon joined IF in confronting her, including Excel.

"How dare you try and trample my wifey candidate's concert!" Red said angrily. "No escape for you today!"

"And you owe me an Oracle too, you jerkwad! You suck!" Excel said also in an angry manner, but not really aggressively.

"Not my day, is it?" Underling responded annoyed. "I don't have time for this crap. See ya, twerps!"

She ran away again, angering Red.

"Hey! I said no escaping!"

As she tried to escape, Underling had difficulty doing so as she was stuck in the middle of the crowd.

"Move it, dumbasses! Out of my way!" She said rudely as she tried to push through the crowd.

"Whoa, what's your deal?" One audience member said.

"Don't push so hard! Owwy!" Another member said.

While this was happening, Nepgear and her party also tried to move through the crowd.

"I'm so sorry. Please let us by. Um, please let us through..." Nepgear said politely but nervously.

"So many fleshy bodies squeezing up against mine..." Compa said. "It's like a giant wall of human pudding..."

"You'll get used to it eventually." Excel said. "That's the thing about packed concerts. It's like a rave or a mosh pit."

Suddenly, Cave arrived to try and solve the situation.

"Is something amiss over here?" She said. "Has someone else come to try and sabotage the performance?"

Hearing Cave's voice, Excel looked over at her and greeted her.

"Hey, man! What's up, Cave?" He said, waving at her.

"Cave?" Nepgear said in a surprised tone. "Why are you here?"

Hearing Excel and Nepgear's voices caught her attention, as she spoke to the group.

"Oh, it's you, Excel. And you girls too. Were you all trying to disrupt the concert?" She said suspiciously.

"Whoa, no way! Why would I wanna disrupt a concert?" Excel said defensively. "I mean, this is my nation. Well, technically, it's Vert's, but until she's saved from the Gamindustri Graveyard, I'm like, the acting CPU in a way... Sorta."

IF pointed out the real culprit, Underling.

"That's the one causing trouble!" She said angrily. "We're just trying to catch her!"

"I see." Cave responded. "Leave the chasing to me. Calm down and stop making a scene."

Cave proceeded to give chase to Underling to stop her schemes.

"Whoa, look at that." Red commented. "She's quick on her footsies."

"She should be knocking into others." Broccoli said. "Her model must have a really thin box for hit detection, nyu." She added, breaking the fourth wall in the process.

"She seems used to dodging stuff." IF said. "May as well leave it to her, just as she suggested."

"I agree!" Excel said. "Besides, Cave's really cool. She knows me too, dude. She looks like a badass, but she's actually really nice, and bought me a churro once..."

"You seem to like talking a lot, Excel." Nepgear said in response.

"Oh yeah, I am pretty mouthy, ain't I? I love to talk about anything. I'd also love to talk to you about all sorts of stuff, Nepgear. We're pals, right?" Excel said excitedly, fanboying over Nepgear yet again.

"Um... I don't know you that much, but so far, you're the only CPU Candidate I've met who hasn't been hostile towards me, so I guess we can be friends." Nepgear replied politely.

"Yes! Beautiful! This is so beautiful!" Excel responded happily, even hugging Nepgear. She blushed at this, not expecting a hug from the boy.

After the song ended, 5pb addressed the audience yet again.

"Thank you so much, everyone!" She said happily. "I love you all!"

"I love you too!" Excel yelled from the audience, cheering wildly, as did the rest of the audience.

"Aww, the concert's over." Red pouted. "Thanks to Underling, I missed a good number of her songs..."

"Aw, crap!" Excel pouted. "This is why we can't have nice things."

"Oh. Were you able to apprehend the evildoer, Cave?" Nepgear asked.

"My apologies. She outmaneuvered me." Cave answered in a defeated tone.

"Aw, doubly crap!" Excel said.

"Wow. Well it is what it is." IF said. "She's really showing off her unrivaled skills of running away."

"Why, yes! Miss Underling has been getting in our way quite often." Compa said.

"Lowee was nearly destroyed because of Underling, nyu." Broccoli added.

"Underling... Is that her official, legal name?" Cave asked.

"I dunno!" Excel answered.

"Yeah, it is." Red also answered.

"Yes, definitely." Nepgear said.

"Oh... Okay, it is her legal name then." Excel said.

"I see. So this Underling character came from Leanbox to Lowee..." Cave said.

"She has? Oh man, has she targeted all of us CPU Candidates?" Excel asked.

"Yes, she has." Nepgear said in response.

"Oh man, I hope they all kicked her butt then." Excel replied. "That reminds me. I haven't actually met the other Candidates yet. I should introduce myself sometime." Excel added, rambling again.

"Again, I am Cave, member of the Regal Regiment of Defense for the Leanbox Special Missions Team." Cave announced.

"I know who you are." Excel said in confusion.

"Yes, but they do not. Not that well, at least." Cave responded.

"Member of the RRoD, huh...?" Nepgear asked.

"Whoa, doesn't that sound cool?" Red said. "It sounds like some kind of special task force!"

"It is! It's really cool too!" Excel replied.

"If only." Cave replied. "As shorthanded as we are, all we can do is slow the corruption and decay of Leanbox."

"She's also a friend of me and Vert." Excel added.

"Yes." Cave said. "Anyway, I reintroduced myself because I wanted to ask a fromal request. Could you lend us your aid?"

"Like, first aid?" Compa asked.

"In a sense." Cave replied. "I was hoping to use both your experience and, pardon my phrasing, the figurehead of a CPU. Our team is at a limit for what we can accomplish alone. Matters are growing more dire. We must locate the source of our woes. Although the method to do so eludes us."

"Understood. We'll help!" Nepgear said happily.

"Yes! See, this is why you're so awesome!" Excel said in response.

"Before we just say yes to every single person's request, let's see what they need us to do, okay?" IF said in an annoyed tone.

"But the people of Leanbox really need our help... We can't leave them alone..." Nepgear said sadly.

"You remind me of a certain stubborn girl I know." IF said, smiling, referring to Neptune. "I guess we need to gather shares too, so...all right."

"Speaking of which, I should try and get more shares for Leanbox." Excel said. "But not in a violent way, like go after the other nations. Maybe I could do something else to get shares."

"My thanks." Cave said thankfully. "I will accompany you for the time being. Once we have a plan, I will seek your aid again.

"Got it." Nepgear responded happily.

After this, the group left the concert, and returned to the streets of Leanbox, now accompanied by Excel and Cave.

I'm gonna end this part here for now. Let me know what you think. I hope to continue this to at least the part where the Candidates save their sisters. Also, this fanfic was not only based on ideas I had for Vert's little brother, but also another similar fanfic created by snakebit1995, who also named his OC Excel. Other than that, my version of him is much different from his version.