Chapter 1: Planeptune all the way

Amadeus' POV

"Oh my…." I trailed off seeing the huge tower in front of me and the ring around the whole thing. This is usually the part where I make yet another wisecrack, but I'm in too much awe to do anything besides drool at the architecture of the whole thing.

"Are you coming or what?" a voice snapped me out of my reverie I looked at Neptune (the purple haired woman from before) and she was clearly enjoying my awestruck expression.

"Yeah" I tore my eyes away from the architectural marvel and walked closer to the tower. I continued walking towards the door of the tower, until I realized that the two women, Neptune and Nepgear, were looking at me with a confused expression.

"Aren't you two coming?" I asked and they just smirked at me.

"There's a more convenient entrance than going through the door, ekko" Neptune said, while she just continued to smirk. Eh?

I looked up and saw that there was some sort of balcony bridging out from the side of the building. You think I would've noticed that by now. Wait a minute…..I looked at the sisters, who were still smirking at me by the way, then back at the balcony. Sisters – balcony. Sisters – balcony.

I think my expression said something like: Don't even think about….

Before I could answer both of them grabbed a hold of my hand and not a second later I was in the air; getting farther from the safety of ground. Flailing wouldn't help, so I just stayed frozen as a statue.

Gulp. Help me.

The trip was mercifully short considering the speed that they flew, which was the main reason why I was a little shaken up. I dropped to the ground with great relief and looked at the two sisters. Nepgear looked a little apologetic and sincere, Neptune, on the other hand, was wearing a pleased and amused smirk on her face. Character change much? In the prologue, this woman was all business and formal, now well…she's like a teenage girl in a curvy woman's body.

Who could blame me for being a little shaken up? I just fell from the sky just a chapter ago. You can't me expect to be alright with just being picked up off the ground by a pair of winged fairy-people.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked a little shaky on my feet, but recovering somewhat.

"Well we do need to get up to this floor. Indeed it was." Neptune said matter-of-factly. Is she really going with this excuse?

"I'm not from this dimension, but I'm pretty sure you have what's called an elevator most buildings have it" At this point, I wasn't the least bit shaky. I was just wisecracking again, trying to make them laugh.

They giggled somewhat before….glowing? Fairy-people can do that? I haven't read that in any of the fairytales I read when I was a kid.

Neptune and Nepgear didn't have wings anymore it looked like they were just girls about the same age as me. Wait a second, weren't they a couple of curvy women just a few seconds ago. You know, before they glowed like a lamp. I know there's a wisecrack in here somewhere, but I'm too busy trying to figure how in the world they can do this.

"Okay, so now that that's out of the way. Let me show you around" the (younger?) Neptune said before sticking her tongue out at me cutely. Okay, so I was more right, than I originally thought.

She looked at me a little scrutinizing and said: "we may have to pick up a few clothes for you too" huh?

I looked down at my clothes and was surprised to see that they have somehow stayed intact the whole time. I looked at them, then back at my clothes. I was wearing a printed shirt under a black coat with black jeans and a pair of converse. Okay, so maybe I would stand out in this outfit, but I seriously doubt that they would have anything that fitted me.

"So….." I started to say because the silence was getting a little eerie. "You have clothes prepared for people that unexpectedly come to your dimension using an inter-dimensional portal? This must happen a lot more often than I thought. How many visitors, like me do you get." I said lightly trying to break the silence. I'm a genius, billionaire, and inventor alright, but I'm as carefree as a happy-go-lucky teenager.

Nepgear giggled slightly before smiling, while Neptune was….well; let's just say that Neptune wasn't so concerned about maintaining her composure. Her eyes were starting to tear up from her laughter.

"Not exactly" Nepgear said "We have friends who visit us from a parallel dimension from time to time, but not from an entirely new dimension"

"You're the first one to visit us who's not from there, so congrats welcome to Gamindustri." Neptune announced cheerfully. Sigh, that kind of energy's gonna be hard to keep up with.

"In between falling from the sky, crashing to the ground and being threatened to be killed by three fairy-ladies, this is the most proper welcome I've had yet. So, thanks" I said as a wisecrack, which made her laugh again.

"Hey guys" Neptune greeted cheerily to….a brunette wearing an overly-large trench coat and a girl with peach-colored hair wearing a white sweater.

"Who's that nep-nep?" The peach hair-colored girl asked happily. nep-nep? I assume that these were her friends then. Just a guess, but people don't just simply give other people nicknames.

"Yeah, I've never seen him before either" the brunette eyebrows creased in confusion and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Looks like another girl from this dimension who wants to take my head off.

"He's not from around here, guys. He came through the portal in the sky that we found" Nepgear explained to them.

"Yeah, histy wanted to know more about him and where he came from. So, he's gonna be crashing with us for a while." Neptune said in casual relief. If I had to make a guess this histy person wasn't really fond of Neptune.

Translation: I'm Neptune's ticket to slack-off city.

"Yeah, right you probably just want to keep histoire busy so that you can slack off" the brunette said before sighing and shaking her head. I knew it.

"Don't be lame, iffy. Besides, he needs a tour of this world and who better to do it than me. I am the main character after all" Neptune proclaimed in a proud tone as she pumped her fist in the air.

I blinked. Did she really just break the fourth wall in that last sentence? No fair. I'm the one who breaks the fourth wall with my thoughts. This girl is stealing my style.

"You hungry?" the peach-colored girl asked and smiled at me warmly. Well, at least, this girl isn't out take my head off. I was about to answer, when…a gurgling sound cut me off. Nepgear tried to stifle her giggle, while Neptune…..well she was practically rolling on the floor. I just ducked my head in embarrassment.

"Don't worry Ekko, Compa's gonna make a huge breakfast just for us" Nepgear said a little smilingly.

"Cuz, it looks like you're gonna need it" Neptune said happily, before winking at me and taking a seat next to the girl named iffy.

"Well, when you put it like that" I walked slowly and took a seat across Neptune. "Travelling to a different dimension did make me a little hungry." I said a little happily, seeing as they seem to welcome me. Even iffy was smiling at me. it was only a small smile, but it's more than before.

The kitchen and dining room was a basic futuristic set up. I said basic because it looked like a typical penthouse kitchen and because there were some gadgets lazing around, but it was nowhere near as advanced as the one I had. Somehow, that gave me a sense of relief and content.

I looked over to the girl cooking our breakfast, trying to see what she's cooking for…

I think my jaw just dropped wide open, when I saw the size of her frying pan. It looked like it was half the size of the table that we were going to eat on. Compa noticed my wide-eyed expression and asked in her sweet tone.

"You've never seen a frying pan before?"

It took me a minute to get over my shock. "I have, but I didn't think that the ones in this dimension would be the size of a coffee table" I said with a nervous laugh at the end. She just giggled at me and she was soon joined by the other girls around the table.

"It's sort of necessary, Ekko." She said as she reached to the side pulling out….is that supposed to be an egg? At least, I think it's an egg, but it was roughly the size of the frying pan itself. Man, is everything in this dimension super-sized. "It would be hard to cook this on a small frying pan now wouldn't it?" she said smilingly at me, before she wacked the egg with the frying pan, twice.

"I guess, I can't argue with that logic" I said feeling a little unhinged at the sight of the egg's contents oozing into the 'frying pan'. I felt a little better when I heard some normal sizzling noises coming from the kitchen.

"Don't worry your pretty little head too much, Ekko. You might even ask for seconds" Neptune said, while putting her hands behind her head. She was really laid back and carefree now, which was weird considering the fact that she was all serious when I first met her. I looked at the kitchen again.

"I'm not so sure about that. I'm not used to eating an omelet that's bigger than me" I said and Neptune laughed happily. For some reason, I smiled at the sound.

...

"So, this world is called Gamindustri. It has four countries: Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. Each country is ruled by its own CPU." Neptune was currently walking and talking, while she explained the basics of this new world. IF, Compa and Nepgear came along with us as well "Planeptune is ruled by yours truly and my sister Nep Jr." as she said this Nepgear blushed before looking down. These two must be really close.

"Lastation is ruled by Noire and her sister, Uni"

"I better steer clear of Lastation then" I said as a wisecrack, which made her laugh a little.

"Yeah probably best, Noire can be a hothead and all business sometimes" I raised an eyebrow at her. She looked at me before giggling.

"Okay, she can be a hothead and all business most of the time" I raised my eyebrow higher and smirked. I knew Noire well enough to know that what she was saying wasn't true. The others tried to stifle their giggles.

"Okay, okay. She's a hothead and all business all the time." I smiled at her and dropped my eyebrow.

"See, now that wasn't so hard to admit now was it?" I said and she just giggled.

"Yeah, but she isn't so bad once you get to know her" she said and I just smiled politely at her. I don't think that I'll ever get the chance to get to know her.

"Lowee, is ruled by Blanc and her sisters; Rom and Ram" she explained. I recalled her calling someone Blanc in the prologue.

"Yet, another country I should steer clear of" I said and she just looked at me with careless smile.

"Not exactly, she was just caught in the heat of the moment, that's all. Besides, her sisters are a different story; you're going to love them. By now, she would've cooled off already" I just nodded politely. I wasn't sure about the last part.

"And Leanbox is ruled by Vert" I noted the absence of sister/s.

"Doesn't she have a sister?" I inquired and she just shrugged.

"No, but she really wants one so bad. She was fondling Nep Jr. before, right sis?" Neptune asked Nepgear with a smile, while the girl in question just started stuttering, before looking down on the ground. I had to laugh as well. I never actually heard of a case like this before, but it sure sounded funny.

"I bet you took that well" I said to Neptune and she just blushed before turning her head away childishly.

"Oh look were here" IF said and I was surrounded by some futuristic-looking buildings. I could still see the sky, but I just felt so surrounded. The spacing of the buildings weren't too bad either; there was plenty of space, but I don't think that space was relatively necessary. I looked up and I saw several, transparent and tube-like bridges that had people in it.

Wow, I feel like I'm back in the U.S. again.

"So, what do you think?" Neptune asked with a smile on her face. I gave a long whistle, still looking around, and said.

"Reminds me a little bit of where I came from" I said, while nodding my head. I knew that they were probably going to ask about my world so I changed the subject quickly. "So, where's our first stop oh, majestic goddess of this futuristic society known by the name of planeptune?" I said giving my voice a royal tone, which made everyone laugh, except for IF who was trying to hide a smile.

"Well, how about we show you how people earn money here" If suggested and I just nodded my head. That's a good start as any. I mean, if this was going to be a new reality then I should at least learn how to earn income myself.

"Okay, so the best place to start would be at a guild." If said before walking ahead.

"Guild?"

"It's where people can choose a quest, ekko." Nepgear explained "When you finish the quest you'll get the reward" I nodded.

Why do I feel like I just entered and MMO or RPG video game? Well, I think this is going to be a bit easy. If it's anything like the games that I played then this should be second nature to me.

The guild itself looked like an overly large futuristic tavern of some sort. Somewhere along the way, Neptune and Nepgear were called back to the basillicom, but they said that they'll be joining us later to help with our quests.

We entered the building and everybody stopped whatever they were doing and looked at us, well more specifically they were looking at me.

Sigh, the classic "stranger walks into a bar and everything goes silent" cliché

We walked further into the bar and soon all eyes were on us (me). As we went I heard murmurs from the tables around the whole guild.

"Who do you think he is?"

"Beats me, he doesn't look from around here, Lastation maybe."

"He looks cute, doesn't he?"

"I wonder what he's doing with those two."

"He could do better."

"Maybe, they're just here to help him pick up a quest"

Sigh, seriously? Even here, I'm a popular bachelor? It was fun at first; back in my own world, but it can get really annoying most of the time. I just kept a straight face. Hopefully, they won't say anything more about me.

We reached some sort of bulletin board that had random pieces of paper stuck to it, but when I got a closer look I saw that they were quests. All of them had a certain ranking, from D to A.

"So, what do you think?" Compa asked me in her sweet tone. I looked at her and back at the quests. They were mostly hunting quests and to be honest I was a little light in the weapons category.

"I think I'm a little light in the hunting category" I said to them honestly, while looking down.

"Oh, right" IF said and face-palmed herself, as if she wished that she had thought of that in the first place. "Even if you chose a gathering quest it's still better to have some means of protecting yourself"

"…"

"Alright, then let's see what we can get for you" IF said before we exited the guild.

"How many credits do you have?" IF asked while we were walking. Eh?

"I have no idea to be honest." I can't really expect that my accounts were transported here now can I?

"hmmm" IF said in thought. "Don't you ever hunt in your world?" she asked finally.

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing" Compa said.

"Ummm" I pondered for a moment. How can I phrase this without overwhelming them with complex information? "Well I don't really need to hunt or gather or work on a job per se." I waited for that to sink in. they nodded in assessment so I continued. "I'm sort of an inventor and in my world lots of people purchase my inventions. So, technically I don't have to hunt" this conversation was approaching a topic that I didn't particularly want talk about.

"Wow, for real?" Compa inquired and I just nodded my head.

"Well that makes a lot of sense, you don't particularly look like a hunter" IF stated with a shrug. Ouch, my ego hurts.

"Whoa whoa, slow down there trench coat girl I may be an inventor, but that doesn't mean I don't have any other hobbies" I had a lot of other hobbies, but more than half of those hobbies involved my intelligence.

"Oh, yeah?" She said, skepticism dripping in her voice.

"Is that a challenge?" I inquired and she just smiled at me, with a hint of expectancy and anticipation.

"Hey, guys maybe we should take it down a notch" Compa said trying diffuse the competitiveness that was lingering in the air. I knew that I was walking in to her trap, but I wanted to show that her challenge is going to be easily beaten.

It was too late; we made a beeline back to the guild and ran like we were being chased by a horde of zombies. This girl is so going to get it now.

"Okay then, mister inventor" IF said as we made our way to the highlands in the outskirts of planeptune "first one to finish his quest wins the game"

This girl is SOOOO going to get it now. Once we were back in the guild we chose a simple, but sufficiently lengthy hunting quest.

"So the first one to hunt 50 Dogoos is the winner, then" I summarized. We stopped and we were in a valley of some sorts that were filled with these blue, slime-like creatures that had a dog's face, ears and tail. I assumed that these were the Dogoos.

"On three" she said readying her weapons. I had other plans in mind. I had an electrical gun with me that I whipped up in the last minute. "three" she launched into the middle of the valley; clearly intent on hitting any dogoo that shows itself to her.

I, on the other hand, stood perfectly still; observing the dogoos' movement patterns, calculating their most likely locations, estimating how many of them were still hiding. I was in the zone; trying to devise several tactics and strategies to achieve the goal in the most efficient way possible. A full minute passed and IF was already a quarter over, but she was getting piled on by the dogoos.

Another beat of silence. I launched myself into the valley, feeling the wind rush through my face as I rocketed into the middle of the onslaught. I aimed my gun and took down five dogoos that were in front of me. I stopped and did a 180 degree spin blasting away at the 8 dogoos behind me.

This felt so natural. I could predict where each dogoo was. I launched in a flurry of aiming and firing at specific spots. Soon enough, I had finished my quest, while IF….well, let's just say that IF isn't in the best situation for a female.

The dogoos were licking at her in places that I knew girls don't want to be licked in. I let out a sigh before propelling myself towards her, picking off the dogoos one by one.

After the friendly competition, IF was practically burned out. She was lying on the ground, while breathing heavily. Compa was fixing her up seeing that she was a little beat up.

"How did you do that?" IF asked looking at me.

"I just aimed and pulled the trigger" I said with shrug, while giving her a sympathetic smile.

"I meant how did…you know did that" she gestured to the slimes that the dogoos left behind. I knew what she was talking about.

"I just devised some tactics and strategies before rushing in" I said smilingly and she sighed.

"I guess I should've thought of that before I rushed in like that, huh?"

"Yes, yes you should've" I said, while offering her a hand to pull herself up with.

"hahahahahaha" Neptune tried(?) to control her giggling fits, when we told her about our little hunting quest. We were currently having tea in the basillicom, while we retold the story about what happened in valley on our hunting quest. Neptune was laughing her pants off, while Nepgear was politely giggling.

"Are you sure that you're not the big sister Nepgear?" I asked picking up my cup of tea. "You seem to act more mature than your sister does"

She smiled at me before saying "Yeah, we get that a lot, but Neptune can be really mature, when she wants to" I just nodded at that.

"You don't say?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that I can be plenty mature. I blame the writer for making me look so childish in this chapter" Neptune said with a cute pout.

"Besides, Neptune don't you remember the time that all of us got ambushed by those dogoo?" IF said calmly enjoying her tea.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Noire was so uptight back then." Neptune said with a smile.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I asked. I was curious as to what happened during that day.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you weren't here back then" Neptune started before clearing her throat and putting her hands on the back of her head. "Well, it all started when we went to visit lactation. I wanted Noire to teach me some pointers on becoming a better CPU"

"hahahahahahahaha" I was rolling on the floor as soon as Neptune finished her story, while Compa, Nepgear, and IF just looked down. "Oh man, I guess IF didn't take that very well"

"No she didn't" Neptune, being Neptune, was carefree and happy while she retold the story.

"Those poor dogoos" I said, while laughing. "But wait, why were you trying be a better CPU weren't you doing better before?" I asked and she looked away blushing, while histoire cleared her throat.

"No she wasn't, and she still isn't" histoire said in a tone that can only be described as a teacher disappointed with her student. "Amadeus, CPU's are goddesses that are supposed to work tirelessly for the good of their people and as you can see…" she gestured to Neptune, who took on a look of mock hurt.

"Harsh" she whined, while pouting.

"Wait, so what happens if she doesn't work hard enough" I inquired, my interest was piqued with what histoire said.

"The hearts of the people will start to drift away from Neptune, the energy in the sharecite crystal will decline, and eventually crash" Histoire said in a serious tone.

I leaned back in my chair and sure enough, the gears in my head were starting to whirl with ideas on how to help Neptune out. She was kind enough to let me live in the basillicom. The least I could do was by doing her a little favor by wrangling up some support for her. The question is how?

I felt like my body was in some sort of stasis, while my mind kicked into overdrive.

"Hello anybody home" I heard Neptune's voice, but I didn't pay any attention.

Most of the population here is comprised of women and quite possibly I'm the only male here. I saw the looks of the girls back in the guild; they looked a little love struck. Maybe I can get them to listen to me and then afterwards I can show how generous their goddess is.

"Histy, I think you broke him" Neptune said, while I felt a knocking sensation on the side of my head.

"Whaaa" Histy said disbelievingly.

Based on their expressions, it's safe to assume that they want to see me more often. In that case, I can make it look like it was because of Neptune that I would be staying here for a while. They'll most likely be thankful to their goddess for allowing me to stay here.

"heeeeellllllllooooo, Is Ekko in their somewhere" the knocking on the side of my head increased.

However, telling them that I would be staying in the basillicom might have the opposite effect. I hated playing with this strategy even in the human world, but if it'll help Neptune with her shares then…..

My eyes shot open and I stood up in my chair like invisible strings pulled me up; startling everybody since they were in close proximity with my face.

"I have an idea" with that I propelled myself out of the room.

I was standing in front of the same bulletin board not really looking for a quest, but I was just waiting for…

"hey, there"

That. I turned around to face whoever approached and gave the most dazzling smile I could manage. Five girls were all looking at me expectantly and looking a little dazzled. They all looked like they were a member of this guild.

"Wha-what are you looking for?" the first girl spoke up looking a little flushed.

I sighed and gave the most forlorn expression I could manage. "I'm just looking for a quest to make some quick cash. Since I was allowed to stay here, I better learn how to earn some income real fast, right?" I said looking at them through my lashes giving them a sad smile. They all began whispering rapidly.

This is way too easy.

"A-a-allowed to st-stay here?" they asked in unison and I just nodded my head.

"Lady purple heart was generous enough to let me stay in this country, as well as, pointed me to this guild saying that this is the best way for me to make some income. So, I guess she's the reason as to why I'll be here more often." I said giving them a confident smile. Their eyes went as wide as plates and their smiles stretched from ear to ear. "I guess I'll see you girls around" I started walking away towards the exit and as I went, I heard the excited giggles and frantic whispers all around me.

"Did you hear that?"

"OMG, Lady purple heart pointed him to this guild, sweet"

"I can't believe that he'll be here every day"

"He's so cute"

"THANK YOU, LADY NEPTUNE"

I smirked to myself, all according to plan. Hopefully this would at least boost their shares up even a little bit.

I stopped just outside the guild, when I heard a particular noise from the inside. I looked back and was greeted by several girls running towards me with heart eyes. I sprinted towards the city, knowing that I couldn't go back to the basillicom yet.

"This wasn't part of the plan" I said to myself as I ran from the stream of fan girls.

I hope Neptune appreciates this.

Neptune's POV

I wonder that was about? I thought to myself as I watched where Ekko ran out. Probably just wanted to look around some more, I guess. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"What do you think that was about?" Iffy asked.

"Beats me, maybe he just wanted to look around the city by himself." I said with a smile and a shrug.

"But isn't it weird how his body sort of shut down like that" Compa said with concern.

"I guess"

"I don't think his body shut down at all, maybe he was just thinking about what Histoire said" Nep Jr. said. histy cleared her throat.

"Speaking of what I said" histy started before pulling on her glasses and putting up a chart-thingy. Oh man I hate getting lectured "let me remind you that we're still knee-deep in a…" Histy trailed off. Seeming a little startled.

"What's wrong histy?" she looked at me disbelievingly before looking at the rest of us with the same expression.

"It seems that our share energy in our crystal has just begun to rise rapidly" histy said a little surprised. "This is quite so sudden, let me focus here" Histy said before closing her eyes. "It seems that several guild members have begun to show their thanks to you Neptune and their faith and support for you is beginning to grow with each passing minute. I wonder what brought this on."

"Sweet" I exclaimed. Whoever's doing this has done me a huge favor.

Nepstation.

"You're watching nepstation" Neptune said a little cheerily "today, we have some great news for planeptune, cuz our shares just went sky high, which means more screen time for the main character."

"Neptune, don't you think we should find out what caused this in the first place?" Nepgear said.

"Yeah, but that'll be for the next chapter" Neptune said cheekrly "and besides it's not like Blanc is going to come barging in on me again like the last time our shares went up, right?"

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Blanc literally came out of the blue, along with the other two CPU's and their little sisters

"Whoa, didn't expect to see you guys here" Neptune said surprisingly.

"We came to talk to you about something, Neptune" Vert said.

"awww, you're not going to blame me again like last time are you?" Neptune said with a pout.

"You are never going let us forget that are you?" Noire said a little irate.

"Nope. Anyway, that's all the time we've got. Tune in next time."

So, this is the first chapter for this series of short stories, guys. Please review to tell me what you think and I will try my best to respond to each and every one of them. Every chapter should be a stand-alone, but chapters may refer to previous chapters as well. Nevertheless, each chapter will have its own plot.

If you're wondering about the dogoo story, then please refer to episode one of the anime

Skullcandyklive-until next time.