Neptune kept pacing back and forth in front of the purple portal inside her Basilicom as seven pairs of eyes looked at her. Each of the other CPUs, and her sister, watched her with worry. Thoughts of confusion swirled in everyone's minds as Neptune appeared to become more frustrated by the second.
"Why are they taking so long?" Neptune complained, "Gosh darnit."
"Neptune, who exactly are they and why have you been keeping us this long?" Noire asked, crossing her arms and looking at Neptune with a mildly irritated expression.
"Oh trust me, Noire~ I'm very sure you'll like who I'm introducing you to." Neptune said, her enthusiasm coming back to her.
Just as Neptune said the last few words, Big Neptune came out of the portal with a smile on her face, "Yahoo~! Hello everyone. We've arrived~."
Following Big Neptune out of the portal were four girls. Each dressed differently and of varying heights, but they all held the same curious and excited expression.
The first one to appear from the portal was a girl with an orange and white dress, as well as white gloves that reached up to her shoulder. She also had white tights and orange shoes. A single d-pad clip rested on her short orange hair. Her blue eyes twinkled with joy as she saw Neptune. Neptune recognised her as Jupiter, the CPU of Planeptune.
Next up, was a girl wearing a black business suit with a white shirt underneath and a blue tie. A blue pin with Lastation's logo on it pinned on her suit. She had a black skirt and knee-length black socks. Her black shoes had a small white circle on them and her hair was tied in a ponytail. She looked at Noire and Uni with her crimson eyes before smiling. Azure, Lastation's CPU.
Next up, was the smallest of the four girls. She was wearing an overcoat with two colours, her left side was blue while her right was red. White puffballs went down the middle of her overcoat. A similarly coloured hat rested on her brown hair, with a grey square split in half in the middle of the hat. She was wearing grey tights, and a blue and red boot. She held her arms close to her as she noticed Blanc and her sisters, her differently coloured eyes shone with enthusiasm and surprise. Marin, the CPU from Lowee.
And last but not least, came out the tallest of the four. She was wearing a sleeveless green dress that reached down to her knees. White gloves with golden embroidery decorated her hands. She had white boots that reached up to her knees with a slight high heel . Her blonde hair fell behind her back. Her gaze was fixed on Vert, her golden eyes not moving from her. The CPU of Leanbox - Jade.
"Neptune…? Who are these?" Vert was the first to speak up as she looked back at Jade with interest.
"I'll tell ya in a sec, Vert." Neptune said, "No Nep Jr. though?"
"I'm here, Neptune." Nepgear raised her hand enthusiastically.
Neptune turned to her with a smile, "Hehe. Guess it's confusing, it's the other Nepgear."
"Oh. That other Me." Nepgear said, "I wanted to meet her..."
"Another Nepgear?" Uni said, looking slightly flustered.
"Well, Small Me… Nepgear was running some errands for Histoire, so she'll be here later. I'll wait for her.~" Big Neptune said before jumping into the portal.
Neptune giggled before looking at the new CPUs, "Well, hello ladies. It's been a while, eh?"
"Yep.~" Jupiter replied with a smile, "We've been doing our best since you left."
"You'd be impressed about the amount of progress our nations have gone through." Azure said with a small smug smile.
Neptune nodded and smiled before turning to the other CPUs, "Well, I bet the suspense is killing you! So, here I present to you… Your successors!" Neptune extended her hands and gestured at the girls. Almost as if she expected flashing lights and explosions from her reveal - luckily, there were none.
The other CPUs took a step back. A confused expression in each of their faces - just like Neptune wanted. Apart from Nepgear, Neptune had not told any of them about her adventures in the other dimension.
Neptune smiled at Jupiter first, "Jupiter, could you wait with Nepgear please?" She said sweetly, pointing at Nepgear with her head.
Jupiter smiled and walked next to Nepgear. They smiled at each other before looking back at Neptune.
"Okay okay. Let's do this one by one." Neptune said before leading Azure towards Noire and Uni, "Noire, Uni. This here is Azure." She gestured at Azure, "I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about, so please~ take your time."
"Azure huh?" Noire said, her hand on her hip, "You look so much like Kei."
Azure smiled kindly at Noire and Uni, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both."
"Pleasure's mine." Noire said, "I never thought I'd see my own successor. So, tell me, what happened to the me in… well, your dimension?"
Azure laughed nervously, "I think we should talk about that… later."
"Is it that bad?" Uni asked, "Oh and… Pleased to meet you, Azure."
Neptune smiled as she saw the Lastation CPUs conversing. Satisfied with the result there, she walked towards Marin and led her towards Blanc and her sisters. As they approached them, Ram excitedly walked forwards while Rom hid behind Blanc, her eyes timidly looking at Marin.
"Now now, Rom." Blanc said, smiling reassuringly at her sister, "I'm sure she's nice."
Rom nodded timidly, "I… hope." She said.
"Who's she? Who's she?" Ram said, circling around Neptune, "My name's Ram, nice to meet you!"
"Enthusiastic, Ram?" Neptune said with a smile. She stopped in front of Blanc, with Marin at her side, "Blanc, Rom, Ram. This here is Marin."
"Hi..." Marin said shyly, "Nice… to meet you… Miss Blanc…. Miss Rom… Miss Ram..."
"Miss?" Ram said, "We look nearly the same age! Isn't that right, Rom?"
"Right, Ram~." Rom replied as she left Blanc's side and smiled at Marin.
Blanc looked at Marin with a soft smile, "So you're my successor, huh? Nice to meet you."
Marin giggled softly at Blanc's words. She was glad to see her predecessors.
"Hey, Blanc." Neptune said, "Marin is a fan of your books as well~."
"Wait. Huh?!" Blanc exclaimed, looking at Neptune with disbelief before looking at Marin, "You've… Read my books?"
"Mhm." Marin nodded with a smile, "I like… Them. But… There are some complex words…"
"You've read her books? Then you must've seen our drawings!" Ram exclaimed cheerfully.
"There… Were a few drawings…" Marin remembered.
"Would you like to draw with us, Marin? We got this paper~!" Ram said, taking out a book with a brown cover and smiling mischievously.
"T-that's-! You bastards!" Blanc fumed, her eyes obscured by a shadow and a single red eye present, "You were going to draw on my latest novel!"
"Uh oh." Ram said, "Rom! Let's run away!"
"Run away." Rom agreed.
"Let's go, Marin!" Ram said, taking Marin's hand and running away from Blanc.
"Come back here!" Blanc shouted as she ran behind her sisters and Marin. They ran out of the Basilicom and into some rooms near the back.
Neptune smirked and snorted. Just as planned~!
"Vert, right?" Neptune heard Jade say. She turned around and saw Jade talking with Vert.
"Quite right. And you are…?" Vert replied, looking at Jade from head to toe.
"Jade. Pleased to finally met you, Vert." Jade smiled, looking at Vert with admiring eyes.
"Hmm." Vert hummed as she stopped near Jade's chest. She rested her chin on her hand, "Are you sure you're from Leanbox?"
"H-huh?!" Jade said with a shocked face, "M-my chest has nothing to do with that! I'm quite apt as a CPU."
"Do you at least like BL manga? 4 Goddesses Online?" Vert questioned Jade.
"Umm… Well." Jade hesitated. She looked around herself, making sure no one was near as she whispered the answer, "Yes."
"Hmm." Vert said, looking Jade once again. She suddenly hugged her, "Oh my. You're like a little sister then!" She said happily, "We have to play 4 Goddesses Online together one day!"
Neptune simply stood back, looking at Jade uncomfortably smiling at Vert as she became excited at the notion of having Jade as a little sister.
"Oh goodness, I'm late." A voice said, stepping out from the portal. Neptune looked in her direction.
Stepping out from the portal, came a girl that looked like Nepgear, except she was wearing a different colour than Nepgear, and she was slightly taller. She wore two d-pad clips, one white and one black. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. She looked around the room shyly.
Neptune cheerfully jumped towards her, "Nepgear!" She said happily as she hugged her, "I'm glad you could come.~"
"I had to. I missed you Neptune." She said with a smile.
"And that's everyone.~" Big Neptune said as she stepped out of the portal, "I'll go grab some pudding. Tell me when they wish to return, small me!" She called out as she walked away.
"Okay big me!" Neptune called out.
"Another me?" Nepgear said as she approached Neptune and… Nepgear.
"Oooh~ This'll be confusing." Neptune turned to the other Nepgear, "Are you okay being Big Nepgear?"
"Big Nepgear…?" She muttered, "Yes. That's okay." Big Nepgear nodded.
"So ummm. Big Me?" Nepgear said, "Oh that felt weird." She muttered before finishing her question, "Neptune told me you created some… robots?"
"Heh well..." Big Nepgear said, scratching the back of her head nervously, "I did."
"Could you teach me?" Nepgear asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement, "I haven't been able to create AI as complex as the one Neptune told me you made, or robots like the ones you made. Please~?" She begged.
"Oh goodness..." Big Nepgear muttered, "I'll try my best." She gave Nepgear a smile.
"Yay.~" Nepgear said happily.
Neptune left the Nepgears to talk with each other and approached Jupiter, who was looking at her with a smile.
"Been a while, Neptune." Jupiter said.
"Too long, Jupiter." Neptune replied with a smile, "How have things been over there?"
"Well, they've been fine so far." Jupiter said, "We've started developing our nations and trading with each other, as well as collaboration between our nations. But… there's something that's been bothering me."
"Hm? What is it, Jupiter?" Neptune inquired.
"Well, I've been having these dreams recently..." Jupiter said, "They're… quite cryptic. I see a huge beast in this red land with a red sky… And a console I've never seen before. What do you think they mean?"
Neptune looked at her. She had a pretty good guess at what those dreams meant, but she didn't want to say anything in case she was wrong, "Well, Jupiter. I'm not really sure, but don't let them bother you."
"Okay, Neptune."
"Come back here, you littl-" Blanc's voice echoed through the Basilicom before she stopped. She looked in Big Nepgear's direction, "Nepgear…?"
"Two Nepgears!" Ram exclaimed, before glancing at Blanc and hoping she had calmed down. She quietly slipped the book inside her pocket, keeping it for later.
"Oh, hello everyone." Big Nepgear said before laughing nervously.
Soon, the CPUs had approached Big Nepgear. She looked at each of them, guilt welling up inside her.
"So, you're the Nepgear from that dimension..." Noire mused, "But then, what happened the rest of us?"
"That is indeed quite strange." Vert added.
"Well, I..." Big Nepgear started, a few tears forming in her eyes, "I… Killed you."
A silence fell over the Basilicom. No one dared to speak. Big Nepgear hung her head low. Ever since Neptune had told her she could come to her dimension, she had feared meeting the other CPUs. The guilt of what she had done hadn't left her yet and…
Rom and Ram approached Big Nepgear and gave her a hug. They smiled at her, and she smiled back.
"Killed us, uh?" Blanc said, breaking the silence, "If you did that, Nepgear, I'm sure there must've been a reason."
"It's unlike you." Noire agreed, "So, it must've been important, whatever you did."
"It was… to defeat the Deity of Sin..." Big Nepgear admitted.
Vert nodded, "Dear Nepgear, don't beat yourself up. I'm sure it wasn't easy."
"It wasn't." Big Nepgear agreed, "And… I never got to say it before… so..."
"What is it, Nepgear?" Uni asked.
"I hope you forgive me." Big Nepgear said, "I know you're not the ones from my own dimension but…"
The CPUs looked at each other and nodded in agreement, "We forgive you, Nepgear." They said together.
"Thank you..." Big Nepgear said, "I'm glad I could hear those words..."
"Okay, okay everyone!" Neptune called out, "We have all the time in the world so, get to know your successors now." She turned to the New CPUs that were looking at them with a smile, "And you can finally spend time with your predecessors." She said with a smile.
"Sounds like a plan." Noire said, "I'm surprised that this came from Neptune."
"Neptune does come up with the weirdest of ideas." Blanc agreed, "But, I like the sound of it."
"Oh indeed!" Vert said cheerfully, "Come on, Jade! We have a lot of time to spend as sisters!" She said, approaching Jade and dragging her away.
"Hey! Vert!" She exclaimed as Vert dragged her out of the Planeptune Basilicom.
Everyone looked at the Leanbox CPUs leaving the Basilicom before laughing with each other. They eventually left as well, each of them going to their respective nations with their successor.
Nepgear looked at her bigger self with interest, "So… would you like me to show you around my lab?"
"I'd be happy if you did." Big Nepgear replied, and they disappeared into Nepgear's lab.
Jupiter smiled at Neptune, "Time to see your nation, eh?"
"Yep.~" Neptune replied, "C'mon, Jupiter. We have a lot to catch up on!"
