After Uzume and Umio's departure, Peashy had left the beautiful garden and began to walk back to the outskirts where Neptune and the others were still waiting. While she didn't remember the exact route that Umio had guided through to get to the garden, Peashy did recall the general directions. Thus, it only took Peashy about two minutes to get back to the spot where she and Umio had met first time. Upon reaching there, however, Peashy saw that her entire party, who were previously resting from their battle with the Dogoos, walking up to her.

"Oh, hey guys." Peashy greeted, waving her hands as she met up with them. B-Sha immediately pointed an accusing finger at the yellow CPU.

"You liar! You said you'd be back in ten minutes but and it took us like twenty minutes to even find you! That's at least a thousand credits!" The Gold Third member exclaimed, frowning at Peashy's late appearance.

"Sorry, sorry. I met up with someone interesting and I guess I lost track of time." Peashy defended herself before turning to Neptune and Nepgear. "By the way, Uzume says hi." The two people in question gasped in surprise.

"You met Uzume?" Nepgear questioned, eyes widened in shock. Peashy nodded and pointed to the path she had just went through.

"Yep. I met a fish called Umio while passing through here. He ended up leading me to some garden where Uzume was." Peashy explained.

"Heh, it's been a while since we saw her! How's she doing?" Neptune asked, smiling at the thought of the red haired CPU. The last time Neptune had seen Uzume was right before she, her adult self and Umio had departed on a journey to see how Gamindustri had changed after the Kurome ordeal. Although they hadn't met face-to-face since then, they did communicate through calls from time to time. Not only that, but Uzume was due to return from her journey in about a few days, so Neptune was waiting for her to come back home.

Peashy smiled. "Uzume seemed nice enough. Reminded me of someone I know. Although, she did bring up a couple of questions, particularly about the existence of another me and an adult Neptune." The yellow CPU heard Neptune chuckle awkwardly at the last statement. "But besides that, it was fun meeting her. Hope we see each other again."

"That's good!" Nepgear celebrated excitedly, happy that two of her friends had met.

"It is." Peashy replied, before turning towards the rest of the party. "Anyways, why exactly are you all here now? Weren't you all resting back at the spot where we fought the Dogoos?" She questioned, remembering where everyone was before she had left.

"You took quite a while to come back here. We had plenty of time to recover from the last battle, so we decided to come up here to meet up with you." Falcom clarified, before asking. "Speaking of, was there anything suspicious up here? Because if there was, we didn't see it." Peashy shook her head.

"No. Besides Uzume and Umio, there wasn't really anything worth noting up here. Not even any monsters." Peashy stated, looking over to where she had met the aforementioned fish. IF sighed in exasperation, putting a hand on her head.

"Well then, what exactly do we do now? The quest only stated to defeat the monsters on the outskirts, and from the looks of it those Dogoos were the only monsters to fight. But that still doesn't answer the question as to how those Dogoos appeared in the first place if Gear and Nep defeated them all yesterday." IF asked to no one in particular, ruffling her hair slightly as she spoke.

"While the quest may technically be over, there's always something more we can do if it means keeping everyone safe!" B-Sha shouted eagearly, giving the Guild member a thumbs up before revealing her idea to the party. "In order to make sure that there really isn't any monsters left, we should head to the deepest part of the outskirts! That way, we'll make sure there isn't anyone or anything hiding from us!"

"That's... not a bad idea, actually. It's possible that whoever summoned these Dogoos simply decided to hole themselves up in a dungeon or something." Ultra Falcom added, before scratching the back of her head in slight shame. "Kinda sad that we didn't think of that earlier, considering how much it happens in general."

"Welp, it's decided then! Virtua Forest is that-a-way!" Neptune pointed further upwards, before quickly running off in the same direction before anyone could even react. With a yelp of surprise, Nepgear began to chase after her sister as fast as she could, occasionally almost tripping over herself.

"Hey, N-Neptune! W-wait for me!" Nepgear desperately shouted to her sister, trying to catch up to the fleeting figure. Without even turning around, Neptune laughed.

"That's for ignoring me and abandoning me back at the Basilicom with Pea, Nep Jr.!" The purple CPU hollered back at her gleefully, before dissolving into faux maniacal laughter as she sped up, with Nepgear following and pleading for her sister to slow down. All of the others chuckled at the display before subsequently pursuing the two Planeptune goddesses.

"So," Peashy began, approaching both the older Falcom and the younger Falcom as the party, excluding Neptune and Nepgear who had already ran up ahead, continued to walk towards Virtua Forest. "I'm going to guess that you're both adventurers?" Ultra Falcom blinked at the sudden question but replied anyways.

"Yeah, me and Fal are both adventurers. Although, I'm a bit more of a newbie than she is, but I've been getting used to exploring and all that." Ultra Falcom answered modestly. Peashy looked at her quizzically.

"Fal?" The yellow CPU asked simply. The older Falcom only shrugged at her small question.

"It was getting kind of annoying having to refer to each other as 'my counterpart' all the time, but calling each other Falcom would just be confusing to us and we don't have last names so we couldn't use those. We eventually settled on calling each other nicknames. We'd both call each other Fal." The older Falcom's cheeks lit up a bit. "Honestly, I haven't exactly gotten used to calling her that."

"Neither have I. It's probably because we've just been calling each other 'counterpart' for so long." The younger Falcom blushed as well, before turning towards the yellow CPU. "A-anyways, what's your Falcom like? You seemed to have known that we were adventurers, so does that mean that yours is as well?" Peashy shrugged.

"You're half right. Falcom is an adventurer in my world, but there's actually two of them. Sisters, actually. And it just so happens that you both look like them. In fact, you two seemed so close to each other that I honestly thought you were sisters in this dimension too." Both of the Falcom's blushes amplified, now as red as their hair.

"C-CLOSE!?" They both yelled out. In surprise at the fact the other one yelled out similarly, the two Falcoms quickly glanced at each other before turning away just as fast in embarrassment.

Peashy had a feeling on what was going on but she didn't comment on it, though she was struggling to keep a straight face. "… Anyways, my Falcoms were pretty veteran adventurers. They're pretty well known since they usually write about their different feats and battles. They've even been starring in movies based on their adventures. Though, they do also seem to have a strange misfortune with anything involving the ocean." After a few moments of silence, the older Falcom spoke up.

"I... I see." The older Falcom responded, trying her best to make her awkwardness out of her voice. "It definitely sounds like your Falcoms are like us, down to the ocean disasters. Though if they look exactly like us, It might be a little confusing if we were to ever meet."

"It should be fine. It's been a while since I've seen those two face to face, but I'm pretty sure that they were different clothes than you two, so differentiating you all should become pretty easy." Peashy commented, waving her hand in dismissal.

"That's good. I do hope that we get to meet your dimension's Falcoms; we'd both be happy to hear about the kind of adventures they went on." Ultra Falcom answered, smiling and putting one of her hands on her hips, her blush gone.

"Actually, now that you mention it, it'd be nice to hear about the adventures you two have been on. It doesn't look like there'll be anything else to do for a while, anyways. Do you mind sharing some of your stories?" Peashy asked. Both of the Falcoms nodded.

"Sure!" They both agreed at the exact same time. Once again, they glanced at each other in surprise that they answered synonymously, though this time they didn't back away from the other's eyes. They just continued to stare at each other, their blushes returning to their face.

"Uh, Falcoms?" Peashy said, putting a hand on both swordfighters' shoulders and shaking them a bit. Luckily, it was enough to break them from their trance from each other.

"O-oh! S-sorry about that!" Ultra Falcom yelped in surprise, shifting her full attention onto the yellow CPU, as did the older Falcom. "S-so you wanted to know about some of our stories?" Peashy nodded.

"A-alright then." From there, both Falcoms began to recount some of their many adventures to the yellow CPU as they continued walk towards the forest. While they spoke, Peashy, along with a few others that had decided to listen in, noticed that the Falcoms' smiles would grow whenever they mentioned their counterpart.

After about twenty minutes of walking, they had finally made it to Virtua Forest. The forest itself was rather bland, especially when compared to the outskirts. While the edge of Planeptune was brimming with life with green grass and flowing water, Virtua Forest's vegetation in general seemed almost dead in comparison and there was no river to speak of. Upon arrival, the party saw Neptune and Nepgear under the shade of a tree; the former collapsed on the ground and breathing heavily and the latter rubbing her sister's forehead, a tired smile on her face.

"Ne... pu... I... shouldn't have... eaten all of those... puddings..." Neptune gasped rather overdramatically. Nepgear shook her head and sighed. Suddenly, Broccoli approached the two purple haired sisters.

"Neptune, get up, nyu." Broccoli ordered, standing over the exhausted CPU. "We need to hurry up and find the one behind the monster appearances, nyu." Neptune stretched her left hand towards the young girl.

"Ah, I'm... too injured! I can't go any further...! Please... carry on for me..." Neptune declared weakly, before her arm promptly fell onto her body and her eyes closed, supposedly breathless. However, as evident by the smile on her face and the silent snickering, Neptune was far from dead. Heck, Broccoli wasn't even sure if CPUs could die like that.

"We know you aren't dead, nyu." Broccoli stated in exasperation, reaching down and poking Neptune between her eyes. Luckily, she finally got the message as she shot open her eyes and immediately jumped up-

"Like a kangaroo!" Neptune exclaimed before perfectly landing her jump and giving a small bow to the party as if they were her audience, with some of them even applauding. After Neptune was done with her small display, however, Broccoli coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Anyways, there doesn't seem to be anything here worth noting. At least, not anything that could be related to the monsters, nyu. Do we have any more ideas?" Broccoli asked all who were there. IF smirked knowingly.

"Really? No one else has noticed it? I thought it was kind of obvious." IF replied in a somewhat smug tone. When no one answered, she pointed over to some blue globs of slime. While it was scarce, it clearly formed a path leading to the west. "Those blue slime things are probably traces the Dogoos left when coming through here. If we follow it, it should lead us straight to the source."

Catching the Guild member off by surprise, RED grinned as she suddenly enveloped IF with a giant hug, her breasts pressing against her back. "Eureka! As expected of my wifey, you always come up with the best ideas!" IF sighed, already used to the crimson haired girl's antics.

"Well, IF's idea sounds like the best course of action to take right now. I'm still confused about why there aren't any monsters here, though. Me and Neptune never came here on our quest, so there should be still be some monsters here, and I highly doubt that the only monsters that mysteriously materialized on the outskirts were Dogoos..." Nepgear wondered. Suddenly, she blanched on the spot. Peashy walked up to the CPU Candidate in concern.

"Nepgear, are you okay? You're as white as sheet." Peashy asked, gripping her hand rather tightly. Oddly enough, she didn't react at all to it.

"T-t-the m-monsters disappeared after t-the D-Dogoos came through h-here..." Nepgear muttered under her breath, her whole body now shaking. Peashy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh...?" Then realization struck the yellow CPU as well. The monsters vanished with no trace as soon as the Dogoos practically made their way out of the forest. Since there was no other way for them to have disappeared, it would mean that the only reason why the monsters vanished was because the Dogoos...

Peashy froze up as well. "Oh..."

After having snapped Peashy and Nepgear out of their horror induced state, presumably not having figured out what caused the two to become as white as Lowee in the first place, the party began following the trail of slime that the Dogoos had left behind. Luckily, its blue color contrasted heavily with the rest of the forest, so even when the Dogoo remains were in rather odd areas, the party were able to find them and continue with their hunt.

Suddenly, RED yelled over to the yellow CPU, jumping and waving excitedly. "Oh, Peashy! Do you mind coming here for a second!?" Upon hearing the wifey-loving girl, Peashy, who wasn't talking to anyone else at the moment, approached her.

"Hey there RED. Is there anything you wanted to talk about?" Peashy inquired, her interests piqued. RED giggled in delight.

"Oh, nothing much dear! I just wanted to know how I'm like in your dimension! You know, if I act the same or if I act completely different!" RED shouted at the yellow CPU, the expectation and eagerness in her voice growing in every word.

"Not much different, honestly." Peashy shrugged flatly before elaborating. "You both look the same; besides maybe clothes. You also act the same; you know, chasing every girl that interests in order to make them your 'wifey'. Well, I can't say it isn't funny, either." She lightly giggled to herself, but was quickly interrupted by RED.

"Yes! I'm one step closer!" RED cheered with a giant grin on her face, bouncing in place and pumping her fists in the air. Peashy just stood there confused.

"Uh, RED? Why do you seem so excited?" Peashy inquired in bewilderment at the crimson haired girl's reaction. In realization at what she was doing, RED almost immediately stopped her small dance and answered.

"What? Can't a gal be happy for something?" RED shot back, attempting the end that conversation then and there. However, RED's grin and repressed glee only served to interest Peashy more.

"No, there's nothing wrong with that; especially with you. It's just that you were... well, a bit too excited about the fact that my RED acts like yours." Peashy replied, scratching behind her head. At that, RED covered her mouth with her arm.

"Well, as you said, my counterpart is just like me. As in, she's also a wifey connoisseur." RED stated before quietly chuckling into her red sleeve. "Slowly but surely, we'll both gather up a harem of wifeys from our respective dimension, one that composed of not only the finest women in Gamindustri, but of the CPUs and Candidates! Then, the two REDs shall meet and get married themselves! By doing so, we can combine and create an even larger group of wifeys! The largest Gamindustri has ever seen!" RED grandly declared before she began to laugh maniacally. Meanwhile, Peashy had begun to sweat in consternation at the crimson haired girl's idea. She shuffled away as slowly as she could.

"Well, this should be the place, nyu." Broccoli stated. Having followed the trail of Dogoos, the party stood in front of the entrance of a cave. The small gems on the front of the cave and the gleams coming from the inside made it pretty obvious that it was a crystal cave.

IF stepped in front the group before purposefully stepping on a puddle of the Dogoos remains as hard as she could, the blue gel splattering everywhere around her. "The trail continues inside, so we should be fine as follow it. Hopefully we'll find who's behind summoning these damn things at the end of it." She grinned.

Compa stared at her best friend in growing worry. While she was happy that IF had managed to find a way for them to track down the one who had made all the monsters appear, Compa was still concerned by the fact that IF seemed to be developing a sadistic pleasure from seeing the remnants of her past monster victims.

"This also pretty much guarantees that someone is behind this. I'm pretty sure Dogoos don't normally appear in caves." Falcom added, taking her sword out of its casing.

"Anyways, we don't have time to waste. Let's just continue following the trail of these things." Peashy decided before walking into the cave, the rest of the group subsequently going in as well.

The interior was just as dazzling as one would assume it would be from seeing the gleams from outside the cave. While the cavern itself was a shining blue and black, it was lined with large, translucent and multicolored crystals. Water dripped from the ceiling and echoed quite loudly in the cavern. And, more surprisingly, there was still no monsters in sight.

"Man, whoever this summoner is much not have much creativity at all if the only thing he summoned were Dogoos!" Neptune exclaimed happily as they followed the trail. B-Sha nodded in agreement.

"I know right! Honestly, when I first heard that a horde of monsters appeared, I was kinda worried, but if those Dogoos were the only thing we needed to worry about, this'll be a piece of cake!" B-Sha laughed loudly. Nepgear and Peashy, the two who had figured out how the monsters disappeared, shuddered at the reminder.

"I see you've figured it out too, nyu." Broccoli spoke up behind the two. Nepgear and Peashy turned around to face the small girl.

"Figured out what? Are you talking about... you know." Nepgear asked, not wanting to vocally remember what had happened.

"The fact that that Dogoos most likely absorbed and killed the other monsters?" Broccoli replied with the bluntness of a giant hammer. The CPU and CPU Candidate winced, though the former did smile a bit.

"Heh, you're as straightforward as my Broccoli..." Peashy groaned, putting a hand on her forehead. Broccoli stared at the yellow CPU.

"Now that you mention it, I'd like to know how your Broccoli is like, nyu. You said that the Falcoms and RED of your dimension act almost exactly like, so I wanted to know if it was the same for me, nyu." Broccoli inquired, pointing to the ones she mentioned.

"Again, remembering back to the last time I saw my Broccoli, you both act and look similarly. You're both very, well, blunt." Peashy then blinked upon realizing something. "Actually, now that I think about it, almost everyone I've met in this dimension are almost exactly like mine, besides Neptune and Nepgear."

"Does that go for me too?" B-Sha, who was previously staring at the crystals in the cave with a gleam in her eyes, joined the conversation excitedly. Peashy nodded.

"Yep, that goes for you too, B-Sha."

"Well, it's probably a coincidence. I don't think everyone is your dimension will be exactly the same as ours. After all, your Neptune looks different from my sister, so I don't see why that wouldn't be the case for anyone else!" Nepgear assured while smiling.

"It's nothing to be concerned about, really. It was just kinda interesting." Peashy replied, smiling back at the CPU Candidate. Suddenly, B-Sha jumped in front of Peashy.

"Anyways, and more importantly, does your dimension have Presto Mask!?" B-Sha shouted, grabbing the yellow's CPU shoulders and shaking them rapidly.

"P-Presto Ma-ask!? You mean that o-other hero o-of j-justice!?" Peashy yelled, her voice rattling as the Gold Third member shook her. B-Sha nodded her head before letting go of Peashy to let her speak more clearly. "Yeah, she's in my dimension too. I've actually seen Presto Mask a few times face-to-face, but I never managed to figure out what her real identity is. But she is really cool!" Peashy smiled happily.

B-Sha put her hands on her hips and beamed in pride. "I know right! Presto Mask is amazing!" She exclaimed, her ego most likely in space. Meanwhile, Broccoli and Nepgear looked at the two in exasperation.

"Please tell me that Peashy is just trying to make B-Sha feel better and that she knows that B-Sha is Presto Mask, nyu." Broccoli pleaded in disbelief, unwilling to acknowledge that someone who has seen both B-Sha and Presto Mask more than once could ever think that they were two separate people. Nepgear placed a hand on Broccoli's shoulder and chuckled.

"I don't know, Broccoli. Even though this Peashy is more mature, she seems just as clueless and as innocent as the little Peashy." Nepgear reminded, remembering the child Peashy from Plutia's dimension and how, despite being mentally the same age as the Ultradimension IF and Compa, still acted rather childish.

"There's a difference between being innocent and clueless and being stupid, nyu."

"Broccoli!"

After about ten minutes of traversing the crystal cave, the party had finally reached a dead end. It was a pretty dead end; a shiny, almost mirror like surface, but a dead end nonetheless. Mysteriously enough, the trail of Dogoos continued straight into the wall as if it went on beyond it.

"A dead end? Well, this is just great! Turns out those things can't do anything right after all, alive or dead!" IF yelled annoyingly, kicking away a puddle of the blue remains away from under her.

"Now, now, Iffy." Compa said, trying to calm down her friend. "This is really weird. Why did the Dogoos go directly into the walls?"

"I couldn't tell you, Compa. All I know is that this isn't natural." Ultra Falcom added, staring at the trail. "Either way, there's no one and nothing else here. Since we don't have any other leads, it's best that we just head back to the Guild and report that it's pretty much guaranteed that someone is behind this." The small adventurer suggested.

"Yeah, there's not much to do here..." Neptune agreed, until she suddenly froze. "Nepu!? My Nep senses are tingling!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Neptune?" Peashy asked the Planeptune CPU. Neptune pointed at the mirror-like wall of the cavern.

"That wall is giving off a really weird feeling! Like a disturbance in the force! Doesn't anyone else feel it?" Neptune wondered to the rest of the party. Most of them didn't have a response, but Nepgear and Peashy stepped forward and touched the wall. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Now that you mention it, that wall feels... really weird to me." Nepgear mentioned. The feeling the wall gave off made the CPU Candidate feel a little light-headed. The feeling was very similar to getting a boost of Shares, except it felt foreign, almost.

"Yeah, it's giving off this really weird vibe. It's faint, but I can definitely feel it." Peashy agreed, crossing her arms. When she looked back at the rest of the party, they saw that has no such reaction.

"So now we have an inexplicable force that presumably only CPUs can feel." IF stated before putting a hand to her forehead and rubbing it. "I'm gonna have a killer headache after all of this."

Compa smiled before nearing the Guild member, removing her hand from her forehead and applying her own. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to fix you right up if you get a headache, no matter how bad it hurts!" IF's cheek pinkened a bit.

"T-Thanks."

"Anyways, let's just head back to the Guild. While I'm happy to have spent this much with my wifeys, all we've done was walk." RED complained in annoyance while pouting. With everyone in agreement, they all turned from the mirror wall and began to walk back to where they came, only to be interrupted by a loud growl.

"Grrr..."

The heads of everybody in the party snapped to the source of the sound. "What's that?" RED muttered, bringing out her weapon just in case, everyone else subsequently doing the same.

From a dark and almost unnoticeable corner of the crystal cave, the source of the growl slowly revealed itself. It was huge; towering over the entire party. Its yellow slitted eyes looked as though it was glowing and the rest of its green body was rough and scaly.

Even Neptune couldn't help but widen her eyes at the sight of the beast. "I-Is that an Ancient Dragon!?"

The dragon then roared loudly, echoing off the walls of the cave before rushing towards the group. While they were initially distracted by both the appearance and roar of the beast, they all managed to dodge by quickly dispersing themselves. The Ancient Dragon ended up ramming itself into the ground the group previously stood on, sending rocks and debris flying to the air.

Peashy clawed at a piece of rock that was coming at her with her claw weapons, splitting it in two before it even reached her. "Dang! This Ancient Dragon thing looks like a boss monster!"

"That's because it is." Nepgear revealed from behind her. "A pretty hard one too, especially at our level." Peashy sighed.

"At least it's only one target." Peashy told the CPU Candidate, wanting to rub her forehead in annoyance but not being able to since she had her cat paws on.

"Yeah, there's that." RED agreed, before turning to face the Ancient Dragon, who had recovered from its impact with the ground and was now staring at them with hate and anger and its eyes. "But we should probably stop talking and fight this dumb monster."

"I'll start this off!" B-Sha declared, holding her bazooka in front of her and aiming it at the dragon. "Bazooka Rapidfire!" Suddenly, at least a dozen of explosive ammunition shot out from B-Sha's weapon at the speed of a minigun. They all managed to hit the dragon, exploding into fire and blocking the dragon from view with a black, thick smoke.

"Ha! A direct hit!" B-Sha celebrated, pumping her fists into the air. Neptune, on the other hand, looked at the Gold Third member in slight disappointment.

"Come on, B-Sha. We all know that the enemy is never defeated whenever that happens." Neptune scolded the Gold Third member. True enough, a wind suddenly blew away the thick cloud of smoke, with the Ancient Dragon emerging from it with its wings outstretched.

"… Yeah, I should have seen that one coming." B-Sha muttered to herself in shame. The dragon suddenly flew forward at the group with frightening speed, its claws raised in order to strike them all down at once. However, both Falcoms leapt forward before the Ancient Dragon could reach them. They raised their swords and struck it against the enemy's limb, stopping the attack and thusly the dragon itself. It was far from beaten though, as the Ancient Dragon lifted its other limb with the intention of crushing the adventurers.

"Neptune and Nepgear! You'll need to transform for this one!" Ultra Falcom yelled out, preparing her sword to counter the oncoming attack of the Ancient Dragon. The two Goddesses in question nodded, an unusual seriousness flashing in their eyes.

A blinding white light suddenly erupted from the Planeptune CPU and CPU Candidate. So bright that it distracted the Ancient Dragon enough to halt its attack on the Falcoms, allowing the aforementioned adventurers to retreat. Seemingly having forgotten about the two swordfighters that just escaped, the dragon gnashed its teeth at the brightness and growled.

Moments later, the bright light disappeared and two new figures emerged and floated into the air. The first was the one Peashy had seen back at the Basilicom, Purple Heart. The second, however, Peashy had never seen. Although it was rather easy to figure out who she was from appearance alone. She wore a white one-piece suit and had long pink hair. Her eyes were blue and had power symbols in them. Lastly, she held a long gunblade in her right hand.

'That must be Nepgear's HDD form...' Peashy thought, staring at the transformed CPU Candidate. 'Purple Sister.'

Purple Heart pointed her black sword towards the Ancient Dragon. "Let's attack this thing with everything we got, Nepgear." Purple Sister nodded, aiming her weapon at their enemy.

"Alright, I've got your back!" The CPU Candidate yelled, cueing Purple Heart to quickly rush forward. As her sister neared the beast, Purple Sister began shooting small lasers at it, all of them hitting their target. However, the Ancient Dragon was completely unfazed by the ranged attack. It turned to the side before it flapping its wings forcefully at the oncoming CPU, sending a strong gust in her way. Hurriedly, Purple Heart crossed her arms in front of her in order to minimize the impact. And although the gust did send her to the ground, she was otherwise unharmed.

"Well, this'll certainly be harder than I thought at first." Purple Heart admitted, gritting her teeth as she got up from the ground.

"Neptune! Are you okay!?" Purple Sister shouted to her sister in concern, still airborne. Purple Heart nodded at her.

"I'm fine, Nepgear."

"Don't worry, I'm going all out too!" B-Sha exclaimed with determination. When the Planeptune CPU turned to face her, she saw that B-Sha had once again aimed her bazooka at the dragon, but unlike before, it seemed like the Gold Third member was pouring her energy into it.

"Alright then, fire!" B-Sha yelled, directing her weapon at the dragon's head. Suddenly, a large beam of energy shot out of the Gold Third member's bazooka and flew straight at the Ancient Dragon. Upon impact, the monster reeled back its head and roared loudly, finally showing some signs of pain.

"Nice one, B-Sha!" IF congratulated from behind her. "Now then, Compa! Let's do this!"

"Right, Iffy!" Compa announced. With her syringe, she traced a heart into the air. All of a sudden, a pink heart popped up in front of the nurse. At the same time, IF thrusted her arm towards the Ancient Dragon, her hand glowing a light blue.

"La Delphinus!" The Guild member shouted the name of her technique. A turquoise rune circle suddenly formed under the dragon. Almost immediately afterwards, Compa pushed the floating heart towards the enemy with her syringe.

The Ancient Dragon's eyes widened upon realizing the danger it was in. It spread its large wings as it prepared to fly to dodge the two attacks. However, RED noticed this and smirked before pulling out what looked like a CD.

"Not on my watch!" RED exclaimed. Her grip on the CD tightened as it doubled, no, quadrupled in size. "Yah!" With as much power as she could muster, RED threw the oversized disc straight at the dragon's wings at incredible speed. Despite this, the dragon managed to take off from its original position and dodge both Compa's heart attack and IF's energy pillar. Luckily, RED's disc managed to clip the Ancient Dragon's right wing, cutting the end of it clean off, it disintegrating into data seconds later. As a result, its flight was stopped and it crashed into the nearby rock wall of the cave. And unlike when the dragon had rammed itself into the ground, it was clear that the monster had felt pain. The black stones that had disloged themselves from above from fell on the beast's head, cracking in two upon impact. However, it rose up from the ground and debris not long after, eyes practically burning red.

"ARRRRGH!" It roared furiously, so loud that it caused the entire cavern to shake. Broccoli quickly turned her head to face Peashy.

"Peashy, come here." The small girl suddenly demanded. While confused, Peashy didn't want to waste time asking questions so she ran over to Broccoli. "Grab on."

"Grab onto what?"

"Grab on to the gema, nyu." Broccoli answered, placing her hand on her yellow creature where she wanted Peashy to hold. Which the yellow CPU subsequently did.

"Uh, now what?"

"Now, hang on." After Broccoli spoke, Peashy's vision promptly faded to black. Only for a split second, though. After that split second of darkness, Peashy suddenly found herself airborne and above the Ancient Dragon. Not only that, but she was now forced to hold Broccoli's gema, that was magically floating in midair, for dear life as it was the thing keeping the yellow CPU from dropping down.

"Aah!" She screamed, hanging onto the yellow creature as firmly as she could. Peashy pulled herself to face to face the gema's rider. "W-w-what the heck, Broccoli! You could have warned me about this!"

"You didn't ask any questions, nyu." Broccoli retorted dismissively while rolling her eyes, ignoring Peashy's groans entirely. "Anyways, Neptune and Nepgear! Me and Peashy are going to distract the dragon! Finish it off!" Purple Heart and Purple Sister, who had grouped up, nodded in understanding. She turned back to Peashy. "Are you ready?" Peashy glanced at the current distance between her and the dragon before answering.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Peashy asserted, smiling a little bit in determination. Abruptly, the gema stopped floating and began to fall at a rapid pace, carrying both Broccoli and Peashy with it. The Ancient Dragon, however, noticed the two individuals descending from above. It hastily swinged its right claw in order to swat them both out of the air. That was a huge mistake.

Broccoli's eyes glinted in deviance as the dragon's limb approached the two. "Let go now, Peashy!" Without asking any questions, the yellow CPU did exactly that and let go of the gema, right before the dragon hit both it and Broccoli. But, instead of the small girl being knocked out of the air upon the claw's impact, the Ancient Dragon's limb actually exploded, leaving both Broccoli and the gema completely unharmed. Peashy stared up at the small girl in disbelief, but realized that she was still falling down as Broccoli's figure was getting smaller. She quickly concentrated her focus onto the face on the Ancient Dragon, which looked like it was in immense pain. As she approached the dragon's head, Peashy smirked before letting her momentum pull her right cat paw behind her.

"Take this! Pea Punch!" Peashy yelled before punching the dragon with as much strength she had. Which was a lot. The dragon howled in agony as Peashy landed back on the solid ground. Looking back at it, Peashy saw that the Ancient Dragon had its eyes closed and was wailing recklessly, crashing into more walls of the cave.

"Nepgear, Neptune! Now!" Peashy shouted, pointed at the large monster. Purple Heart and Purple Sister nodded before rushing towards the still-wailing monster, weapons drawn. Since it had its eyes closed and was severely weakened, the Ancient Dragon couldn't do anything to stop its impending fate.

"Hyah!" "Take this!"

With two expert slices coming from the two Planeptune CPUs, the head of the Ancient Dragon came flying off. It managed to last long enough to hit the floor of the cavern before it disintegrated into data, the rest of its body following suit moments later.

Purple Heart and Purple Sister arrived back on the ground rather slowly, knowing full well that the dragon had been defeated. They, along with the rest of the group, were tired, but they put it aside to celebrate their victory.

"We did it!" Purple Sister cheered excitedly. Everyone else in the party gathered around the two as well.

"We did! Man, I haven't had that intense a fight in a while!" Peashy agreed, grinning passionately at the battle she just had.

"Truthfully, it really was harder than expected." Purple Heart conceded while giving a small smile, letting go of some of her pride. A light then came from both her and Purple Sister, although it was a lot less bright than the first one. When the light disappeared, it revealed Neptune and Nepgear. "But, I'm just glad that everything is over!"

"It was refreshing to fight something that wasn't completely perverted." IF chuckled, putting her qatars away.

"The fight aside, it does make sense for an Ancient Dragon to be here. They appear in caves, after all." Ultra Falcom stated, placing a finger on her forehead as she thought. "But, I'm wondering if it's at all connected to the monsters that appeared. Maybe it was summoned as well?"

"Maybe." RED shrugged before smiling as well. "I don't think there's any way to confirm that since it's just as possible that it inhabited here until now."

"Anyways, let's head back to the Guild and report the mission, everyone!" Compa suggested eagerly. With everyone else in agreement, the group made their way out of the crystal cave.

It took a full hour to get back to the Guild. Although it was an improvement since it took them an hour to reach the outskirts alone when they first arrived and they had to not only traverse that but the crystal cave and Virtua Forest, it was still quite a long time to walk. Most of the group felt rather sore after the battle and moving on foot wasn't exactly doing them better. Nepgear actually ended up having to carry Neptune a small distance since her sister's legs apparently felt like 'melted pudding' at the time, but the older Falcom volunteered to carry the purple CPU for Nepgear since the adventurer saw the she was having a lot of trouble. Peashy managed to get by since she ate one of her crystals, but she was still exhausted.

Eventually, they did reach the Guild and they did report the mission, to obvious success. While the credit reward was quite hefty, since they were such a large group they each didn't receive that much. IF did inform the Guild about the fact that there was definitely someone behind the monster appearance, but that they couldn't figure out who or why. Neptune, Nepgear and Peashy also mentioned that there was a strange vibe coming from a wall from the crystal cave.

With the quest now completed, however, it was time for them all to go their separate ways for the time being. They all stood in front of the Guild entrance; the orange tint in the now dark blue sky signifying sunset.

"Man, today was a lot of fun!" Neptune sighed happily, bobbing up and down on her toes absentmindedly.

"Yep! A lot more fun than just touring around Planeptune like we were supposed to, to be honest." Peashy claimed with her hands behind her back. Neptune grumbled a bit, though it was clear that she wasn't actually mad. Falcom closed her eyes and smiled.

"Anyhow, me and Fal are heading back home to rest up. Today was pretty exhausting and we need to regain our energy as soon as possible in case something else happens. Bye!" Falcom stated before she and her small counterpart walked away, both of them waving at the group as they did so.

"Yeppy! That goes double for me! I'm getting really tired and I can't hunt for more wifeys when my eyes are half closed all the time! I'll see you all later!" RED shouted before running off to the east.

"I'll also be leaving now. I need to go talk about this with C-Sha and the rest! I'll see you soon, Nep-Nep! Everyone else, too!" B-Sha exclaimed, giving the purple CPU a thumbs-up. She then dashed away.

"… I'm not that drained but I don't feel like staying out here for too long, nyu. Goodbye, nyu." Broccoli quipped rather monotously, before the small girl left the group as well.

"Well, me and Compa will be off now too. This really was a long day. But I hope you had a good time, Peashy." IF told the yellow CPU, allowing herself a smile. Compa nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! I know it's probably not what you expected to do today, but I hope you had fun today!" Compa added cheerfully.

"Like I said, I probably enjoyed myself a lot more than if we just looked around Planeptune!" Peashy assured enthusiastically. "Anyways, bye Iffy and Compa! See you later!"

"Bye Peashy!"

"Bye Pea!"

After a few moments, the Guild member and the nurse had disappeared from view, and the only ones left at the Guild entrance were Neptune, Peashy and Nepgear. The orange tint in the sky had all but disappeared.

"Welp, that's everyone! Let's head back to the Basilicom; it's getting kinda dark!" Neptune quickly suggested to the two others, who both responded with silent agreements. With that, the three began to walk back to the Basilicom.

"Ah, home sweet home! How I've missed you so!" Neptune exclaimed melodramatically as she practically crashed onto one of her comfiest pink pillows in the entire Basilicom, tears rolling down her face as she hugged it.

"Neptune, it's hasn't even been a day." Nepgear mentioned to her big sister as she placed herself on one of the cushions. The Planeptune CPU's small display halted immediately as she looked at Nepgear, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Ah, lighten up, Nep Jr.! These are the time when you most want to appreciate your home! In fact, I'll go on a gaming marathon to compensate for all that work we went through today!" Neptune stated, kicking her feet in the air. Moments later, Peashy sat down next to Neptune, relaxing herself onto the pink cushion.

"Neptune, I have to say that I had fun today." Peashy began with a small smile before she shifted into a surprisingly serious expression. "However, as I figured out today, you have a lot more knowledge on other dimensions then I thought. Of course, I knew you had at least some since you recognized me despite not mentioning a 'me' from this dimension. And with Uzume and B-Sha apparently knowing this as well, it's becoming more and more noticeable. Can you please explain what the deal is with that?" Peashy inquired, her voice getting softer and softer as she went on. Neptune scratched the back of her head.

"I guess the Nebby is out of the bag, huh?" Neptune answered awkwardly. "Ah well, I wasn't planning on keeping you totally out of the blue, so-" Abruptly, a loud voice rang out throughout the entire Basilicom.

"NEPTUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Neptune then grinned for some reason. "Well, speak of the pudding and it shall appear!" In front of the door of the room they were in, there was a child. But before Peashy could get a look at the little girl, she suddenly bolted in Neptune's direction and jumped. The purple CPU managed to dodge out of the way, however, leaving Peashy in the child's way. The Lesteem CPU yelped in surprise as the child landed in her arms.

"Hey! What do you think you're doin-" Peashy said in annoyance, but she froze. Looking down at the child, she saw that she had blonde hair, wore a black and yellow striped jacket and had blue eyes. But what sealed the deal were the two red hair bobbles atop the girl's head. The small child stared back at Peashy with curiosity.

"Huh? Why do you look like me?" She questioned as she poked the yellow CPU, seemingly puzzled. Peashy looked over to Neptune and Nepgear, the former looking like she was having the time of her life.

"Peashy, meet Peashy!" Neptune introduced them to each other eagerly. Surprised at what Neptune had just revealed, they both looked back at their supposed counterpart. The older Peashy's confusion and made itself known in her current and rather silly expression.

"Ha ha! You look funny, me!" The younger Peashy laughed at the Lesteem CPU. The older Peashy, however, didn't share the same enthusiasm.

In fact, she was pretty sure she was close to fainting.