Author Note: Greetings, readers who decided to drop by!

First, I want to say I am sorry for those who are following my other Nep fic, "Remember the Past - Neptune - Before the Bonds were Forged". It hasn't been updated in quite a while. I am currently waiting for an event to post it, so I hope you'll be patient until then.

For the ones who drop by because they are interested at this title - well, why don't you figure it out by reading this chapter first?

But to give you a warning - this isn't an alternate continuity like Megatagmension Blanc is. This is set in Hyperdimension, after the events of Megadimension Neptunia VII's True Ending. As such, don't read it unless you know and have went through the game.

This is chapter 1: "A Premature Awakening"

A story always begins with a ~Prelude~

A pause within the story is an ~Interlude~

And an end will be known as the ~Postlude~

Now, let's begin!

~Prelude~

The night was beautiful.

If there was anything Uzume ever liked better about the current Gamindustri compared to the one in her distant, blurry memory, it was the scenery.

"Heh."

Uzume let out a long, relaxing sigh as she shifted on her makeshift seat - actually just a chunk of rock - to get a more comfortable position.

Usually Uzume was not a person who could just remain in any one place for long. However, even for someone as energetic as her, there were always occasions of exceptions.

Such as right now. While she was stargazing.

Looking upwards into the dark canvas colored by small pinpricks of white across its surface always gave Uzume a comfortable feeling.

She didn't know why, maybe it had something to do with the fact that she liked the night better than the day? She liked sleeping after all. It brought her dream.

Or perhaps, because stargazing felt like the exact opposite of the scenery she usually saw as a Console Patron Unit?

Goddesses lived in Basilicom, and her current home, Planeptune's Basilicom was a tower. So rather than gazing up into the stars, Uzume often looked down upon them instead- the lights that illuminated the night city also made it somewhat beautiful, but she didn't really like it, probably because it felt repetitive.

The former CPU of Planeptune didn't know which. Maybe it was both, or perhaps none of them.

Stargazing was something Uzume couldn't do often in Zerodimension due to fighting for her lives and all. And even back in her days as Planeptune's goddess, Uzume didn't do this often, either. Life was just as hard back then.

Not many people knew she enjoyed stargazing as well. And for now, she wanted to keep it that way, lest two of her purple-haired friends getting yet another ammunition to tease her.

Perhaps it was Uzume's own fault for projecting that 'cool and rough' exterior, but she didn't want to share one of her secret hobbies just yet.

Umio has always wanted to see the stars with me in a relaxing night.

...Well, it was his fault for not going with her for this trip.

Uzume took another deep breath of the fresh air. It was relaxing indeed- after a whole day of getting lost.

Recalling that, the redhead held the urge to kick herself.

After the conflict with her 'other self' had concluded, Uzume was pretty excited for her life plans - she got to see Gamindustri again, and she got to do it alongside her new friends and families.

And it was not disappointing: Nepgear took her and Big Neptune across the four nations, Lastation was the first. Uzume was quite satisfied, as during her time, the four countries were hostile to each other, and she didn't get to know the other nations all that well.

Much to her surprise though, her vacation would be cut short by an unexpected event.

Apparently, it was only a few years ago that the four nations had settled their differences - Nepgear said it was after she and the others defeated the Deity of Sin - and the four nations celebrated the day that remarked the end of the intergenerational conflict of CPUs.

The event that cut her vacation off was the Festival of Four Nations, which was formed to celebrate the fall of ASIC and the end of the Console War.

When she heard this, Uzume was both astonished and proud of her junior CPUs. Not only Neptune and Nepgear's generation managed to defeat the Deity of Sin once and for all, they actually managed to stop the intergenerational hostility between the goddesses of nations.

Nepsy said something about Gearsy being a 'better protagonist' about that as well...

Of course, Uzume didn't mind having her vacation cut short by an event like this. In fact, Uzume was super excited to join it! Histy even said that the event would be a suitable occasion to reintroduce Uzume into the world! Which would be cool! Uzume would be more free to wander around and get to know more! Uzume would-

"..."

Uzume really had to keep her excitement level below 9000.

After all, reintroducing herself would also be a chore, since only citizens of Planeptune remembered her after her revival.

Uzume was also slightly disappointed at this - due to the plan, Neptune and Nepgear had to leave for the island where the Festival would be celebrated a few days earlier than her to prepare a lot of stuff. Also, Big Neptune said she was not the festival type of person, so she would adventure across Gamindustri on her own.

Apparently, the Festival of Four Nations always had the Four Goddesses and the Candidates to participate in some sort of event made by the Committe of Goddess Idols.

This time, the CPUs would become high-school students for a few days in a school named 'Gamacademi' to make its culture festival even more awesome. However, Uzume was not allowed to catch up to them until the preparations to announce her was finished.

The redhead understood that this was necessary. Such an event demanded a very tight security and thus a high member of personnel from each country. If Uzume came there earlier, it would be basically announcing her presence, and that could compromise the preparation.

That didn't mean she had to like it, though.

Maybe I should have listened more closely...

When Histoire told her that tomorrow she would be needed in the island and that Umio wouldn't accompany her because he would help the tome fairy with Oracle work, Uzume had instantly transformed and flew to this island as fast as she could.

Mid-flight, Uzume had contacted Nepgear with N-Gear to get her direction, so reaching the island was no trouble. She also cut off Nepgear's attempt to stop her.

"Bu, but Uzume! It's not today, we will need you tomo-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

When she had arrived on the island, Uzume made sure that no one saw her as well. However, Histoire then hastily contacted her that she was needed TOMORROW, so Uzume still had to hide herself for today.

The redhead was again disappointed, but since she was already in the island, Uzume figured she might as well take a trip around the island.

Forgetting that without Nepgear or someone else to guide her, Uzume was basically a lost child in this Gamindustri.

"Hah..."

Another sigh. If Umio was here, he would certainly scold her for getting farther away from happiness, regardless of how dumb that sounded.

...Maybe I should find an inn to rest tonight.

Uzume had been stargazing for a while to relax herself after walking around the island all day. But she was done with getting lost today, and she didn't want to waste her stamina further.

With that in mind, Uzume rose from the rock chair and stretched her back.

~Interlude~

"Man, I am beat."

The inn Uzume rented was simple, and the room was not anything fancy.

It was a spacious room with dull white walls and cold, iron floor. Four lights hung on the ceiling and there were two beds lining at each side of the room. Despite the number of beds, there was still plenty of space to spare.

It was unnecessarily large, but the inn she had managed to find only had rooms this big, and Uzume didn't want to take a chance and hope to stumble upon another inn in a short period of time.

There was a fan attached to the right side of the wall between the beds, and four windows to look outside, two on the right side of the room, one of the left side, and on the wall ahead of the entrance.

The fan was something Uzume found surprising - even during her time as CPU, those machines called Air Conditioner would be the standard. She was surprised to find these classic fans in this day and age.

However, the most conspicuous looking part of the furniture was the machine with pipes connecting it to the ceiling ahead of her. Uzume had never seen anything quite like this before in Zerodimension, and not in her memories as well.

It didn't seem pretty high-tech as well. Could it be that it was from the time even before the fan was invented?

Note to self: Ask Gearsy to tell me more about techs.

Regardless, Uzume brushed aside her thoughts about the room as she threw herself to the nearest bed at the right side of the room.

...Comfy.

As her face was buried into the bed, Uzume then rolled her body sideways to face the ceiling.

"Tomorrow is the day..."

Uzume would be needed for the Festival tomorrow.

She had goosebumps just thinking about it - it would be pretty exciting, indeed.

Since the CPUs would attend the Festival as high-school students, what class everyone would be in?

Even though as goddesses Uzume and the others were pretty much the oldest beings in Gamindustri, their looks could pass for high-school girls, at the very least. Uzume would like to think she would be in her 2nd or 3rd year.

Nepsy can pass for a freshman. Gearsy will probably be her senior.

Uzume snickered to herself. Nepgear looked older than Neptune, and people had mistaken her as the older sibling several times, they had said.

What about the other CPUs? Noire and Vert seemed to be one of those adult, responsible type of goddesses, and they certainly looked the part. Maybe they would be 3rd years.

Wait a moment... what about Blansy?

...Uzume would not breach that territory. Let that be a mystery for now.

That left three Candidates; Uni, Rom and Ram. But Uzume didn't need to think much about those - they would certainly be 1st years.

We will also be doing something for the culture festival... what will we do?

So many questions, not enough answers...

Uzume had to stop these thoughts. If she kept doing this, she wouldn't get a minute of sleep tonight.

That's right... I will know all about it tomorrow.

The dream goddess closed her eyes.

"Good night, Uzume. Don't stay too long in the dreams that you love though, I will miss you."

Uzume smiled as she recalled the unforgettable words from an unforgettable person in her mind.

"How could I fall into delusion again, if your faint voice continues to echo in my heart, forever friend?"

Although, she would be dreaming for a while now...

~Interlude~

She was unlucky.

Rei was unlucky.

Her current predicament proved beyond any shadow of doubt that Rei Ryghts was the unluckiest woman in Gamindustri.

How did it come to this?

Rei was merely walking around the town, doing errands for her new job as a courier for the upcoming Festival of Four Nations.

Who had expected that a Dogoo would suddenly attack her when she was in the middle of a park?

No, it was worse.

Much worse.

Why can't I control my body?

Since a few hours ago, her body had been moving on her own. Her legs carried her somewhere she didn't even know, even though she could still see, hear, and feel things correctly.

Not just that, her mouth kept on hissing and growling like an angry beast.

Like... like...

Like a zombie?

Maybe that was what had been happening. She became a zombie.

But she didn't understand - weren't zombies supposed to be dead people getting reanimated by some sort of necromancy spell?

But the one that attacked her was a slime monster - a Dogoo!

Although, when she lost her control over her body, the Dogoo left her alone to attack another person who witnessed them, and that person got transformed into another Dogoo.

Why was she different?

...Well, not that different since I still became a zombie... hmm?

Suddenly, her body stopped moving.

All of sudden, her vision was turned from the street ahead of her, to one of the houses in the left side of the street.

Rei could tell, as her very eyes squinted against her will to focus its sight on an older-looking, but large house that wouldn't look out of place in the past civilizations.

It seems to be an inn... eh?

Suddenly, Rei's body moved toward one of the inn's entrance.

With a speed she never knew she was capable of.

Ehhhh!?

Like a feral beast, her body slammed and broke through the inn's door. Inside, there were two people, one behind the receptionist table and one in front of it, whom she could identify as the innkeeper and a security guard.

"What the hell!?" Startled, the security guard moved her hand, reaching for his trouser pocket.

Rei panicked internally. She was about to get fired-

"Grrrr!"

But all of a sudden, Rei's vision became a blur. The next thing she knew, her hand had landed a punch across the security guard's face, sending him across the room - into the innkeeper's direction.

"Wha-"

As the security guard's body collided with the inkeeper's, the momentum of he punch carried them both until they hit the wall.

Sorry! I am so sorry!

Rei's panic had increased ten-fold. She had just knocked out two innocent people! Somehow! Did becoming a zombie give her some sort of super strength?!

I am so screwed- eh?

"Dogoo!"

"Dogoo!"

The bodies of the two people she just knocked out suddenly transformed into two living, happily smiling mass of blue gelatin in the shape of waterdrops with the size of a huge pillow, or Dogoos.

...I am done for. Rei Ryghts shall be remembered as a zombie from now on.

However, just as she thought things couldn't get any worse, her body moved again on its own.

Wha- do you want to zombify the inhabitants of this inn!?

Soon after she entered the hallway inside the inn, her body quickly approached a door, no doubt belonging to a guest.

Much to her suprise, her body moved quietly this time. The hissing and growling stopped, and her hand quietly reached for door's handle.

Please, be locked!

However, her pleas were heard by none as the door opened flawlessly, and with only a faint clicking sound.

Oh, come on!

With sneaky movements, Rei entered the room.

And met the surprise of her life.

Uzume... Tennouboshi.

Rei wanted to squint her eyes, but she couldn't.

A young girl with red, long hair tied into twintails. An opened white jacket with an orange tie, and pleated shorts.

Yep, the girl sleeping inside this room was Uzume Tennouboshi. The CPU that her superiors told her, would be making her debut in the Festival.

Oh, Celestia... now I am not just a zombie, I will be branded as the zombie who zombified a goddess. My life is over.

Rei didn't even want to look anymore as her hand moved against her will to touch Uzume's head-

~Interlude~

Hatred.

Vengeance.

Despair.

Humiliation.

Those were the only things 'she' could remember.

And it would be her everything from now on.

How did I lose against 'Me'?

She bitterly remembered that duel.

How did she lose?

Thinking about it made her feel disgusted. But as it was, it was everything she could ever do now.

After she lost the chance to gain control of the body she was revived in, she had been falling into a delusion.

It was not something like the Zerodimension or Heartdimension.

This place... this place made her sick.

For some reason, her very emotions - her hatred, her anger - tormented her here.

She was angry. But that anger made her feel pain, because it reminded her of her powerlessness.

She wanted to hate. But that hatred made her feel anguish, because it reminded her of her failure, her defeat.

Was this what they call 'being consumed by your own hatred?'

Ridiculous.

Her other self had certainly trapped her here now that she was in control.

She wished she could make her pay, but she was powerless.

Her other self was the winner, so it was simply right to torment her, she supposed.

Is this it? Is this the end?

Would this be her fate from now on? To endlessly fall into delusion, so long as the body was alive? To be trapped inside the deepest part of her other self's psyche?

...Huh?

Something happened.

What was that?

Her delusion continued. She couldn't see anything here, she could only feel.

But her senses told her something just happened. She felt it.

She concentrated on her senses again. She had to understand what was happening.

...

What!?

Now she understood.

Something - someone from the outside was trying to take control of her body.

How is this possible? What is 'Me' doing? Shouldn't she defend this body?

This was outside of her expectations. Controlling a goddess' body was not possible unless the goddesses' mental state was weak.

She knew, because she had previously brainwashed four goddesses.

Foolish 'Me'! Is she trying to offer this body to someone else?

She wouldn't allow it.

She had to defend this body.

But how? She was trapped here, at the deepest part of her own psyche. She had no way, no chance to get out.

It was her fate to be here. Her failure had cost her freedom, and she would rot here.

...No, I won't give up. I am Uzume Tennouboshi.

Even if the possibility is zero... with my willpower...

I will change that!

~Interlude~

Eh?

Much to Rei's surprise, nothing happened.

Her hand had been touching Uzume's head against her will for a while now, but the CPU didn't transform into a Dogoo.

How?

Rei was relieved that she hadn't become the greatest criminal in the history of Gamindustri - not yet, anyways - but she was also confused.

Could it be because Uzume was sleeping? But that was probably not true. She - or rather, her body - knocked out two people and they still became Dogoos.

Or perhaps... CPUs are actually immune to this zombification?

If that was the case, then perhaps she was not truly unlucky.

Meanwhile, her own body seemed to be confused as the person it tried to zombify didn't change at all.

Slowly, Rei's hand finally moved to let go of the still sleeping Uzume's head.

But-

"Foolish. Who do you think you are, to think that you can possibly steal this body of mine?"

Ehhh!?

Both Rei and her body jolted in surprise and took a few steps back as suddenly, the sleeping goddess spoke in a low, condescending tone.

Sh-sh-she wakes up!

The redhead then rose from the bed - her eyes still closed and her expression neutral - and stood upright ahead of her.

Then, a pair of dark blue eyes suddenly revealed itself, staring her down with a dull, yet soul-piercing gaze.

"You don't know what you have gotten yourself into, peasant."

~Postlude~

How was it? I hope I did their characterization justice with this special occasion fanfic. Leave your thoughts and/or questions in the reviews!

In comparison to my Remember the Past fic, this fic is much more straightforward (although certainly not simple - anything involving Kurome can't be simple after all). It's going to be my headcanon for what happens after Megadimension Neptunia, and my own take of Megatagmension Blanc.

Like the other Nep fic, this one is a SIDE FIC, so I'll be updating this only when I feel like it. And I am not in any condition to type for this one anytime soon.

Hopefully you enjoyed it~ and thank you for dropping by "Megatagmension Kurome + Rei vs. Zombies"!