Things were getting better...for the moment. I doubt that Anonydeath is just gonna give up there. He's probably got something else hiding up his sleeve. I was patiently waiting for him to come up with something else, just so I could strike it down. All was quiet though, the streets filled with happy citizens, a gentle breeze flowing through the air, the Sun shining down on my skin from above. All of our forces were on REDCON 2, meaning that all pre-combat checks were complete, digital and FM communications links are operational and troops were ready to move within 15 minutes of an alarm. I didn't want to go overkill and declare REDCON 1, I just wanted us to be ready in case we need to move out. On the other hand, I was out in the streets walking around. I was just bored, looking for something to do. I suddenly saw a familiar face fly into view. Yellow Heart. She flew out past me, but soon realized her mistake and turned around to see me. She flew down to me and was looking at me with a content smile.

-"Why so happy?" I asked.

-"Neptuna is coming here today!" she said with excitement.

     Oh right, I forgot that Neptune apparently knew Yellow Heart before I did. She comes to visit this dimension every now and then but Yellow Heart always wants to be the one that plays with her first. 

-"Cool, have fun." I said.

-"You're not coming?" she asked.

-"No, I don't need to."

-"You don't need a reason to see someone, so let's go together!"

-"Are you gonna keep asking until I say yes?"

-"Yup!" she said as she glued herself to my arm.

-"...*sigh*...fine. When will she be here?"

-"Neptuna only said numbers to me when I asked that."

-"What were those numbers?"

-"I think it was 2-5-0?"

     I instantly knew that she meant 2:50 but she didn't know how to say it. I checked my watch and saw that it was 2:07 right now.

-"Well, we got 43 minutes until she gets here, wanna walk with me?" I asked.

-"Sure! Where are we going?" she asked.

-"Well, that's what I'm not sure about. You wanna go anywhere?"

-"There is one place I wanted to show you, I always forget though."

-"Then let's go now, so you don't need to worry about it anymore."

-"Come on! It's this way!" she said, pulling me by my arm through the streets.

     She eventually let go of my arm to fly up a vertical ledge. I transformed and followed her. Once I reached the top, I kept following her through a dense patch of bushes and trees. I saw her go into a light at the end of the vegetation. I slowly emerged from the shrubbery and saw her sitting on the edge of a cliff. The view from this spot was amazing. The sun was high in the sky and Planeptune was beautiful from here.

-"Wow, this is a nice view." I said.

-"I found this spot a while ago with Neptuna, she said I should show it to you...what do you think?" she asked.

-"It certainly is a gorgeous scene."

     I sat down next to her and we just stayed there for a moment, Yellow Heart resting her head on my shoulder. After a while, we saw a sudden flash of light in the sky and something fall out of the air with great speed.

-"It's her!!!" Yellow Heart yelled as she flew off.

-"Wait, what?!" I exclaimed, following her.

     Once we arrived at the Basilicom, I saw that Neptune had landed on a certain someone. Upon further examination, I saw that it was Noire!

-"Neptune, you're crushing Noire." I said, ushering her to get off.

-"Oh! Oopsy doopsy, I'm sorry Noire, I didn't really see where I was gonna land!" Neptune said.

     Noire only made a few groaning and grunting sounds as she got back up to her feet. I left secretly before things got any more awkward. I returned to the spot that Yellow Heart showed me earlier. I don't know how, but I just found the spot so comfortable. Maybe it was because I knew that Yellow Heart was here before. I soon felt very drowsy and fell asleep. 

...

...

...

     I awoke suddenly due to a loud sound in the air. I snapped out of my nap and looked up at the sky. I saw a shining bright ball hurdling towards the outskirts of Planeptune. I quickly got up and flew over to see what was going on. By the time I made it, it already crashed into the ground. There was a slight delay before I heard the sound of machinery powering up. I saw a giant robotic claw emerge from the crater it created.

     Whatever it was, it was big. It stood up out of its crater and made its appearance. This thing was bigger than the Goliath! Even if we had it here, it wouldn't stand a chance against this!

     It scanned the area around it before fixating on Neptune, who was in her HDD mode at this point.

-"TARGET ACQUIRED...OPERATION: CORRUPTION" It said before making some sort of shoulder cannons appear. 

     I saw it charging up an attack using its mouth and shoulders. It was locking onto Neptune! I had to stop this!

     I ran towards the massive creature and was about to swing my blade at it...but it was too late. The last thing I saw before being blinded by the beams, was Eden's symbol. That bastard, Anonydeath made this thing too. After I regained my senses, I saw that the giant monstrosity from before was nowhere to be seen. I looked back over towards the group. Everyone seemed okay...all but one. Neptune, the receiving end of the beams...she wasn't looking too good. She was fidgeting randomly and twitching her fingers. What did that bastard do to her? I went back to my normal form and ran up behind her. She wasn't responding to me calling her name. She wasn't showing any signs of even knowing I was there. Slowly, she turned to face me...I instantly knew that something was up.

     Her eyes and all the neon parts of her suit were red now. Red irises, red power button, red X's on her head, just red everywhere. Something tells me that she's not gonna just come quietly. I was ready for anything. However, what I expected to immediately turn into a fight, has instead turned into her staring at me, nothing else...just staring. I let my guard down a small bit. No sooner then I did, she rushed me, grabbed me and flew straight up! At this speed, I'm surprised that we're not burning up in the atmosphere! We eventually made it into space and she released me. I quickly transformed to avoid suffocating. She was in a battle ready stance and looked like she wanted to fight. But...here? Here, of all places to fight, space? Well, I guess that collateral damage won't be an issue up here. I looked back at her once more before unsheathing my blade. I wouldn't make a swing at her, only defend against her attacks. I don't want to harm her.

1 HOUR LATER

     Somehow, her speed was incredible, beyond my capabilities. After a while of futile resistance, I was shot down towards the planet. I felt my back ignite during re-entry. After a while of being pushed through the atmosphere by Purple Heart, I was eventually smashed into the ground of Gamindustri, leaving a crater in the impact zone. I got up and saw Neptune flying away at top speed. She wanted to stop then of all times? I went back to my normal form and the others ran up to me, checking if I was OK. Yellow Heart came last, a sad expression on her face.

-"Is Neptuna gone? Is she...a bad guy?" She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

-"No, she's not a bad guy. Anonydeath just...changed her...somehow." I said.

-"Well if she's gone, you gotta go after her!" Black Heart told me.

-"I'll get her back...I promise." I said to the group.

     I wanted to get her back as soon as possible. That coward Anonydeath, he's too scared to fight us himself...instead turns our own against us. After seeing the sad face of Yellow Heart, I was more determined than ever to save Neptune. I went into my HDD mode and took off at full speed. I soon caught sight of Neptune, she was still flying in one direction. I fired a non-lethal stasis dart at her and it connected with her neck perfectly. She started plummeting towards the ground. She impacted the surface with a loud crash and I went down to investigate. She was long since passed out now, easy to transport. I picked her up and swiftly flew back to the Basilicom where I took her to the surgery station of the medical facility. I don't think that the medical ray is gonna help us with this. I put her on the operating table and the surgeons came in. They did a full body scan to locate exactly where the source of this mind control was coming from. What they found was that there was a small fluctuation in brainwave activity when a subject was mind controlled. Although, there was a problem. One of the surgeons came up to me and told me the harsh truth.

-"We can't remove the disruption physically. It's a psychological phenomenon that disrupts the brain's ability to reason and heed to one order, the controller's. There is a way to wipe the disturbance and prevent it from ever happening again." The surgeon said.

-"How? I'm ready to do anything if it means we don't have to worry about this any further." I said.

-"One of you must enter her brain...and find it."

     That would make things difficult.

-"How do we "enter" her brain?" I asked.

-"We connect your consciousness to go inside of Neptune's via a neural psychic patch, from there, you're on your own." The surgeon said.

-"Give us some time to think."

-"Think quickly, the window for a safe transfer is closing."

      I returned to the crew and explained the situation. None of them were volunteering to enter her brain. I guess it was me then. I looked at Yellow Heart who looked ashamed about not being able to do anything. I approached her and put one hand on her shoulder.

-"If I had just moved her...*sob*...none of this would've happened..." Yellow Heart said in a sad tone.

-"It's not your fault Yellow Heart...out of anyone, it's me. I wasn't fast enough and now...I'm going to purify what has been corrupted. I'll get her back, don't worry." I said to her, hugging her.

     She looked at me with her tear-stained eyes and nodded, a small smile of hope forming on her face. Suddenly, the surgeon from before burst out of the operating room.

-"Diamond Soul! Now or never!" he said, obviously looking rushed.

     I turned back to Yellow Heart and gave her a thumbs up and a reassuring smile before walking back inside the operating room. I laid down on a table and they hooked up wires and sensors all over my body.

-"Commencing patch, just relax as you feel your brain shifting through mental states" he said to me.

     I closed my eyes and felt the tingly feeling of my very consciousness moving elsewhere! After a short delay of darkness and silence, I heard the surgeon's voice speak to me.

-"Connection strength is at 100%, now we're able to see and hear whatever he does whilst in her mind. Diamond Soul, you're clear for investigation..." he said.

-"..." I stayed silent.

-"That means you can open your eyes now, Diamond Soul."

     I slowly opened my eyes and saw something I could only describe as hellish. Everything was either destroyed or on fire, lava flowing underneath my feet.

-"How come he's not falling?" I heard Vert ask.

     It seems I could hear what the others up top were saying.

-"Since he is not a part of Neptune's mind, he is free to move where he wants, including being able to float."

     That would explain why I'm not hot right now.

-"Diamond Soul, please remember, your time is limited, search for anything that looks like an irregularity." The surgeon said.

-"I think this whole place is an "irregularity" doc!" I said.

-"No, where you are right now is not Neptune's thought process, it's Anonydeath's. He has shaped her thoughts to his image of the planet...which apparently for him is a hellish landscape." The surgeon said.

     I started walking around until I saw something on a piece of intact ground; Neptune! I ran up to her and tried to communicate.

-"Diamond Soul, that is NOT Neptune, but yet another figment of Anonydeath's imagination, it cannot see or hear you. But if that's there, that means he's close by." The surgeon said.

-"Wait, what?!" Blanc said.

-"It seems we are not the only ones that are currently connected to her mind. Diamond Soul! Be careful. Anonydeath is in there with you!" The surgeon said.

-"Alright, I'll keep an eye out." I said.

     I took one step away before I heard a familiar voice behind the fake Neptune.

-"Purple Heart! Your Planeptunian armies are defeated! Bow before your new master!" Anonydeath said.

-"Never Anonydeath. I will fight until the end!" The fake Neptune said as she pulled out her weapon.

     I too unsheathed my blade, standing ready to fight. Anonydeath soon charged at Neptune, arm raised. They both swung at each other and the fake Neptune slowly turned to fog.

-"Whoa! That never happened!" Vert said.

-"It's not a memory. Rather a dream that Anonydeath has constructed in his mind."

     I was still staring at the fog as Anonydeath approached from behind. I turned to face him.

-"Ahhh, Nanuk my old friend. I'm sorry but, the punishment for trespassing in my domain...is your DESTRUCTION!!!" He yelled as he raised his sword and swung it down with full force. But I didn't feel anything. His blade phased right through me!

-"Huh?" I said, confused.

-"What?!" He yelled quizzically.

     He kept swinging but to no avail, it kept phasing through me, no matter what he did. Eventually, he stopped.

-"Wait, Anonydeath can't touch Nanuk?" Nepgear asked.

-"Since he is not a creation of Anonydeath's mind, Nanuk is immune to his physical attack." The surgeon said.

     Thankfully, Anonydeath couldn't hear them talking.

-"You're not wearing atomic-displacement armor...your eyes track my movement so you're not a hologram...and I do not believe in spirits." he stated.

-"..." I waited for him to continue.

-"So tell me...old friend...what ARE you?!" 

-"Anonydeath." I heard a voice say behind me.

     I turned to see a fake version of every one of the CPU's standing there, myself included.

-"This is not good." The surgeon said.

     I ran up to the group of fakes. No response. I went over to my own fake self and waved my hand in front of its face to try and get a reaction. No response. Anonydeath roared in anger as he opened fire on every one of the fakes until I was the only one left. He faced me again.

-"You are real...they were not!" he said, pondering a bit before cracking the code.

     He took a few steps before speaking again.

-"*chuckle* A neural psychic patch. How unexpected." he said.

-"Oh no...we've stirred Anonydeath from his oblivion, he's becoming self-aware." The surgeon said, worried.

-"This is my subconscious...how did you get inside my head?!" Anonydeath yelled.

-"..." I refused to speak a word.

-"Hmmm. The only way you could've entered my mind, was through a host body under my control...and I think I already know who your using as a relay. But...if you're in my head, then I am not deceased. Tell me old friend, do I still live?" he asked.

-"Diamond Soul, we are almost out of time!" The surgeon said.

     I took a moment to think before speaking up.

-"Listen, I need you to disconnect her brain!" I said.

-"Disconnect? *laughter* I have completely taken control of the person I hate the most in this world! I am going to use her to do my bidding! Why would I give that up?" Anonydeath said.

-"Dude, you realize that if you constantly control her, you'll never get the chance to finish her yourself!" I said.

-"Smart call." Blanc said.

-"That's twisted." Noire said.

-"*chuckle* Did you not see before? I do slay Neptune by my own hand, at will, whenever I desire!" Anonydeath said.

-"I'm talking about killing the real one."

-"Hmm."

-"..."

-"I will admit that, after our battles against each other, to not watch the life ebb from Neptune's eyes with my very own force would be...disappointing."

-"So? You in?"

-"Hmm. Well played old friend."

     He made a sort of hologram appear in his hand.

-"The chemical formula for the permanent disconnect you seek--not that I expect you to know how to read it." he said.

     He was right, I have no idea what these symbols mean. Just when I was about to grab it, he made it disappear again.

-"Huh?" I asked.

-"Not yet. You see...how am I supposed to