We were standing in Lady Noire's Basilicom, looking at a sleeping Neptune. "I'm... not following the situation here. Why is my neighboring country's CPU napping in my Basilicom?"

I sighed. "Lady Noire, this is Neptune we're talking about. Take a wild guess."

Neptune turned to look at us. "Just ignore me and do your job. I won't mind one little bit."

Lady Noire began to glare. "Yeah, well, I do mind!"

Nepgear smiled, embarrassed. "I'm sorry about this, Noire!" She then tried to wake her older sister. "Get up Neptune, please!"

"Why?"

"You wanted to be a better CPU, right?"

Lady Noire walked up. "Yeah, about all that. No thanks. I have no intention of teaching my enemies how to do their jobs."

Neptune sat up. "Aw, but we're buddies now! That's what we signed that Friendship Treaty for, right? So we can stop-"

"As long as we're competing for Shares, that still makes us enemies. Get it?"

"Blah! Why do you always gotta be such a meanie all the time? See, now this is why you don't have any friends."

This caught Noire off-guard, causing her to blush. "I-! I do too have a friend!"

Neptune leaned towards Noire, smiling. "Woah, for real? What's her name then?"

"Huh? Oh... You don't... know her..."

Uni came out of the elevator holding a stack of organized papers. "Hey, Noire! I finished these documents for you!"

She looked over. "Oh. Thanks, Uni, that's nice. Just set them over there."

Nepgear gave her a wave and Uni started to fidget. "My job, uh... I was pretty fast, right? I worked really hard this time-"

"It was average." Man, way to be cold. "But that's still an improvement for you."

Neptune butted in. "Wait! Was Uni the mysterious friend you were talking about? 'Cuz little sisters are little sisters, they don't count as friends." I noticed Uni grow really sad and start to walk off.

"Of course not! I have... another!"

"Oh really? 'Cause you sure look like a lonely loner to me!" Nepgear noticed Uni as well and I put a hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon."

"Right."

We entered the elevator Uni took and exited the Basilicom. Looking around, we didn't see her anywhere near the massive building.

"Where did she go...?"

I held up my hand. "Hold on." Activating a Skill named 'Search' I had picked up during one of Hulo's impromptu games of 'hide-and-seek', I saw tracks leading out of the Basilicom. Identifying them as Uni's I began to follow them to a lake. Turning off Search, I smiled at Nepgear.

"If you're wondering, that was a Skill I picked up a couple of years ago. Search. Lets me see tracks and what-not and identify them."

"That's useful."

I nodded. "Yeah, especially when you have a 9-year old brother who loves to annoy the crap outta you."

Uni looked over to her right and saw us. "Nepgear... Motta..."

We sat on the octagonal bench together. Nepgear was the first to talk. "I'm sorry Neptune kinda hijacked your talk with your sister."

Uni shook her head. "It's okay. My conversations with her always turn out the same, anyway."

I frowned. "That isn't necessarily a good thing."

Before us, a swan landed in the lake. "It's like she has this rule where she won't compliment me unless I do a better job than her. But we both... know that's not possible."

I sighed and pulled out a notebook Mom left me. Opening it up to a certain page she loved to recite to me, I recited it to Uni. "'It's going to be hard, but hard does not mean impossible.'" I closed the book but still held it up. "My mom used to tell me that all the time. Heh. I remember this one time, I was looking to make an amazing gift for Lady Purple Heart, but it kept failing in various ways. I'd fix one thing, another would break. I fix that thing, five other things broke. I was just about to give up and say it was impossible, but Mom recited that quote to me and told me to take a moment to look at it. It was then that I realized that I had been going at it the wrong way." I lowered the notebook and looked at Uni. "So don't give hope, Uni. There's still a way out there in which you can impress Noire."

She gazed at me, letting her mouth hang for a bit, before gazing at the water. "But I can't even transform into my goddess form yet."

Nepgear put her hand on Uni's shoulder. "That's nothing to feel down about. I mean, neither can I, and neither can Rom or Ram!"

Uni looked at her, then gained her sister's cocky attitude. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to transform before the three of you to prove my superiority. How's that?"

I chuckled. "I guess that's one way."

Nepgear smiled. "Good, but you better hurry or I might beat you!"

Suddenly, my phone began to ring alongside Nepgear's N-Gear. Standing up, I took several steps away from the two girls to answer. "Hello?"

"Hello, Motta. I know you're in Lastation right now on a mini-vacation, but we need you in the field." Behind me, Rom had sent Nepgear a message.

I sighed. "Alright, where's the trouble and what should I expect?"

"A massive amount of Dogoos have gathered near a village close to Planeptune. We've posted a quest to Lastation's Guild as well, but we're calling you to make sure it gets done. Don't worry, we've already sorted out pay."

I sighed again. "Got it. I'll start heading over there right away."

--------------------

As I made my way to the Nasuune Highlands, I heard the others some distance behind me. Rolling my eyes, I looked forward and saw a group of women. Walking up, I gave them a respectful nod.

"Ladies. I've been sent by Planeptune's Guild to help take care of your Dogoo problem. It also seems that I've got a couple of friends following along in response to the quest being posted to Lastation's Guild as well. Where's the issue, exactly?"

They pointed in the Dogoos' direction and then began to fangirl as Lady Noire came into view behind me. Rolling my eyes, I made my way to the problem area and saw a massive horde of Dogoos.

I paled as I summoned my swords to my back. "That... is a lot of Dogoos..."

(His swords)

My friends caught up with the ladies in tow. "This is the Nasuune Highlands, correct? And why are you here, Motta?"

I bit my lip, gazing at the Dogoos. "Sent here by the Guild."

"Ah."

"Yes, Lady Black Heart. We've been overrun by Dogoos and don't have any heroes to slay them."

Lady Black Heart nodded. "You needn't worry. Miss Neptune and Miss Nepgear from our neighboring country have volunteered to deal with them for you, alongside Mister Motta."

This caught Neptune off guard. "Nep what?! Wait, I gotta work?"

I glared at her and drew my blades. "There is absolutely no way I'm doing this alone. You're fighting, no buts."

Nepgear bit her lip slightly. "Well, it doesn't look too bad..."

Lady Black Heart gazed at the two sisters out of the corner of her eye. "Rule number three. Show off whenever you can."

Uni grabbed Nepgear's N-Gear. "I'll record it for you. We can make a PR reel!"

I chuckled and gave my blades a twirl. "Whatever. We doing this or what?"

Neptune frowned. "What? You're making us grind? Well, these guys are so weak you can beat them with a cyber stick!" She did a couple of squats, stretched, then did a couple of front flips forwards, landing in a super-hero pose. Holding out her hands, she summoned her katana. "Let's do this thing! Come on, sis!"

"Right! You got it!" She lept in, summoning her sword, and I chuckled.

"Those two are so care-free..."

Rushing into battle, my eyes began to dart around the battlefield, counting up every Dogoo I could see. Taking out two Dogoos as I ran past them, I grabbed a lot of their attention as Neptune and Nepgear entered the fray. Sliding to a stop, I gazed at all the Dogoos that had surrounded me. Smirking, I used a skill called "End Revolver" and as my blades glew with a brilliant light, I spun around once, my right blade out, and proceeded to end the skill with a slanted slash from my left blade. Noticing a Dogoo leaping towards my back, I flipped back and unsummoned my swords. Summoning a bow to my hands, I put the arrow of energy against the Dogoo, and let loose, the already drawn arrow flying straight through the Dogoo's body.

(His bow. Motta has multiple weapons.)

Landing in a crouch, I lept away from about ten Dogoos and pulled the string back once more, an arrow of energy forming in my fingers.

Taking a deep breath, I used another skill. "Explode Arrow!"

Letting the arrow loose, it slammed into the center Dogoo, which caused the arrow to explode, destroying the Dogoos threatening me. Looking to my right, I saw a Dogoo about to hit me.

Not enough time to change!

Suddenly, a gun rang out and looking at the source, I saw IF had drawn her sidearm. Giving her a nod, I swapped to my twin swords and resumed fighting. As I was dealing with a large group of Dogoos, I looked over at Neptune, Nepgear, IF, and Compa and saw that a massive wave of Dogoos were about to land on them. Unable to lend them a hand, I simply refocused on my problem and took a deep breath.

"That's enough! THE ECLIPSE!"

Unleashing my strongest dual blades Skill, I got rid of the Dogoos swarming me and turned to see that the Dogoos had overrun my friends. Frowning, I started towards them, then gasped as one latched onto my back. Growling, I tried to get it off.

"Get! Off!"

Slamming my back against a random barrier that only goddesses should be able to make, the Dogoo perished and I watched as IF snapped, throwing off the Dogoos that had climbed on top of her.

"Alright, you little punks! I'll send your souls to a world of despair! Flame Soul Slice!"

I sighed and summoned a 1911 and no-scoped a Dogoo that tried to jump me. Watching as IF wrecked house, I sat down and let out a shaky breath. Once it was all done, IF fell to her knees, panting. I walked over and patted her on the back.

(His sidearm. If you have a better idea of a Colt 1911, feel free to use that in your head.)

"Nice going, IF."

"Thanks... I guess..."

Neptune spoke up. "That settles it. I'm never eating jelly again, as long as I live."

Lady Black Heart came over. "Why didn't you use your goddess form?! Those Dogoo would have been a piece of cake!"

Nep smiled at her. "Who cares? It turned out okay, didn't it?"

"Only because you had other people to cover for you! This is why your Shares are always-!" She cut herself off in annoyance. "Ugh! You know what, never mind! I'll take care of the rest of this ordeal on my own!"

I waved her off. "Knock yourself out, Lady Black Heart."

Lady Black Heart simply rolled her eyes, then was led towards a second location that was having monster troubles. I simply pulled out Mom's notebook and opened it to a page I had specifically marked. It was an old legend of Gamindustri, one that hardly anyone remembered, or cared about, at least those I've asked.

As the Queen of Darkness rises to threaten the core of the nations, five souls will rise above the sea of doubts and shine bright. Four of them shall be girls of divine birth. The fifth soul shall be a humble boy of equally humble birth. This humble soul will rise to rival the Queen of Darkness's strength, drawing upon Gamindustri's Hope, whilst the girls draw upon the Nations. And with the Hope of Gamindustri in his hands, the humble boy will rise to become known as... The Guardian of Angels.

Smiling to myself, I put away the notebook and stood up. Looking over at the women of the village, I gave them a nod, then looked back the way I came. "I believe that's that dealt with. I figure it's time I make my way back to the Basilicom. Hulo's probably flipping out right now..."

Making my way to the Lastation Basilicom, I was standing in the elevator when my phone buzzed. Pulling it out I saw that photos of Nepgear with Dogoo slime all over her were all over the net.

I knitted my brow. "How did-?" I froze, then sighed. "Really, Nep?" I began to chuckle to myself. "Friggin' airhead..."

The doors opened and Hulo tried to tackle me to the ground, but simply managed to latch onto my leg. "Mot-Mot! Where did you go?!"

I sighed. "Was sent out on a mission for the Guild. Also..." I sighed with a smile and showed him the photos Nep leaked. "Neptune didn't check which email she was sending some photos to."

He began to laugh and I chuckled as well. Picking him up, I slipped my phone into my pocket and made our way to the nearest airport. Making our way onto a ship, we traveled back to Planeptune and I tucked Hulo into bed. Giving him a kiss on the forehead, I turned off the lights in his room and sat down at my desktop, pulling up an online library shared between all nations. Diving into the 'legends' section of the online library, I began to look for more instances of this 'Guardian of Angels' being mentioned. There were a couple of legends that mentioned him, but everything was vague at best.

"Hm..."

Hello! Hearth here! I'm still open for suggestions as to Motta's love-interest, if you think he should have one. I'm leaning towards IF and Uni, with a possibility of Nepgear as well, but I'm not sure. Again, nothing's been set in stone yet. See ya in Gamindustri!