Planeptune

The main Planeptune railway line was active 24/7. There was no last train for progress. Or at least that was the company motto. All offshoot trains were exempt from that high claim.

Still, the train was rolling and inside it were some familiar faces. They were currently boarding a freight car. Inside were Neptune, Noire, Vert, IF and Compa as well as the now tied up and helpless Steamax. 5pb. and Cave had stayed behind, to prepare for their next concert. Cave insisted that she was more concerned for 5pb.'s safety than Vert's (which made Leanbox' goddess sigh). Vert told them that she never intended to break them apart and that Cave should be a little more direct about her 'feelings'. That was Vert's revenge in a way.

Now inside the freight car things were taking a turn for the bizarre.

Black Heart: "Listen creep, we can do this the hard way…"

Purple Heart: "… or the soft way."

Both CPUs had already transformed and were cornering the tied up Steamax. Their attitudes however were vastly different. Black Heart seemed to be brooding with anger and had her oversized sword at the ready. Purple Heart on the other hand was not even drawing her blade. Instead she used a different kind of weapon. She was leaning forward almost dangerously low, giving the robot ninja quite the view down Squishy Lane.

Steamax: "…!"

He was still keeping his mouth shut.

Black Heart: "I am not going to ask again. Every time you stay quiet I'll cut off one of your limbs!"

Purple Heart: "Poor boy. I could always try to ease the pain away with a kiss on the stumps?"

Steamax' circuits started to overheat.

Vert: "They got the good cop, bad cop routine down rather well. Did they practice this?"

IF: "However you look at it, Nep is definitely the bad cop here."

Vert: "Now I almost regret not bringing Cave along. She is very… convincing during interrogations."

K-sha: "…"

Black Heart raised her sword threateningly.

Black Heart: "What was your plan and who else is involved?"

Steamax gulped (does a robot even have saliva to swallow?) and lowered his head. It seemed like he was wrestling with himself internally. Then he sat down on his knees and lowered his head to the dirty floor.

Steamax: "It was all my p-plan! I, Steamax, am the mastermind behind everything! Punish me according to your will!"

Purple Heart: "You are cute when you are lying."

Steamax: "...eh?"

Black Heart: "Vert has already gathered proof that your golden friend and K-sha were involved. There is no point in taking the fall for them."

Steamax: "Oh."

That took the wind out of his self-sacrificial attitude.

Black Heart: "Any more lies like that and I will test the durability of your exoskeleton."

Steamax: "B-but I don't have…"

Black Heart: "Exactly."

The fact that she was smiling while saying these ominous words gave the ninja plenty of reason to reconsider.

Steamax: "It's true… we were hired by Lady K-sha."

A few days ago inside Affimojas second battleship, which was now acting as their base of operations. The first one, that was unfortunately destroyed recently, had just been paid off. This second one was added for free. A real bargain! Sadly the repairs after the Zero Dimension incident cost them quite a big sum again.

They were currently in his 'office'.

Affimojas: "Steamax take a look at this new 'material' I purchased. Isn't it grandios?"

Steamax: "I-it's amazing!"

Affimojas: "They even have black haired petite girls. Don't believe I am not thinking of your preferences too."

Steamax: "…I-I'm sorry for being such a bother."

Affimojas: "Don't say that, old friend. Preferences change. Lady Uni is definitely-"

Crash!

The door burst open. Someone had just entered their airship without even ringing the bell. Quite rude. But there was one person that was walking in and out of here on a regular basis, so Affimojas masterfully put the 'material' into his drawer and turned towards K-sha. He wasn't surprised to see her at all.

Affimojas: "Lady K-sha. Do you have new information for the @GeneralSummarySite again?"

K-sha: "I need your services!"

She exclaimed and seemed to be in quite a daze. That was not unusual for her either.

Affimojas: "Services?"

K-sha: "You need to help me with a plan."

Affimojas: "What could that be?"

K-sha: "I want to boost Lastation's Shares."

She gave them a calculating look not at all befitting a high school girl.

Steamax: "W-w-why?!"

K-sha: "For my Noire of course!"

She fawned over her crush in front of them as always. Affimojas just waited it out.

K-sha: "Every nation's Shares are currently at an impasse right after the Shift period."

Clearly she had studied up on everything surrounding the CPUs.

K-sha: "So if we give Lastation a head start it will lead the console market for the entire generation! They won't be able to catch up until the end."

It was far from Affimojas or Steamax to ask for reasons when it concerned K-sha, but it still seemed rather random. She had never shown much interest in political topics.

Affimojas: "Not to sound presumptuous, but you wouldn't gain anything from such an action, correct?"

K-sha: "If Noire is leading the Share race undisputedly she can finally relax a little and focus her attention… o-on other things."

Affimojas: "For example?"

K-sha: "D-don't make me say it, ehehehe~"

Steamax imagination on that response was too wild to replicate. But whatever he was thinking was probably still tame compared to what K-sha had in mind.

Affimojas: "As intrigued as I am… We have vowed not to cause trouble for the CPUs again. Interfering in their business is bad for our business."

K-sha: "…you don't want to help Noire?"

Her eyes turned cold.

Steamax: "U-uhm… err…"

K-sha: "I have planted explosives all over your ship last time we were in here."

She pulled a detonator from her skirt pocket and her turquoise eyes pierced their hearts. She was totally serious.

K-sha: "I will blow it up if you don't help."

Affimojas: "We just paid off the last one! Fine, we accept your request!"

Neptune: "K-shakedown is a smooth operator."

The purple haired girl had transformed back to her human form. Noire had done the same and both of them looked at Steamax with pity.

Steamax: "And afterwards the General got a request from another client. I d-don't know the details, but they provided the camera drones for us. I had to smuggle them in from the Ultra Dimension portal."

It didn't sound like an easy job. Security around that portal was lax sometimes, but it was specifically off-limits for anyone but CPUs.

Noire: "What did that client want?"

Steamax: "P-please! I only know that they wanted us to film the contest. I already messed up and let so many of the cameras get destroyed… The General will have to pay them so much money…"

Neptune: "Sorry, that's my bad. So all you had to do was bring those cameras 'round? Why were you chilling below the Quiz floor with a mic then?"

Surprisingly Neptune brought up a good point.

Steamax: "I… was supposed to be the moderator…"

He admitted. His head sunk down in shame.

On the day of the Quiz Steamax had been tasked to be the moderator. He knew that the General had given him that job so he could get over his shyness in the limelight and to socialize with the girls.

He knew they were good intentions…

But he was too shy!

So he hid below the floor and announced the show from there. He was found out immediately though and the girls had misinterpreted his purpose. After a brutal kick from Noire he was sent flying all the way into a tree at the edge of the park.

He sank down with stars flying around his head. To his shock Lady Uni and the others had been standing close-by! And she walked over to see him in this shameful position!

Uni: "…Steamax?"

Steamax: "…!"

He stiffened up and rose from the ground. On his way up he hit his head against a tree branch…

Uni: "What are you doing here?"

She asked with a sigh.

Steamax: "L-lady Uni… it's not what you think!"

Uni: "I didn't say anything yet. If you aren't guilty, stop squirming."

Her red eyes were squinted.

Steamax: "Y-yes. I… was trying to host this Quiz."

He let it slip out. If he had a tongue he would have bitten it right now.

Uni: "Let me guess, you were too scared to show yourself?"

Steamax nodded.

Uni: "Every single time."

She put a hand on her forehead.

Uni: "You need more self-confidence. I mean, you break into a girl's room without permission, so why can't you go on stage?"

That was a rather obvious stab at his transgressions. But that side of Lady Uni was enticing too!

Uni: "If you want to be accepted by everyone you need to stop squirming in the shadows and come out where people can see you."

Her hand went through her twintails and she turned away with a silent 'Hmph'.

Somehow Steamax felt encouraged deep in his core.

Steamax: "After the Quiz had ended I was asked to check up on Lady Neptune who had fainted."

Neptune: "I didn't faint!"

IF: "Her brain just short-circuited."

Neptune: "Iffy!"

Steamax: "I am glad t-to see you in good health then. Short-circuiting is very dangerous."

Neptune: "I ain't no robo-gal! Nep Jr. is the main office for weird robot clones."

She was probably thinking of Nepgya.

Steamax: "I failed my mission to ascertain Lady Neptune's condition due to an unforeseen wrench in my plans."

Noire: "What interfered?"

Steamax: "A wrench."

Compa: "Eh?"

Steamax: "While climbing Planeptune Tower I was hit by a wrench that came flying down. It knocked me out for hours, so I failed to gather information."

Neptune: "Wowsers, Nep Jr.'s accuracy stat is so high she can even hit when she doesn't aim."

Now the painful sound from back then made sense.

Noire: "Tell us what you did during the Hunting Festival. Let me guess, you unleashed those killer robots on us?"

Neptune and IF suddenly seemed very interested in the dirty walls of the freight car. Truly riveting. Much more than facing the clueless Noire.

Steamax: "N-no, I did not, I swear. I was only asked to keep a lookout for the cameras and be on stand-by. When I woke up from the wrench accident it was already the next day, so I was late."

Steamax' arms were bound, but he would certainly have flailed them around in fear.

Noire: "Is that all?"

Steamax: "I assisted with destroying the attackers in the background... N-not that I could do as much as Lady Neptune or you Lady Noire."

He added hastily.

Steamax: "I also retrieved the prototype weapon that Lady K-sha had lost during the fight."

K-sha: "Oh! Thank you. I felt so bad for Uni after I lost it."

Steamax: "N-not at all! I delivered it straight to Lady Uni afterwards."

Noire: "Why are you so focused on my sister?"

Oh boy. Now Noire was suspicious of him. Her red eyed glare penetrated his head. Her mouth was turned downwards. That didn't look like approval!

Neptune: "Lil' Uni draws in aaaall the robot boys."

Neptune snickered evilly.

Steamax: "I-I—I don't kn-know w-what you- meam… err… mean…."

He was flustered. As would be anyone who stood at the edge of the abyss that was Noire's protective sisterly instincts. It was quite unusual to see her like this.

Vert: "Sorry to interrupt, but you clearly interfered during the dates. I have witnessed your theft of the guitar myself. What was your agenda there?"

Steamax: "It's…"

He looked at K-sha for help. She nodded.

Steamax: "It was part of my job."

In front of the amusement park 'Purple World' K-sha had waited for her date to arrive. She was leaning against a tree.

K-sha: "How did Miss Neptune's date go?"

She asked to seemingly no one in particular. But in fact Steamax was sitting atop the tree.

Steamax: "Lady Neptune pulled Lady Noire all around town. And made her pay for all of it."

Information gathering was his strong suit. Too bad that he had been trained to dig up dirt by the General for the sake of dramatizing things on the @GeneralSummarySite.

K-sha: "Does Noire like being dragged around? M-maybe I should be more aggressive? She couldn't be an M… N-not that I would mind either way."

She was contemplating things that were far above Steamax's experience level.

Before they could continue the conversation Noire appeared at the other end of the road. She was wearing a very fancy outfit and seemed to notice K-sha almost immediately. Steamax pulled back into the cover of the leaves.

K-sha: "I will call for you if I need help."

She whispered upwards, before cheerfully engaging Noire.

Noire: "It's true; I did feel like K-sha was talking to someone back then."

Neptune: "Wait a minute, so that silver streak that was interfering with my sabotage of the Love Tunnel-"

She stopped mid-sentence and glanced at clueless Noire.

Neptune: "I mean when I was taking care of the camera drones…!"

Steamax nodded. He wasn't a mechanic or anything, so it was really hard for him to fix the machinery that Neptune broke in an instant. It had taken all his skill.

Neptune: "That explains why it retreated when I transformed. You really are a shy boy~"

She gave him a knowing smile. The ninja hit his head against the wall in response.

Noire: "Stop teasing him Neptune. So do you have anything else to tell us, robo-flop?"

Steamax: "Nothing."

He guaranteed with a dented in head.

With a low rumble the train came to a halt. They had reached their final stop.

The ocean.

Steamax realized what was about to happen.

The CPUs transformed and grabbed the non-CPUs by the arms to fly them over the water. All seven of them were headed straight for a giant airship hovering above the surface in the distance!

Without much delicacy they broke in straight through the bridge window. The glass shattered and spread all over the floor. Sitting on his captain chair was the golden robot knight, Affimojas. He looked up from his book and witnessed the intrusion.

Affimojas: "You have returned Steamax… and you brought company."

Steamax: "Forgive me General…!"

He was still tied up and unable to do anything.

Affimojas: "So what can I do for you Ladies?"

He was getting straight to the point, so Noire did the same.

Noire: "Tell us how you manipulated the Shares and who that other client of yours is!"

Affimojas sighed and rose from his chair. Then he faced the much smaller goddesses.

Affimojas: "I cannot divulge private information about my clients. It's bad for business."

K-sha: "Have you already forgotten? I have this detonator."

She pulled it out of her inner pocket and showed it to him.

Affimojas: "You think I haven't gotten rid of those explosives already?"

He questioned her with a sarcastic voice. K-sha gritted her teeth in response.

BOOM!

From their left a console caught on fire and shattered to pieces. It had been completely demolished after a swing of Noire's sword.

Noire: "We don't need explosives."

Affimojas: "That was the flight control console, wasn't it?"

Steamax: "Definitely the flight control console."

They reacted with deadpan voices. They were proven correct immediately as the ship crashed down into the ocean with a big splash. The impact shook the entire bridge and swept everyone off their feet.

Somehow IF got buried below Compa and Vert, face to chests. A horrible fate for any breathing human being. She was in danger of suffocating almost instantly.

On the other end Noire had managed to hold on to a pipe in the wall. Additionally Neptune was holding on to her twintails! She pulled as if her life depended on it.

Noire: "Ouch! Ack… let go, it hurts! My hair isn't a safety rope!"

Neptune: "It's your fault for growing 'em so long and grabable!"

She quipped back. Not that she wanted to hurt Noire, so she searched for something else to hold on to. Her eyes locked on to a new target.

Neptune: "It's fine! I got a new port to anchor to."

Noire: "W-wait Neptune, you can't pull that ribbon-"

Too late. The ribbon got pulled and was undone from Neptune's weight. It loosened up Noire's entire dress, so it slipped down. When the ship finally calmed down, Neptune was buried in Noire's clothes and still holding on to the loose red ribbon. During the fall she had hit her head uncomfortably several times.

Affimojas had managed to get up first and tried to reclaim his bridge, but K-sha instantaneously appeared behind him. She slipped something small and grey below his giant cape.

K-sha: "That's C4. You know what happens if I press this button?"

Affimojas: "Steamax…!"

He called out for his trusty ninja. In life or death situations he was always reliable. A mere rope wouldn't keep him confined if he wanted to escape.

But he never came.

Affimojas looked over at the others and saw Steamax knocked out on the floor. He had overheated after seeing Noire in her underwear.

Affimojas: "...alright, I will tell you everything, could you please stop vandalizing my ship?"

Compa: "Iffy passed out! We need a medic!"

Vert: "Compa, you are a nurse."

Compa: "That's right!"

She had remembered only after being reminded.

IF: "The pillars of the universe may crumble…. Seeking eternal salvation…. Planetary Collision…. Mountains of flesh drown the world in wails…."

Vert: "She is speaking incomprehensible sentences in her sleep. She seems to have hit her head rather badly."

Compa: "This is actually normal for Iffy."

Back with the cornered Affimojas the questioning began.

Noire: "Let's start from the top. Why did you film me… us? The first broadcast was just a cover-up, right? To hide what those drones are really about?"

She had retrieved her clothes from Neptune's face and gifted her fellow CPU with a huge bump on the head. Neptune was rubbing the hurting bulge that parted her short purple hair.

Affimojas: "…no comment."

Noire: "On the very first question already!?"

K-sha: "Blowing you up would be a swift death, so how about we destroy your ship piece by piece in front of your eyes instead?"

Vert: "Would you kindly stop destroying the ship that we are currently on?"

Affimojas: "That would be regrettable."

He conceded.

Neptune: "Gals, I found something!"

The small CPU hit a switch and a big monitor went to life. Several files were displayed on screen, reading 'BFF Contest, Challenge #1-5'. Welp, that was rather self-explanatory.

Noire: "Stop stalling Neptune, open the files already."

Neptune: "'kay!"

Affimojas was visibly flustered, but didn't stop them. When Neptune opened the file it turned out to be in video format. As soon as it started up they could see recordings of various contest stages, some from angles that seemed actually impossible. There was even stuff from their private dates!

Then they could hear Affimojas voice. Not his real one, but a digital version.

Affimojas: "Ladies and gentlemen! The contest of the century has now begun! Lady Purple Heart vs. Lady K-sha! A battle over who can win Lady Black Heart's eternal affection. Who will win? The bets are on. Please wager a minimum sum of 1000 credits and leave your vote for each individual event. Of course we guarantee absolute anonymity. Bet today!"

Noire: "…what?"

She was flabbergasted.

Neptune: "You turned our contest into a gambling operation?"

Noire: "How greedy can you get?!"

Affimojas: "The earnings would all go to the victors. We made no money from the bets."

Vert: "Then what did you gain from this?"

Affimojas: "Ad revenue."

Noire & Vert: "…"

Neptune: "Wait a sec, that's what Broccoli said too. I guess it was there all along."

Compa: "And this really boosted Lastation's Shares?"

Affimojas: "Yes. It was a contest centered on becoming the closest one to Lady Black Heart. In a sense she is the focus of everything. There are also the direct efforts Lady K-sha made, like attributing all the quests for the Hunting Festival to Lastation in secret."

It all made sense somehow.

Neptune: "By the way, just out of curiosity, how many people voted for me?"

Noire: "Really Neptune? Really?"

Neptune: "Hey, a girl's allowed to be curious! I wanna know what the guys on the other side of the screen think. Who's it gonna be?"

IF: "I can't believe that anyone would be rooting for either of you in such a silly contest."

Oh, IF was back on her feet. She looked less traumatized than her Ultra Dimension counterpart after Sady was done with her at least.

Compa: "There is the Nep-Nep fanclub though."

IF: "Why do you even know about that Compa?"

Noire: "I'll erase all the files now."

Noire said and proceeded to do it.

Neptune: "The internet is unbeatable. If it's out there, it can't be erased."

Noire: "Stop being a smartass and be a little worried! I don't know how many people participated, but it would be bad if it was released to the entire world…"

Neptune: "…not really."

Noire: "Huh?"

Neptune: "Why would it be bad? I don't have anything to hide!"

Noire: "Neptune…?"

Neptune: "I already made up my mind about it. And anyone who cares to listen can get an earful as well. It's fine."

She smiled confidently. After she had declared her intentions to that crowd at the concert, there was no doubt left in her. For Neptune, it was already settled with the whole world.

K-sha: "I… I agree! My feelings for Noire are nothing to be ashamed about."

K-sha nodded.

Affimojas: "Clearly. She has been handing us out info about their dates for months after all."

He commented quietly behind them.

IF: "Can't really invade privacy if it's handed to you on a silver platter…"

Noire didn't know how to respond to that.

Vert: "With that out of the way, I do wonder about two more things."

The blonde CPU intervened gracefully.

Vert: "First of all, who might be your other client?"

Affimojas: "I cannot divulge such infor- Please not the stereo system!"

He vowed to speak after seeing his bridge getting demolished some more.

Affimojas: "It was an anonymous girl from the Ultra Dimension. A young innocent maiden as she says."

Noire: "WHAT?!"

Affimojas: "She asked us to use her drones to film the contest."

IF: "But why? What's her reasoning?"

Affimojas: "I do not know. Prying too deeply into busty blondes' affairs would not be gentlemanly."

Noire: "How do you know she is blonde then?!"

Affimojas: "It's obvious."

Noire & IF: "HOW?"

They retorted in sync. Affimojas seemed to delude himself quite well without any input from that client.

Vert: "More importantly, what did you gain from helping… 'her'?"

Leanbox' goddess kept things on track.

Vert: "Don't tell me you did it because of your charitable spirit."

Affimojas: "She provided the camera drones for us. It would have been hard to organize the betting scene without footage."

IF: "Is that it? You are telling me you relied on Ultra Dimension tech, because you couldn't get cheap drones in our own dimension?"

Obviously nobody believed that.

Affimojas: "Hahaha."

He began to laugh.

Affimojas: "It seems I am beaten. Allow me to reveal to you the full extent of our plans then!"

Steamax: "General?!"

Affimojas: "Don't stop me Steamax. It is time to reveal our most cherished dream."

Noire and Neptune gulped. IF raised a brow. Vert crossed her arms in anticipation. Compa tilted her head. K-sha played with the detonator in her hand.

Affimojas: "Our female client has promised us to analyze and use all the footage we obtain for our research!"

He raised his arms in face of the splendor of his ideals.

Affimojas: "With all this video material and concept art we will finally be able to create the perfect figurines! Ones that are anatomically correct and have the softness and flexibility of a real woman! Models based on the CPUs are first and then we can advance to normal busty blondes and all other preferences! They will sell like beverages on a hot summer day and give us the monopoly over the entire market! And with the money raked in from that I will be able to independently publish my autobiography!"

Stunned silence.

Nobody said a word in response.

Only Steamax was touched by the General's speech.

Crack. Boom. Bang. The equipment in the bridge got smashed one by one by Noire and IF.

Affimojas: "Cease that at once!"

Vert: "That is… not exactly what I had in mind."

She admitted.

Vert: "Then again, that is something I should have expected from them. It was my own failure to not predict their actions correctly."

Detective Vert felt defeated.

Neptune: "Cool! Can I get one of Nep Jr.? Like, you used my data too, so I better get preorder dibs!"

Affimojas: "Of course."

Noire: "Don't encourage him!"

After settling down and making the two robots kneel down dogeza style, IF pulled out her cell-phone and called for the coast guard. They would pull the airship unto dry land. And then they could put these two numbskulls on dry ice as well.

IF: "That explains your idiotic involvement in all of this, but I still wonder who that client was. That other dimensional girl."

She rubbed her temples.

Neptune: "You don't even know the first rule of the interwebs. If someone introduces themselves as a fair maiden, it's a dude!"

Neptune laughed.

IF: "Stop spouting nonsense."

Vert: "Wait, Neptune has brought up a good point. We do not have any proof of the client's true identity or gender. And they must have considerable technological power to be able to create such advanced drones and also provide all that data. Some anonymous person from the Ultra Dimension that would be interested in the footage of this contest…"

Neptune: "Oh I think I get it."

The chipper protagonist suddenly declared.

Noire: "Get what?"

Neptune: "So it was him all along."

Compa: "Who Nep-Nep? Who is it?"

Neptune: "It's..!"

Everyone was hanging at her lips.

Neptune: "…I forgot his name."

Ultra Dimension

One day later. Somewhere around the former nation of Eden.

A group of girls was traversing the ruins inside a forest. They managed to force their way through some rubble that was hiding a secret entrance in the ground. Without much care they broke the metal doors open and advanced down the stairwell into the depth.

From left to right the girls were the Ultra Dimension version of Noire, Blanc and Vert as well as Planeptune's CPU of this dimension, Plutia. Running ahead and leaving them in the dust was the (currently) second CPU of Planeptune, Peashy. The young girl was rushing ahead with super-human speed. Her bee motif outfit was bright enough to keep her visible to the others even in the mild darkness.

Noire: "The signal is supposed to lead here, right?"

Vert: "There is no doubt. My counterpart gave me a very intensive tutorial about tracking these waves down."

Noire: "…"

Noire looked distressed at the mention of their counterparts. This midrifferific version of Noire couldn't understand how the Hyperdimension version could allow herself to be humiliated that way. Neptune was no big deal, right? And having a friend was nothing special either!

Blanc: "Aren't you just jealous that she got more friends than you now?"

Noire: "N-no! I don't care about something like that at all."

Blanc was smirking with contempt.

Plutia: "Waaaait everyone. I'm so tiiiired."

Noire: "It's only a little more."

Plutia: "Peashy is soooo fast. She is still running. I need a nap."

Blanc: "If… you want… I could carry you."

This Blanc was wearing a red and white outfit that looked more Eastern than her counterpart's. She was now playing with her hands while making such a weird offer.

Noire: "Don't even think about it. Plutia needs the exercise."

Plutia: "You're being meaaan again Noire~"

The violet haired goddess complained weakly. She was hugging her stuffed animal like she usually did. Right now the hug got a little tighter. She had sewn this bunny herself, so it was up to her how to handle it, but her tendency to hit monsters with it was a little…

Noire: "I'm saying that for your sake."

She huffed. In truth she just didn't want to give Blanc any chances to get closer to Plutia. Their silent warfare had been going on for years now. And since Neptune returned to her dimension, Plutia was lonely more often again, so it was the perfect opportunity for them to hang out.

Noire: "I can't believe he is acting up again. Some people never reform."

Vert: "Now, now. We shouldn't judge before we see the evidence for ourselves."

Blanc: "He is just bothering Noire, why do we need to come along?"

Noire: "You want to repeat that?"

Plutia: "No fighting both of youuu~!"

They both averted their eyes in opposite directions.

The underground base was still well equipped, as opposed to its rundown looks outside. There were all kinds of devices and machines prepared inside. An abundance of corridors proved the extensiveness of the facility. But their target was definitely on this floor.

Peashy came sliding back around a corner.

Peashy: "I heard noise from over there!"

While shouting that she had already passed them again and took a door to their left. How did she hear anything other than the loud tapping of her feet?

They followed her instincts and entered the inconspicuous looking room. But behind a few curtains and a mountain of linked computers they found their target.

Anonydeath, a man claiming to be an 'innocent maiden', always wearing a pinkish power suit, was working on his computer screen as came to be expected of him. He looked up from his keyboard to see them intrude on his living space.

Peashy: "I found Papa!"

Anonydeath: "Oh dear. I have been found out already."

He chuckled with his feminine voice.

Blanc: "The gig's up, so you better don't play dumb."

Anonydeath: "Why, I would never do such a thing."

Without even being asked he pushed a button and the screens above displayed his work. Videos and pictures of Hyper dimension Noire... But her face was edited on pictures of this dimension's Noire.

Anonydeath: "All these wonderful expressions she made during their contest were great for my material collection. I must say she seems a little more open minded than our specimen over here, which gave me plenty of variation. Fufufu."

Noire: "You damn creepy-!"

Anonydeath: "Ah ah ah. I promised that I would never spy on you again my dear Noire. But that doesn't count for your other self. There is no breach of contract, I assure you."

Noire was balling her fists in agitation and the others glared at Anonydeath as well. All except for one.

Peashy: "Papa has been hiding for weeks! I wanted to see ya! Mama is worried too."

Her innocent eyes and words diffused the tension to a degree. She raised her arms and pouted.

Anonydeath: "Oh my. I must have lost track of time. Can you forgive me sweetie?"

Peashy still pouted for a moment and wobbled in place, but then she switched to a grin.

Peashy: "Yep! If you give me lots of pudding."

Anonydeath: "What a good girl. Too much pudding is bad for your tummy though. But I believe that can be arranged."

Noire: "Even if she forgives you, I sure won't. Even if it's another me, stop being a total creep!"

Anonydeath: "Ahhh, that enraged expression is wonderful as well~"

Plutia: "You're bullying Noire agaaaain."

She had finally dragged her slippers into the room. They hadn't noticed that she had fallen behind. Now Plutia was furrowing her brows with a shadow over her eyes.

Plutia: "Only I am allowed to bully Noire~!"

Plutie had a very scary expression on her usually sleepy face.

Blanc: "Is it just me or is Plutia turning more and more into her transformed personality these days."

Noire: "I-it's not like I enjoy all the attention!"

Blanc: "Yeah 'that' kind of attention is only fit for masochists."

Vert: "You enjoy Plutia's attention as well, don't you?"

Blanc: "S-shut up."

While Anonydeath was being dealt with slowly and with unspeakable tools, we focus our attention away. Peashy as well is pushed behind a curtain.

In the end Anonydeath truly became a 'maiden'.

Peashy: "Papa can't see it anymore, but come back again, same Neptuna hour, same Neptuna channel, 'k?!"

(To be continued)