Stage 21: Start!
It was a beautiful day in Gamindustri. The Makers were moving about doing their work, the NPCs were casually interacting, and battles between the Fighters were still ongoing. There were thankfully no incidents like Segata Sanshiro's unannounced arrival, Crazy Hand summoning an Eggplant Wizard, or Waluigi's temper tantrum, so things were finally able to go like clockwork.
With this established peace in mind, Neptune was eager to get to some gameplay! She hadn't been able to play as many games as she normally would with the busy environment, doing her part to help maintain the Smash Tournament, leaving a lot of games unattended on the shelves. But thankfully, with this lull of peace, she might finally get her chance!
"My delightful Zero Dimension for Neptune Warriors," Neptune said happily, "you're finally mine! Gonna fire up my Nep Flip and get it going!" She reached for her console, ready to get the game in order, only for Nepgear to rush over!"
"Neptune!" she said. "We got a situation! The others are asking for your help to fix the systems in the Mario Maker Stage!"
Neptune balked! "B-but-!" she said. "Can't somebody else help with that? Do they really need me?"
"They insist that you come over!" Nepgear said.
Neptune whined dramatically as she got up and moved over to help.
The situation took a few hours, but thankfully it was done before long and Neptune was allowed to move back to her Basilicom! "Finally over!" she said. "Now I can get to my game!" Or so she thought.
Just as she was about to jump up and transform, she felt the hood of her jacket pulled on! She turned to see Noire standing right behind her with a stack of paper in her hand. "Not so fast, you," she said. "You got more work to do!"'
"Huh!?" Neptune said. "Come on Noire! I want to go play my game!"
"No way," Noire said. "We all have to work on documents just as much as we have to do heavy lifting! And just to make sure you actually do it, you're gonna do it here so I can keep an eye on you! Hop to it!"
Neptune whined again as she slumped over, marching over to finish the work. That alone took a few hours as well, but finally it was done, and Neptune leapt up with a newfound enthusiasm once more! "Finally! Done with that too!" she said. "Now I can finally go and-gah!"
"Nope," Blanc said, dropping her hammer in front of Neptune, bringing her to a grounding halt before she could run more than two feet! "You and I are needed to oversee try-outs for new Fighters."
"Eh!?" Neptune said. "I thought we didn't get any say in what new Fighters are brought over! Didn't Mr. Sakurai say that the next few Fighters were all his choices!?"
"We're gonna input on how they can be translated to a Fighter," Blanc said. "Now move it."
Neptune whined more dramatically than ever as she was dragged by Blanc by the hood of her skirt over to the tryouts.
For the next several weeks, this was how it was for Neptune. Every time she thought she'd get to not only play a game, but just do something she wanted to in general, some other task was brought to her by Noire, Blanc, Vert, Nepgear, Uni, or somebody that got her totally distracted! It was an agonizing process, as she wanted nothing more than a chance to enjoy herself, but was stopped at every single conceivable turn as the workload she had on her was just too much!
Things eventually came to a head, as Sonic and Mario were stopping by the Planeptower to pick her up for her first task that day.
"Why do you think they sent us to grab her instead of coming here themselves?" Sonic asked, referring to the other CPUs.
"Because-a they're a bit-a too preoccupied," Mario replied.
The elevator came to a halt, the two entering Neptune's home to see Nepgear scampering around with a nervous expression on her face. "Good morning Little Gear," Sonic greeted warmly.
"Oh! H-hello Sonic," Nepgear greeted. "Hello Mario."
"Is there-a problem, Nepgear?" Mario asked.
"Oh," Nepgear replied. "It's only Neptune."
"Nep giving you a headache?" Sonic asked.
"W-well," Nepgear said. "Somewhat. It's more like she's a bit... burnt out."
She gestured for Neptune's room, where the Goddess of Planeptune was dragging herself along the floor with her face glued downward. "I can't take it..." she said. "It's too much..."
"Uh... Neptune?" Sonic said. "Are you okay?"
"Please..." Neptune said, still pulling herself forward, slowly but surely. "Make it stop... Give me games... give me comics... give me adventures... give me something other than this...!"
"I was wondering when it would finally grow to be too much for her," Sonic observed.
"Come on-a Lady Neptune!" Mario said. "It's-a not-a so bad! The Tournament is growing great! You CPUs have been-a great help for everything!"
"That's terrific," Neptune said. "But what about me!? What about my feelings!?"
"Sorry Neptune," Sonic said, "but this is how it is as a goddess. You gotta be responsible."
"Screw responsibility!" Neptune said. "I'm exhausted! I can't have any time to play my games or enjoy myself for more than a few hours because of all this work I have to do now!"
"Sorry again-a Lady Neptune," Mario said. "But we're trying to-a do our best to help-a you, but most of things behind the organization-a are limited just to you goddesses."
"That doesn't help me at all!" Neptune cried.
Sonic took a breath. It was always tiring whenever Neptune got like this. But that's when he remembered something.
"Say Neptune~" he said. "Isn't this year a special time?"
"What you talkin' bout' hedgehog?" Neptune asked, looking at him.
"Sonic's right Neptune!" Nepgear said. "Did you forget this year's our anniversary?"
Neptune looked confused for a moment, before she jumped up excitedly! "Holy crap! You're right!" she said.
"Lady Neptune," Mario said, "did-a you really miss the date? It was-a few days ago!"
"In case you missed it fat man," Neptune said, "I've been a bit Busy!" She jumped to her feet, powered by newfound energy!
"On top of running Planeptune and handling the Super Smash Bros. Tournament - which in itself requires a lot of stuff from Stage management, monitoring Fighters and NPCs, covering upcoming Fighters, Item collection, and so much other stuff behind the scenes - I have also been working on our next game, Neptunia Virtual Stars, and we have our first PS5 game announced as well with its own slew of info! I've! Been! Busy!"
"That's the thing, Neptune!" Sonic said. "You should get a real chance to celebrate! Just think, the moment you have an open slot, you can get a chance to really celebrate! Mario and I will help give you a super good night!"
Sonic's words resonated with Neptune. It was her 10th Anniversary this year, something she nearly forgot about with so much going on! Sonic was right, she did deserve a chance to celebrate! Which would be right freaking now!
"You're right!" she said. "I'm gonna celebrate! And I'm going for it!"
She rushed for the door before Sonic, Nepgear, or Mario could stop her!
"Wait! Neptune! Wher're you going!?" Nepgear said.
"I'm going to the one place I can think of where I can get my shot at celebrating!" Neptune said. "No work! New places! A shot at adventure!"
She rushed her way out of the Planeptower as fast as she could go! Mario looked to Sonic with a rather annoyed expression. "Nice-a work Sonic," he said.
Sonic let out an exasperated breath.
Meanwhile, a small crowd had gathered around a large monitor positioned around the borders between the four countries, with Snake, Min Min, Mega Man, IF, Shulk, Joker, and Samus, all watching it with intrigue.
"So this is a gate to another dimension?" Snake asked.
"Correct," IF said. "This gate leads to the setting of the upcoming Neptunia game. In layman's terms, it's a dimensional parallel to the internet."
"That sounds very intriguing," Mega Man said.
"So... why are you showing us this?" Joker added.
"Because," IF said, "nobody is supposed to touch it. You have to keep everyone away as best as you can."
"Understood Ms. IF," Shulk said.
"Given my experience," Samus said, "I'll know better than to ask questions and just do my part to keep everyone away."
"Uh, guys," Min Min said, "we have someone coming."
Everyone turned and saw Neptune running at them at full peg!
"Lady Neptune?" Shulk asked.
"What is she doing?" Joker added.
"She's headed right for us, obviously!" Snake said, pushing them both aside!
Neptune ran over as fast as she could go, and leapt straight at the monitor! "All your adventure are belong to me!" she said, vanishing in a blur!
"Nep! What the hell!?" IF said, staring at the blank screen in horror!
"She just jumped straight into it!" Mega Man said.
"Why!?" Samus added.
"Neptune!" Nepgear's voice said, descending in front of them as Purple Sister! "Oh no," she said. "She's already gone!"
Sonic zipped over, Mario hovering right behind with a Cape Feather. "Man I thought I was fast!" Sonic said, looking at the screen in frustration.
Purple Sister felt something odd and looked over to see Mega Man staring at her with a mortified expression on his face. "Hey," Purple Sister greeted. Mega Man replied by screaming at the top of his voice and running away!
"Do I want to know?" Snake asked.
"No you don't," Sonic replied. "Iffy, where does that monitor go?"
"The setting of the new Neptunia game," IF said. "Virtualand."
"Virtualand?" Sonic echoed.
"I've-a never heard of that-a place before," Mario said. "But then again-a, you did-a mention this is for a new-a game."
"Why would Lady Neptune charge right into there like a blue shell?" Min Min asked.
Mario, Sonic, and Purple Sister all shared a look. "She needed a break," they replied.
Meanwhile, in Virtualand, the goddess of the dimension, Fair, felt the intriguing sensation of Neptune's arrival, prompting her to manifest and see the fellow goddess's arrival herself. Nearby, Hololive Virtual YouTuber, Minato Aqua, noticed her!
"O-oh, Lady Fair," she said. "Uh... pray tell, why're you here?"
"Oh, just waiting for a friend," Fair replied, eyes focused intently on the sky.
Aqua was confused, tracing her gaze upward, just in time to see a purple blur collide straight with her, kicking up a comical cloud of dust! Neptune was found sitting on top of Aqua, looking around to ensure she was where she intended to be! Her face brightened up significantly as she saw Fair looking at her!
"Hello Neptune," she greeted calmly. "What brings you here so early? You're not scheduled to rehearse today."
"Well," Neptune said, hopping to her feet. "I just remembered this year's my anniversary, and I decided to take the day off!"
"Are you allowed to do that?" Fair asked.
"I say I am," Neptune said smugly.
Fair giggled. "Well, do be careful," she said. "I'll be keeping an eye on you. Have a good day."
Neptune waved at her, before hearing a disgruntled noise from the ground and turned to see Aqua recovering from getting crushed by Neptune. "Oh hey," Neptune greeted. "Sorry about that."
"It's... fine," Aqua said. "But a little warning would've been appreciated, Lady Neptune."
Neptune giggled awkwardly. "W-would it help if I said I was in a hurry?" she said.
"Is everything okay, Aqua?" a new voice asked. "We heard a loud noise."
Neptune looked over to see Otodama Tamako and Ishikari Akari approaching from nearby. Like Aqua, they were Virtual YouTubers as well that worked together on the same channel.
"Hey guys~" Neptune greeted.
"Lady Neptune?" Tamako asked. "What're you doing here?"
"Apparently," Aqua replied, "she's taking a 'day off' from her work in Gamindustri."
"Can she do that?" Tamako asked.
"Apparently," Aqua said again with a shrug.
"Atut-tut," Neptune said. "Come on guys, I need some rest! So what're we gonna do around here for fun?"
"I got some suggestions," Akari said, throwing an arm around Neptune's shoulder, as the two began walking down the street.
"Is this how the goddesses of Gamindustri feel when they have to put up with her?" Tamako asked, Aqua merely giving a grim nod, as the two began to catch up with the others.
Meanwhile, Shulk and Joker had also gone through the monitor to Virtualand and were doing their part to try and find Neptune.
"Why do you think Lady Nepgear asked for us to help find Lady Neptune?" Shulk replied.
"Because," Joker said, "once Blanc or Noire get wind of it, they're probably going to put Neptune through neverending torture for bailing."
"Fair point," Shulk replied.
The two walked through the futuristic cities trying their hardest to find the purple colored CPU. As they did, Shulk couldn't help but notice that the place looked not unlike that which he might find in Gamindustri. "How do you suppose we can find Lady Neptune?" he asked.
"Knowing her," Joker replied, "it won't be that difficult."
Shulk knew that the Phantom Thief had a point, but the wielder of the Monado still felt that there was a faster approach than waiting for her to get into trouble. He noticed a girl with blue hair wearing a big baggy sweater with a... dog's tail...?
"Uh, excuse me?" he said, catching their attention. "I was wondering if you might be able to help us? We're looking for Lady Neptune, I don't suppose you know her?"
"Oh Nep?" the girl replied. "Yeah! I do! In fact, she just passed by."
"You know where she went?" Joker asked.
"She's with Aqua, Tamako, and Akari," the girl replied. "I can take you to them if you want."
"Great! Thank you miss!" Shulk said.
"Actually, I'm a boy," they replied. "My name's Inuyama Tamaki."
"Oh, oka-" Shulk said, before blanking out. Even Joker looked surprised, finding himself looking them up and down. "Otokonoko?" he said.
"Otokonoko," Tamaki said, looking quite entertained by Shulk's reaction.
Joker let out a breath as he began following Tamaki, forced to drag the unconscious Hom behind him.
"Where do you think Snake went?" Min Min asked.
"Can't say," Samus replied. "He tends to do stuff like this. Which in such a situation is not welcomed. We don't know almost anything about this Virtualand place. I'm starting to think that IF's idea of splitting up wasn't such a wise decision."
"Don't you typically go running into planets without any idea about what possibly waits for you in there?" Min Min said.
"Well, yes," Samus replied honestly, "but typically it's done without having to ensure a team of allies does not die in the process. Last time that happened, Dark Samus controlled Gandrayda, Rundas, and Ghor and I had to kill them all."
"I keep forgetting your series can be very dark," Min Min said fretfully.
"Excuse me?" a nearby voice said. Min Min turned to see a girl with dog-ears atop her head and a dog's tail looking at her curiously. "Do you two need help with something?"
Kawaii... Min Min said, still awestruck by the girl's appearance.
"Yes," Samus replied. "Are you familiar with the CPU of Planeptune?"
"Oh, Lady Neptune?" the girl said. "Yes! Are you looking for her?"
"Yes we are," Samus replied. "Do you know where she is?"
"Not right now," the girl said. "But I know a friend that might! Hey, Roboco!"
A smaller girl with black hair and a pair of glasses walked over.
"These two are looking for Lady Neptune," the dog-eared girl said. "You think you can find her?"
"Affirmative," Roboco replied. She gestured for the others to follow her.
"So that means you two are from Gamindustri, right?" the dog eared girl said. "That's great to hear. My name is Inugami Korone! It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Samus Aran," Samus replied.
"I'm Min Min," the ARMS rep said. From there, they followed Roboco to hopefully find Neptune. Little did they know about a cardboard box that was following close behind them.
"Lady Noire," it said, "I have a lead."
"Sonic," IF said, "from here on out I'm going to make sure that you, Uzume, and Plutia are all going to keep an eye on Nep from here on out to ensure she doesn't pull a stunt like this again."
"Hey! Why is she my responsibility!?" he said.
"You do say she's-a your goddess," Mario replied.
"I don't appreciate that," Sonic said.
"Enough!" IF said. "Look, let's just focus on finding Nep so we can go home."
"Hey! Pipe down!" a whiney voice said. The trio looked up to see a pudgy, peanut-headed... creature staring down at them. "Don't you know people have very important things they're doing?"
"Hey!" Sonic said. "We're doing important things too! Like getting a goddess back to her home country?"
"Oh good for you!" the Peanut said sarcastically. "You live with a goddess who can't even keep her nose out of other people's homes or business!"
"Hey, that's-a not-a very nice," Mario said. "We're-a sorry for bothering you, but maybe you can-a help us?"
"Not as far as I can throw you!" the peanut said.
"Hey!" Sonic snapped. "Don't talk to my friend like that!"
"I can speak however I want, you big, blue hamster!" the peanut said.
"Hamster?!" Sonic shouted. "Why I oughta bury you!"
"Sonic! That's enough!" IF said, picking the Blue Blur up in her arms before he could murder somebody! "Let's just go! We'll see if we can find help elsewhere."
"Yeah, let's see you come back without your girlfriend!" the peanut got out, just before a bullet was imbeded in the side of his window! He jumped and ducked inside his house, as IF was left twitching in unbridled rage with her gun smoking in her hand.
Mario let out a breath. These kinds of things never happened in the Mushroom Kingdom. As he paused for a moment, he heard the sound of music from nearby.
"Hey!" he said. "Look-a over there!"
IF and Sonic got over their previous anger as they traced Mario's look over to a nearby stage, where two girls were seen dancing and singing! One of them had pink hair tied up in two buns and was wearing a Chinese style dress. The other had blonde hair, while wearing a blue, almost military themed outfit.
"They sound great," Sonic said, taken by their singing.
"Lady Blanc did-a say that music would-a be big in the new game," Mario said.
The girls sang for another minute or so before finishing up. They heard clapping and turned to see the three applauding them! "Wow!" IF said. "That was great!"
"Thanks!" the girl with pink hair said. "You caught us practicing! Was it that good?"
"Of course!" Mario said.
"Well, thank you very much!" the blonde said. "You don't look familiar to me, are you new?"
"Sorta," Sonic replied. "My name is Sonic! This is IF, and that's Mario. We're from Gamindustri. Or, rather, she's from Gamindustri and Mario and I are just visiting. But anyway, have you ever heard of it?"
"Oh sure!" the pink haired girl replied. "Nobody can stop talking about it!"
"Excellent!" Mario said. "So you must-a know about Lady Neptune! The CPU of Planeptune! We're looking for her. Have you seen her?"
"Sure thing!" the blonde girl said. "We can take you to her if you want."
"That'd be great," IF said.
"Yes!" the pink haired girl said, jumping down from the stage! "Then let's go! By the way, I'm Tanaka Hime! And this is Suzuki Hina!"
"Charmed," Sonic said, he, Mario, and IF following them to where they said Neptune would be.
"So tell me," IF said, "you guys are VTubers, right?"
"Yup!" Hime enthusiastically replied. "We do a lot of different videos like games, challenges, and music!"
"Hearing you back-a there," Mario said, "your singing is quite good!"
"Thanks!" Hime said.
"You say you play games," Sonic said, "so do you play any of the trendy horror games?"
"Uh, no," Hina said. "Because Hime is a bi-"
"I cannot stand horror games!" Hime declared.
"But you've been trying to get better!" Hina said.
"So," Sonic said, "how long do you think it will be before you could play Bend-"
"No Sonic!" Mario said. "Do not-a say his name! You don't-a know what storm you will cause' on-a the internet!"
"Oh, fair point," Sonic said.
Hime and Hina looked at IF, but even she couldn't quite say what they were talking about. Instead, the group opted to continue on their way.
Neptune was enjoying her time. She was having the time she needed. She was telling stories to Tamako, Akari, and Aqua and reveling in their adoration. While some of the aspects were dramatized at first, she'd tell the truth thereafter, and everyone was still thoroughly entertained!
"Gosh Lady Neptune!" Aqua said. "It sounds like you have quite the times in Gamindustri."
"Not to mention," Tamako said, "your friends are also quite the characters."
"Oh you haven't heard anything yet!" Neptune said. "Wanna hear what happened to Noire with three Wiimotes, a glitched video game, and some purified sap?"
"Yes!" Akari said enthusiastically!
Unfortunately, the story would go untold, for that moment pretty much everyone that was looking for her came into the cafe they were talking in! "There you are!" a plethora of voices said.
"Oh, hey guys," Neptune said. "How's it going?"
"How's it going?" Samus repeated. "What do you mean? We've been in a panic!"
"Lady Neptune," Shulk said, "you can't just go and run off like that!"
"Why not?" Neptune asked.
"Because," Min Min said, "the other CPUs aren't going to be happy to hear that you just up and ran off like you did!"
"Sonic thought it'd be a good idea!" Neptune said.
"Oh, throw me under the bus why don't you!?" Sonic said, noting that the Fighters were looking at him with angry glares.
"That's not-a what-a Sonic meant, Lady Neptune!" Mario said. "He said-a you could celebrate after you were done with your work!"
"And with all the work I have, I don't have a chance! That's my point!" Neptune said angrily.
As the argument continued, the VTubers on the side could merely watch the situation unfold with nervous expressions on their faces.
"Did you know about this?" Korone asked Akari, Tamako, and Aqua.
"Not really," Aqua said. "Lady Neptune just said she was taking a brake."
"It would appear she took an unauthorized excursion," Roboco said.
"You could say that again," Tamaki said.
"Look Neptune," Joker said, "no matter what you gotta get back to Gamindustri before-!"
Suddenly, a pillar of light shot down from the ceiling, as Noire, Blanc, and Vert were all standing there with awfully miffed expressions on their faces. Neptune sweatdropped, backing away slowly, only to bump into the crowd whose feet were planted firmly in the ground at the sight of the goddesses! A box that had been entirely unnoticed shifted over to the CPUs, Snake's head popping out.
"Thanks for the help, Snake," Noire said.
"Absolutely, Lady Noire," Snake replied.
"Snake! How could you!" Neptune said.
The Virtual YouTubers were all astonished by the sight of the multiple CPUs and were unsure of what to do.
"Uh..." Aqua said. "Should we... b-bow?"
"I dunno," Tamaki said.
"I feel very intimidated," Hime added.
"Neptune," Blanc said angrily, "you honestly thought that you could just up and run on us without anyone noticing?"
"Especially when you practically kamikaze the portal out?" Noire added. "Just drop your laziness for once and actually come back and do some work!"
"This isn't fair!" Neptune said. "I've been working hard for over a month! I haven't had practically any time to play games or do anything that I want!"
"Neptune, you're being a child!" Noire said. "You're a goddess, and our responsibility at the moment is to manage the Super Smash Bros. Tournament! You don't get to have the luxury of doing whatever you want all the time."
"She is right, Neptune," Vert said. "You're not the only one who's wanted to do the things you enjoy doing. Why, I have barely put in any time to my MMOs since this Tournament started, so I know how you feel. But it's just the way things are supposed to be."
"I don't care!" Neptune said. "Our tenth anniversary was this year and I didn't even get to celebrate it properly!"
"None of us did Neptune," Blanc said, "which is why we've been organizing a brake for all of us!"
Neptune was stunned silent. "Come again?" she said.
"We've been organizing a day off for all of us to celebrate our tenth anniversary," Noire said, "and officially announce our next game to the public."
"Why wasn't I told about this!?" Neptune said.
"A," Vert said, "you would just go and blurt it out to everybody. And B, we were going to tell you today since most of the preparations are done, if you hadn't gone and run off!"
"Well now I feel like a dick," Neptune said.
"Good," Noire said, pushing Neptune over to Blanc's restraining touch. "Now let's get you back." She turned her gaze to the Fighters that were still on stand-by. "And none of you will speak of what you heard here."
"Our lips are sealed," the Fighters said.
Vert turned her gaze over to the YouTubers. "Terribly sorry for the trouble," she said. "But you know that Neptune can be a bit troublesome."
"Uh... it's okay...?" Korone said uncertainly.
"Quick question though," Tamaki said, "are we also in trouble?"
"Certainly not," Vert said. "Neptune's just a handful that we wouldn't wish upon anybody."
"Thank goodness," Aqua said. "I'm happy to hear that!"
"You're telling me!" Akari said, looking through her camera. "I got some amazing shots right now! I didn't even know limbs could bend that way!"
"We'll see you all next rehearsal," Noire said.
"Uh.. about that!" Hime said, edging over to the goddesses. "Y'see, we never got an invitation for your game. Are we gonna be DLC like AI-chan?"
"Oh, sorry about that," Noire said, "but you're not in the game, period."
"What!?" Hime said.
Neptune suddenly began staring blankly ahead.
"Why?" Hina added. "Why don't you want us in the game?"
"Blanc tap out. Tap out!" Neptune said, allowing Blanc to take her back now. The same pillar of light came down as the Gamindustri denizens all vanished! HimeHina were startled as their eyes turned comically white!
"Hey!" Hime said, bouncing up and down waving her arms! "Come back!"
"Don't leave us out!" Hina said, falling to her knees.
The following day, the CPUs were all gathered together, ready to take a proper brake to celebrate the anniversary! They were gathered with their little sisters, who were ready to take their own excursion. Master Hand was present as well, offering them a getaway with a snap of his fingers.
"Are you sure you'll be fine without us for a short while?" Blanc asked.
"Certainly," Master Hand replied. "This is far from my first rodeo, ladies. Enjoy yourselves for a time, I'll handle everything here."
"Thanks MH!" Neptune said. "Say guys," she added to the CPUs, "sorry I went awol for a bit."
"It's alright Neptune," Blanc replied. "The last person who should judge for feeling the stress of managing Smash Bros., it's me."
"I think after so long," Noire said. "We all deserve some a day off. Now most especially."
"Precisely," Vert said. "It's not every time that a series gets to celebrate its tenth anniversary, nor with as many games under their belt. For all intents and purposes, we're very lucky."
"Straight up!" Neptune said. "And we really owe it to our players too for keeping us going!" She put a hand to her chest with an honest smile on her face. "I wish I could see each and every one of them and say, 'Thank you for playing'!"
The others couldn't help but agree. They went to enjoy a peaceful but fun day to themselves, and when they came back, they had a big announcement for everyone! The 4 CPUs stood on stage, all of them in HDD form, with Purple Heart at the center podium! A massive crowd stood out before them with natives of Gamindustri and visitors for the Tournament, eagerly watching for what they had to say!
"People of Gamindustri and beyond!" Purple Heart said. "10 years ago, this year, our series released it's first game! The very first Hyperdimension Neptunia on the PS3! Our series has been going strong and has no intention of slowing down any time soon! But I'm sure you're all wondering, what's gonna come about next?"
"Well, it does my heart good to announce that for you, today! Our next game, following the release of Neptunia Virtual Stars on the PS4, will be the first entry of the series for the upcoming PS5! We'd love to reveal more than that, but we can't spoil too much too soon! But I can give you, the title!"
She held up a sign of the game's logo, which read: Go! Go! 5 Jigen Neptune re*Verse!
The crowd cheered at the sight! The other CPUs smiled encouragingly at Neptune, as the Goddess of Planeptune stood with that proud smile she made in HDD on her face! "Finally," she said quietly. "I'm starting to feel like I got my own back!"
A/N: A few days ago, August 19th to be exact, we hit the 10th anniversary of Hyperdimension Neptunia. On that day, it was announced we'd be getting Go! Go! 5 Jigen Game Neptune reVerse, set for release on the PS5! With both this announcement, and Neptunia Virtual Stars, my faith in Neptunia is continuously rewarded and my hope of Neptune in Smash continues!
For this chapter, I decided to emphasize Neptune experiencing her own stresses with managing the Tournament, as a bit of reflection of myself for a bit too. In case those of you following SmashDimension and CTCC may have noticed, I've been updating at the speed of molases! And that's only because, I barely have time to write anything! And when I do, I'm so scatterbrained I'm looking at other potential projects instead of updating my preestablished content! So Neptune kind of became my outlet for my frustrations in her being unable to play games as a reflection of my inability to write, because of being too busy with other things! I hope you don't take that as an excuse on my part, and I do sincerely apologize again for updating so slowly.
I actually enjoyed focusing on Neptune again for this one, as I haven't focused on her as much as one might assume, considering I've actually been trying to balance out the other characters as much as I can. But considering she's the "main character" as she will proudly admit, I figured that for a chapter that has to deal with this type of element, it would be important to bring her back to focus.
I also made direct reference to Neptunia Virtual Stars for this one, purely as an excuse to showcase some of the VTubers that will be present in the game! I didn't include any of the more prevalent characters in the game like Mii or Yu, and only briefly showed Fair, because there isn't a lot of information about them as of yet. I also didn't use a lot of the VTubers from the game, because most of them I'm unfortunately not familiar with, whether it be because their content is hard to find, I haven't watched them as much as others, or they don't have any translated videos.
The odd ones out in this case are actually Tanaka Hime and Suzuki Hina of HimeHina Channel! The main reason for that is because they are actually my favorite Virtual YouTubers, and I was only the slightest bit bitter over the fact that my favorite VTubers were not gonna be included in the next big Neptunia game! Seriously though, if you haven't checked them out yet, you totally should! They're both total dorks, are always fun, and have you HEARD THEM SING!? I genuinely love their content, as they always find a way to make me smile, which is always appreciated.
(Also, kind of a sad story, not too long ago they announced they'd have plushies available on their website that were set for release in October. I was going to get some, but they sold out... I'm only a little dead inside after that hit me.)
Not much else to say about this one! I may or may not go back and update it to flow a little bit differently, but as it is now I still like it!
Just a quick question though, can fanfics about VTubers count? Because, I read that fanfictions about "regular" YouTubers are not allowed since, well, they're real people. However, I am scarce to say that VTubers count, especially with the number of crossovers they have in other things like mobile games and, well, Neptunia now, so if I can I'd love to write something with them!
Reviews!
To ChimaTigon: Yes. I am very familiar with Dr. Eggman's legendary announcement.
To ptl: Honestly, I based the design I had of Prospero on most common depictions of gijinka-fied PS5s. I have seen Merryweather's comics and know them well, but I didn't base it off of her specifically. I actually tried making her far younger than the rather... endowed depictions Merryweather tends to make, but that's besides the point.
To Zindakku Hirokai: I do enjoy the idea of the CPUs having angels, but I wouldn't begin to know how that'd work without a lot more OCs. And yeah, I think it's always important to have variety when it comes to information. Less biased that way. Also, the idea of Polygon-Man cursing Noire is hilarious!
To TheLazyLala221: That is such a heartwarming comment! I am very happy that you enjoy and think I'm portraying the CPUs well! I hope I can continue to entertain!
I hope to update again soon! Let me know your thoughts, have a wonderful evening, and take care!