Re;birth Hacker

Realize: Unrequited Love

The months that followed that tea party passed by quickly, and the Gamindustri Appreciation Festival was successfully executed. Before the festival, the rumors and accusations about the CPUs had both increased and worsened. But ever since the festival began, those lies quickly disappeared. Perhaps everyone was enjoying the festival too much to care anymore. In fact, it looked like all of the shares lost by the CPUs were being restored. Uni looks over to Nepgear, "I'm relieved the festival opened without a hitch." ~ "Me too. I thought there would be a lot of backlash, but people from all the nations happily worked together, which helped a lot." ~ "That definitely surprised me. It'd be sweet if everyone's faith in our sisters was restored after this, even just a little bit." ~ "Everyone seems to be enjoying the festival, so I'm sure that'll happen." ~ "I hope so..." Rom and Ram run over to Nepgear and Uni. Ram cheers, "Nepgear! Uni! We found you!" Rom chimes in, "Found you...!" Ram holds up a bag, "Look at this! I got some crepes from that old man at the stall!" Uni looks to Ram, "Wow, those look delicious. Would you let me have a bite?" ~ "Ta-daaa! We brought some for both of you!" Rom nods, "He gave it to us as thanks for a fun festival." Nepgear looks to Uni, "See, Uni? It's just like I said." ~ "You're right. Maybe I was just being cynical." Ram speaks up, "Hey, isn't it almost time? You know, for the Grand Prix finals! Our sisters are fighting, so we gotta cheer 'em on!" Ram runs off, Rom following after, "Ram, wait for me...!" Uni looks to the two, "Hey, don't leave us behind! Wait up!" Nepgear and Uni follow after Rom and Ram.

I walk around the festival grounds aimlessly, just wasting time before the finals. "Hey, isn't that...?" I glance up, seeing two familiar figures walking towards me. Draq looks to me, "Hey, I thought you died? When'd you get back?" ~ "Wrong person." ~ "Whoa, don't need to sound so emotionless about it." Griffal looks to me, "Nice festival. Wasn't really planning on coming, but this one dragged me away from training." Draq deadpans, "Oh, you know you were just going to slack off the entire time." I nod, "The CPUs worked hard for this, so enjoy it." Draq shrugs, "I just wanted to see what kind of stands they'd have. Are those donuts?" Draq yoinks a bag from my hands, not like I was going to eat them anyways. "So... are you... go...ing to... wa-" Griffal snaps, "For f*ck's sake! SWALLOW!" Draq swallows, "-watch the CPU's fight?" I pause for a moment, before disappearing in a puff of Dark Aura. Draq sweatdrops, "Uh...okay then?" Griffal deadpans, "Can I go home now?"

And so, as if we were ignoring our needless fears, the hugely successful festival approached its final day. That was also the day when the centerpiece of the festival, the finals league of the G-1 Grand Prix, would begin... That's where fierce battles between warriors from all over Gamindustri were waged. Black Heart smirks, "So, it's come down to us four after all." White Heart cracks her knuckles, "This is perfect. Let's use this as a chance to see which one of us is the strongest goddess!" Green Heart nods, "Splendid. This is the perfect opportunity for me to show off my strength before all the nations." Purple Heart hums, "Goodness, you all get so overly confident when you're in your HDD forms." Black Heart looks to Purple Heart, "Well, what do you say, Neptune?" ~ "I don't mind. If I am victorious here, it will mean that Planeptune's future will be bright and my place secured." White Heart nods, "It's decided then. We won't waste time with boring one-on-one matches. Let's end this with a four-woman melee!" A voice comes from across the field, "Hey! Hold off on that match for a second!" Surprised Black Heart is surprised, "What the? Who is that?! Show yourself immediately!" A woman in blue speaks, "You say you don't know who we are, huh? Well... let me enlighten you." A girl with silver hair continues, "We are those who reign from the four Golden Summits. We will call ourselves... the Gold Third." Four girls with varying equipment types stood in a group. Black Heart looks to the group, "Gold Third?! I don't really get how that makes sense if there are four of you, but step aside! Get out of the way of our final match!" A girl in yellow looks to Black Heart, "So rude! Can't you see we're livening up this boring party? Normally, for this kinda service, I'd charge you guys more than you could afford!" Green Heart looks to the girl in yellow, "Is money your objective? Even if you were to extort us, we are not about to hand over control of Gamindustri." The girl with silver hair shrugs, "Control of Gamindustri? ...Not interested." White Heart looks to the group, "Then what the hell is it? Are you little doggies gonna bark all day or are you gonna freakin' bite?" The girl in blue raises her fists, "Heh. That's right. I've always wanted to try my hand against a CPU." Purple Heart looks to the group, "How interesting... do you all believe you can win against us?" The girl in red pulls out a gun, "It isn't a question. It will simply be done." Purple Heart nods, "You have a strong resolve. Very well. We will be your opponents!" It only took a few minutes, but the Gold Third overpowered the CPUs. In the final moments of the fight, the CPUs were wearing down. Black Heart winces, "This can't be... We're going to... lose?!" Purple Heart shakes her head, "This isn't possible..." The girl in blue sweatdrops, "I didn't think we would win." The girl in yellow nods, "But of course we would! We're strong, after all!" Green Heart sighs, "Just when we had gotten everyone excited..." White Heart scowls, "If it ends like this at the last moment... This'll be a freakin' mess to clean up...!" Nepgear was watching from the sidelines, just as a voice rings in her head, "The time has come. I've been waiting for this moment." ~ "Huh...?" ~ "This world and its CPUs can no longer fight against these negative emotions." Adult Neptune leaps into the field from a gate that had opened, "Wait!" Purple Heart looks back to Adult Neptune, "That's...?!" ~ "You can't! Anything but that...!" I leap over the wall separating the field from the viewing area, running towards the CPUs. Before I could reach them, a flash of light exploded from the center, wiping across the entire stadium. The light had grown, flooding all over Gamindustri. I felt my body split, as something I had lost awakened once more. That voice ringed through everyone's head once more, "Now, let us begin the reorganization of this world... this... Gamindustri."