Hoo boy. My first fic. I don't know what else to put here as my author's note, but I'll say this; I'd appreciate it if people could leave reviews to point out my mistakes here. After all, there's always room to improve.
By the way, every Hyperdimension Neptunia Fanfic has inspired me to make this. So don't be surprised if I make some references to other fics.
Oh, and plus, I own nothing except my OCs. The respective content of Hyperdimension Neptunia belongs to Compile Hearts, !dea Factory and any other official parties. With that out of the way, let's get started.
The rain never seemed to end. A bright flash of light engulfed his vision, then the roar of thunder shortly after. It was cold and dark.
But he had to keep going.
A lone figure ran through the beaten path, gravel crunching beneath his boots. He was clutching his side, and it was clear why he was. A crimson liquid dripped from his abdomen, marking his path behind him unintentionally. Fortunately, the rain did wash off any traces of the blood trail he left behind.
He grit his teeth in pain, while he tried not to bleed out. A quick glance behind him, and he saw that the opposing force was still chasing after him. They were out of range, but they were still there. If he stopped for a mere second, a bullet would lance through his body and that would be the end of him. He quickly shook his head of the thought.
'No,' He muttered. 'I'm not going to die today.'
He suddenly saw a brief flash of red light in the distance, illuminating the general area around it. The flare rose for a few seconds, before it fell down.
His escape. Just a few more minutes, and he would reach the extraction point.
A loud crack rang in the hills, and a bullet hit the ground beneath him, spraying dirt everywhere. The figure recoiled in surprise, but he kept running. Pulling out his pistol from its holster, he fired a few shots towards the direction where he was being shot from. It would certainly miss, but it certainly will keep the sniper off his back.
He then saw that he was approaching the ruined town where the flare came from. Knowing that his allies would shoot anyone that wasn't identified, holstering his pistol, he pulled out his radio and started to dial the number for his FOB. It buzzed for a few seconds, before a voice echoed from the radio.
"This is PMC." The operator spoke with a monotone voice.
"PMC, this is the last survivor of Squad Violet. I'm heavily injured, with no whereabouts of a extraction point. All three members are dead." The figure spoke hastily, as he tried to search for where the extraction point was.
There was no reply for a few seconds, before the operator spoke again.
"Affirmative last survivor, can you tell me where you are currently at?"
The figure started to approach a fountain in the plaza of the town. He took a quick look around to see if the ASIC soldiers were still tailing him, and he started to pull out his Tactical map via his HUD, placing his radio on the ledge of the fountain.
"I'm at grid location 034117. Does that help?"
There was once again no reply for a few seconds.
"Affirmative, you should head east of where you are, and continue going towards that general direction. We'll remind the forces over there so that they'll pick you up."
"Understood. I'm mo-"
A few shots lanced towards the figure, one of the projectiles tearing through the figure's left shoulder. He grimaced in pain, as he turned around to see a ASIC Militia pointing a rifle towards him. Quickly grabbing the radio and taking cover behind the fountain, he put away his radio and traded it for his pistol.
The Militia soldier took the moment to call out where he was, but not before realising that the figure was pointing his pistol towards him. A few shots, and the soldier was down before he knew it.
The figure took the opportunity to run again, before more of them came. But he saw something he didn't expect. A huge mass of dirt, concrete and shrapnel flew harmlessly towards the figure as a dangerously close explosive came plunging down.
'Mortars?!' The figure inwardly ranted.
After a while, the figure saw the helicopter coming into view in the distance as he exited the town. But he still knew that his fellow teammates would shoot him without a means of identification. He mentally scrambled for a solution, before he looked down to his tactical ordnance on his vest.
Ignoring the throbbing pain from his shoulder and abdomen, he started to look through the different colours of flares he could use. He then pulled out a purple one, holstering his pistol. Picking up a piece of flint from the ground, he started to coarsely rub it on the striking pad, sparks flying and small bursts of smoke being produced from the combustion. One more strike, and the distinct hue of purple burst into life as it illuminated the darkness around him.
Purple. Purple was the colour of progress. It was also his nation's colour, after all.
He pulled out his radio again, holding the flare on his injured left hand and dialling his base again. He had to remind them that he was the one carrying the purple flare.
"This is PMC to Last survivor of Violet." The operator's voice echoed through the radio once again.
"PMC, I'm making my way to the extraction point, reference purple light. Tell the extraction team to NOT shoot the person with the purple flare."
"Affirmative. I'll relay the message now."
"PMC, make it quick, because I have possible multiple hostiles tailing my position."
Just when he said that, another crack rang out, and the radio in his hand was destroyed right in front of his eyes. He recoiled from that, and quickly dropped the totally destroyed radio. The ASIC soldiers were right behind him. He started sprinting towards the helicopter, as several shots flew past him, some of which grazed his body.
'Come on…' He prayed. The extraction team started coming out, with their LMGs pointed towards him.
'Please!' Everything then seemed to happen in slow motion, as his allies started firing past him. He could hear the yells and cries of pain behind him as the ASIC forces started to drop. The figure threw his flare towards the sky, as he had no use for it anymore. Tears of joy started to form on the figure's eyes, as he ran towards the helicopter.
'I made it,' He thought. 'I'm going home.'
3rd person view, Nexon
"And THAT, everyone, is how you escape from the ASIC." As his Avatar entered the helicopter, while the words 'Mission Complete' flashed across the screen, he allowed a grin to himself.
"WHOOOHOOOO!"
"HELL YES!"
"THAT WAS THE BEST CLUTCH MOMENT OF MY LIFE, MAN!"
"YOU ARE A GODDAMN BEAST!"
"Wow, wow, okay, you don't have to shout that loudly." Nexon recoiled from the blaring noise that molested his ears, while he tore off the headphones in order to save them. He started to rub his ears, which was still ringing from the sudden feedback of cheers.
Nexon was young teenager around the age of 13. He recently just finished up a raid that him and his squad have been waiting for for weeks, so that they would get a chance to get some swanky gear. The game? Well, it's a RPG, combining Gunplay and sword combat. It revolved around the world of gamarket, where the four nations were on it's last legs and decided to send guilds or squads of people to destroy ASIC in a last ditch effort. Of course, the Avatar Nexon was playing was part of the Planeptune Marine Corporation, and was a member of a squad called Violet. We're not focusing on that, though. The teen went through the equipment and gear he earned, smiling as he saw the legendary-tier loot.
"Okay guys, I'll be logging off. See you sometime later." Seeing that it was a good time to leave, He signed off the Harmony server, and the game he was playing on. He stretched, and looked at the time on his desktop clock while doing so.
7:29 PM. He'd been on the computer for a few hours now. Normally it would be seen as a problem, but it was summer break, and he had nothing to worry about. His parents were away somewhere working, after all.
"Alright… time for a reward, if I say so myself." Nexon stood up from his computer, walking to the kitchen to grab his so-called reward. But then he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror from the bathroom, noticing his slightly disheveled hair.
The teen had messy black hair, with blue eyes. He was wearing a jacket that was black, with white sleeves and purple outlines. Underneath was a simple white shirt, nothing more, nothing less. He was also wearing cargo shorts, which too had purple outlines and was navy blue. His socks were a cobalt blue, though it was nothing too special.
He smoothed out his hair a bit, making sure his bangs weren't covering up his eyes too much. Satisfied, he went downstairs to grab his favourite snack from the fridge in the kitchen. Yes, he's a bit like a certain character everyone knows.
He opened up the fridge, looking through it's contents. It has what your average fridge contains, but with one difference. There was a row that was completely filled with pudding, with many different flavours.
"Neptune would be proud. Heheheh." He mused to himself a bit as he picked a snack out of the bunch, one that read 'Caramel'. He grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers, and started to peel the lid off the top. But before he was about to dig in, he heard a knock from his front door. Hearing this, he sighed, placing down the cup on the kitchen table and went over to answer the door.
"I'm coming!"
As he opened the door, he noticed that nobody was there. He looked around in confusion for a few seconds.
"Huh… that's weird. Is this a… oh." He eventually saw a package on his front doorstep. Thinking nothing of it, he shrugged and picked up the small cardboard box, locking the door behind him.
"A package for me… guess I'm that popular, huh?" The teen joked to himself, before going upstairs to open the box. Grabbing a box cutter from one of the drawers in his bedroom, he started through the tape on the box.
And it was surprisingly strong tape.
"Why... is this… so… tough… to open..." He struggled with the tape for a bit before finally opening the top of the box, sighing. He started to look at the plastic foam that protected the contents of the box, before starting to dig through it.
"Alright, whoever put the surprisingly strong tape and foam on this box must have put something valuable in here. Now, let's… see…" While he was talking to himself, throwing foam all over the place, he trailed off upon finding a crystalline object that was in the shape of a square. The shape of it seemed similar to a game cartridge, strangely enough.
"Well. That's special. Who would ever send someone this, though? This must cost a lot of money." While the teen thought about what he could do with the crystal, he noticed a folded piece of paper in the bottom of the box. Curious, he temporarily set down the crystal cartridge and picked up the paper. He unfolded it, scanning through the note.
'Nexon,
Bring this to your SEGA Neptune, then we'll talk.
-A friend'
"Umm… What? That answers my question about what to do with it, but… how does this guy know I have a replica retro console in the first place?" Nexon sighed. This is all pointing towards something. Placing the cardboard box and note in the corner of his room, he went back to the kitchen and placed his spoon and pudding in the fridge. He didn't want his favourite snack to spoil, after all.
He remembered that the old game console was stored somewhere in his basement, along with a old TV. Before his parents left him, his father left him the console. The old man reminisced of the times where he played the SEGA consoles (Particularly the Dreamcast) with his friends, since he was a gamer like Nexon. He allowed himself to smile a bit. From time to time, the teen would play a bit on the retro console, but it was left in storage ever since. It was a replica, since it was a commercial failure before it released.
"This is going to suck. Lots of dust, lots of coughing… Well, I might get something out of this, looking past those issues." Nexon thought aloud to himself with a bit of optimism at the end of his words. He put on his sneakers, slipping the cartridge into his left pocket. He went over to the basement door afterwards, then he flicked the light switch while descending down the stairs. The old light dangling from the ceiling flickered on, while he looked over the white sheets that covered the aged furniture.
"*Cough, cough…* I think I might have bronchitis at this point. I wish I had a gas mask. Now, where is it…" He immediately started his search, but not without spraying dust all over the place. Like he expected, he started to cough, and covered his eyes in order to block them out. It was good that the sheets prevented the dust from gathering on the furniture, but it was annoying pulling the sheets off them.
"*Cough, cough cough* Okay, I can't breathe in here… where is… ah, there it is." He eventually uncovered his dad's old console, seeing the black piece of hardware in all of it's former glory. Dropping the sheet and putting back the white covers over the other pieces of furniture, he started laying down the console in front of a power outlet and started plugging it in. Of course, there was also a old television that was prepared before he started the search for the console.
"Wires, wires, wires… too many wires. I really wish I didn't have to go through all this." Nexon then went through the complications of figuring out which wires went where. Fortunately there weren't many, but the process was still gruelling nonetheless.
"Alright, and I think the last one goes… there." He sighed in relief after what seemed like hours. In actuality, it was only a few minutes. Turning to the console, he started to dig out the game cartridge out of his pocket. Making sure the crystallised game cartridge was facing the right direction, he inserted it into the slot, and pressed the left button on the game console. He picked up the controller, seeing the red LED flash. Except, it wasn't flashing red. It was purple…
"Well… this is new. Unless Dad had this console custom made, which it isn't…" He stared at the screen for a moment, which hasn't flickered on for a moment now. With each passing second, he began to get more and more impatient.
"Okay, I'm bored. Work already!" Tired of waiting, he crouched down and spammed the power button a few times.
That's when everything went… interesting.
The screen started to emit static suddenly, while also producing large amounts of ear-deafening white noise. Nexon jumped back in surprise, shouting as he started to back away.
"WHAT IN JESUS H. TAPDANCING CHRIST IS THIS?! WHAT'S NEXT, AM I GONNA GET SUCKED?!" The now startled teen started to shout, while covering his ears. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH EAR-SHATTERING NOISE TODAY! HAVE I CONNECTED THE WRONG WIRES?!"
Before he could take a single step towards the console, it exploded in a white flash of light. He shouted in surprise once again as the brightness blinded him. The light faded away to reveal that the console was now smoking, and a shining power symbol floating above it.
"A share crystal? This wasn't in my world, the last time I checked!" Nexon stared at it in wonder, before it went into the TV, it's screen rippling. He was once again surprised, before he realised that it was getting away from him.
"No! Gimme!" The teen shouted after it, before he dived into the television without thinking. He expected to be too big to fit into the television, but he passed into it with no problems at all. He didn't notice, but the television had shut off behind him, leaving no trace as to where he went.
The teen, now falling in a vortex of white was now reaching out towards the share crystal. The wind made his clothes and hair flutter, a noticeable chill spreading throughout his body. With a sense of determination, he tried to snatch at it with his arm, but he barely even reached it. Seeing that he wasn't falling fast enough, he shifted his body so that he would fall faster. That seemed to do the trick. He clutched the share crystal within his hand, and smiled in victory.
"Yes! I've finally got it! Hooray me!" He celebrated for a bit, before stopping. His brain started to process what was going on, before…
"AHHHH! AHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
As soon as he realised that he was endlessly falling, he flailed around in the air, panicking. The pointless movement continued for a while, before he stopped and started hyperventilating. It was a wonder that he didn't pass out from the pressure yet.
"Okay, okay, think, think… I gotta get out of this somehow. If somehow I could… uh… I can't think of anything!" Panicking once again, he tried to think hard about what to do next. But then he realised that he still had the share crystal in his hand, which was still glimmering and waiting to be used.
'Maybe,' he thought. 'maybe if...'
After a few grimaces and somersaults, he somehow managed to point his feet downward to where he was falling. He brung out the share crystal with his right hand, extending it in front of him. He then took a deep breath, and started to bring it towards his chest. As he did so, it started to glow bright, engulfing his vision. He closed his eyes as everything turned white.
Nexon slowly opened his eyes to see that he was no longer falling. In fact, he was now standing in darkness, but with the same endless void. Seeing where this was going, he allowed himself to muse to himself.
"Okay… so I'm standing in darkness, waiting for something. There really isn't any point to asking where I am, since there's nobody around..."
He looked at himself. He was somehow visible to himself in the darkness, much like that scene.
"So… Am I considered a light source? Huh. So… no, wait, WHERE DID MY TORSO G- oh, it's just my jacket's colour. I almost thought it was missing for a second there. Heheheh…"
"Though… how am I standing? I mean, it's a endless void, and I'm somehow just standing in mid-air. I don't feel like I'm falling, so… is it just that whatever I'm standing on is the same colour? Nah, I better not question it."
"…"
"So... is this what death looks like? Well, being dead would certainly suck if it were like this. Just being a bodiless entity, floating around in the void."
"…"
"Wait... why did I come here in the first place? I was just following a note for the sake of relieving my boredom, then this power symbol went into the TV. Then I... oh, no. WHY DID I DO THAT?"
"...*sigh* Well, no turning back... after all, I did do this to myself."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Histoire? Neptune? Anyone?"
"So, uh… I just start walking, right? I mean, the voice is gonna speak to me soon, right? Well, don't mind me…"
Nexon walked forwards a few steps, the sound of water splashing echoing throughout the empty void.
"Wait… water splashing? I didn't realise that at first. Was this what she stepped on? Well, I don't feel wet, so I think I don't have to worry about being soaked…"
"Hey, sorry for the wait. I was just taking care of some things." A calm voice echoed out through the darkness, like Nexon expected. Plus, it sounded distinctly like Cryaotic...
"Oh, hey there. I knew you would come." Nexon replied, smiling.
"Of course. You do have prior knowledge of all the Hyperdimension Neptunia games. Although that might change very soon…" The voice suspiciously trailed off at the end of his sentence, which led to the teen cocking his eyebrow.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Nexon inquired.
"Nevermind. You'll get what I mean after a while. So anyways, I'm sorry for bringing you here like this. Did you feel threatened in any way?"
"Nah, it's cool. It was a good way of getting the blood flowing, after all." The teen put his hands behind his neck in a relaxed manner.
"Good. Anyway, I've brung you here because of a very important mission. My name is Timore, a Tome which predicts the future of this dimension."
"…"
"…What?"
"Oh, nevermind. Your name reminded me of a certain indie game. Anyways, what kind of mission is this? I assume you brought me here for a good reason."
"Well, it's a sorta cliched one, like some certain stories in other dimensions. Your job is to protect one of the goddesses, during her journey with her friends. The timelines are a bit… different, compared to what you saw from the game."
"I knew it." Nexon allowed himself a sigh. "Something about… the future being severely changed after someone goes back and changes it? I remember seeing this in Fairy Fencer…"
"You seem... really calm about this for some reason."
"Well, I did bring this upon myself. I did go chasing after a weird object for no reason, and I'm now in this situation. So I've got no reason to panic."
"Huh, you are correct. Got no reason to argue against that. You might even be a tad more intelligent than Neptune."
"Wait… what?"
"Nevermind. Anyways, your assumptions were wrong in the first place, but I will compliment you on trying to guess. You know that I can see the future, right? Here's the thing; This Neptune has multiple opportunities to die, in this dimension. The reason I sent you here, is that you'll prevent from said certain death from occurring."
"Damn…" Nexon muttered.
"Okay, so… you'll be dropped off in Celestia, where the first cutscene of the game takes place. There, you'll be defending Neptune so that she can't get killed by the other three goddesses. In this dimension, when Black Heart sends Neptune off Celestia, it's actually the fatal blow that can kill her."
"So this is Re;birth 1… Good to know. But with the twist that she dies in the cutscene…"
Nexon processed that thought, until realising what he was going to do.
"Wait… how in the hell do I fight against three Goddesses?! This was not what I signed up for!" Nexon panicked a bit. Getting sent in to fight three of them was SUICIDE.
"Don't worry, you'll be compensated for the journey. You'll have to train in order to actually fight properly, but I do believe that you have that covered. You are a fast learner, after all."
"But… what about my weapons?"
A bright flash of light, and two objects appeared in front of him. One was a Beretta 92fs, with a comfortable wooden grip and chrome plated barrel. There were also a bunch of other small modifications to the gun, but the name of it caught his eye.
'Samurai Blade'
Nexon allowed himself to grin. Ahhh, that gun. Upon grabbing it, he noticed some numbers popping up down to the right to his eyes. Perhaps it's the ammo counter. He'd have to figure out how to reload it later. He then grabbed the knife with his other hand, and started inspecting it. A M9 Bayonet… It was called a 'Survival Knife' for some reason, judging from the holographic name that popped up.
"Alright... I'll be dropping you off now."
"Huh? No, wait! I still got some questions to ask you!" Nexon raised his voice, surprised that he was leaving so soon.
"I've kept you waiting long enough. Plus, my time to talk to you is running out, so I'll have to answer your questions later. But I reckon you'll figure out what to do once you're there."
"Ah... well, this sucks. At least I don't need a tutorial that's nagging me all the time.
Nexon cocked the slide back, loading in a cartridge to the chamber. "Anyways, Let's do this."
"You're always so eager to get into the action." The tome said amusedly. "I'll bring you there right now. Remember what you have to do… Neptune first, others second."
Nexon closed his eyes, as he felt warmth engulf his body...
The teen then found himself standing on grass, a slight breeze passing his body. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked around to see clouds, floating islands and the constructs of nature.
He was in Celestia.
He felt the the need to giggle in excitement rise in him rapidly, but he quickly suppressed it after he realised the grim situation of what his objective was. 'No time to get excited about being in another dimension,' He thought. 'Gotta find Neptune.'
He listened closely for any signs of a fight going on. As he guessed, the four goddesses could be heard battling it out amongst themselves with their blades. Hearing this, Nexon slowly approached where they were fighting. He didn't want to get involved as of yet.
Hiding behind a rock, he saw a clearing, that was a wide enough space for four people to battle it out. He could see four women clad in swimsuit-like apparel levitating from the ground, holding their weapons out against each other, weary of who was gonna make the next move. Sure enough, the grass beneath them was ruined from the recent battle.
"You're all so stubborn. Why don't you all give up already?" A certain black-clad woman cockily demanded.
'Looks like this isn't a dream after all.' Nexon thought.
I read through this, and so far, I feel like the progression is a bit inconsistent, and I might have a few spelling errors. Maybe this is what it feels like to be Nepgear. (Heheh.) Anyways, I appreciate feedback, so tell me how I can improve. After all, not everyone is perfect. Even Histoire. Anyways, see you in the next chapter.
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