Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Sega, Compile Heart and Idea Factory and everyone else who worked on it.

So, the power went out when I was working on the chapter and it went ka-put.

THANKFULLY I had shared most of the chapter with my beta reader and could recover most of it. Still had to re-write a huge chunk of the story though.

Oh, and to the person who made those... Long requests for a fic from me involving Dragon Ball, sorry. I won't do it. I really do like the series, but I'm not going to be able to write it properly.

Chapter 19

Looking at her sister as she lay on the medical bed, a grimace on her face, Vert looked at the doctor, an older man whose hair was just starting to turn gray. "Can you tell me anything?"

"Sadly, CPUs don't follow the same logic that humans do, I'm afraid." The doctor told her. "You did say that you survived for three years without food or water after all."

Vert sighed and nodded. "What can you tell me?"

"From what I've seen of her, and this is based on the data we had before this with you and her after she was synchronized with your Sharicite and what we have now." The doctor looked at Peashy and bit his lip softly. "Physically, she seems perfectly fine, her body seems just a little stressed out for some reason. I'm sorry, I don't have anything more to tell you."

"I see, thank you." Vert nodded and called up a communication screen. "I'll give Histoire a call."

"Isn't she Planeptune's oracle?" The doctor asked and Vert nodded.

"Indeed, but she's been around since the first generation of CPUs in Gamindustri. If there's anyone who can figure out what's wrong with Peashy, it's her." And if not her, then at least the Histoire from Gamworld might know a few things.

Opening up her communication screen, Vert called up Histoire and hoped that she wasn't too busy.

The screen popped open and not only was Histoire there, but so was the other Histoire, Neptune and both Nepgears. "No!" Nepgear cried out and Neptune jumped in surprise. "You were trying to synch this to the television!"

"Sorry, wrong button. How about this?"

When there was a song coming from the other room, both Neptune and Nepgear sweat-dropped heavily. "Ah, Nep Jr., I somehow made the toaster start singing to us."

"Did I call at a bad time?" Vert asked, getting more than a few yelps of surprise. "My apologies, but I really need to speak to Histoire."

"Actually, Vert, we were trying to use Neptune's inter-dimensional phone to set up a teleconference between this dimension and Ultradimension." Histoire explained to her and sighed. "It's... Not going too well. But if you need to speak, please, feel free to."

Vert nodded. "Very well, I recently got a call about Peashy in combat with a human over the rooftops of Leanbox." By now both Nepgears and Neptune were looking at the communication screen in concern. "When I arrived, the other party was gone and there were obvious signs of combat, but Peashy was out cold and in obvious pain."

"Nep-whaaa?!" The next thing anyone knew, Neptune was in front of the screen. "Vert, is P-Ko..."

"She's alive." Vert answered her. "I'd like it if Histoire could take a look at her since she helped synchronize Peashy to my Sharicite Crystal."

"Of course." Neptune turned to look at both Histoires. "Histy, Histy, I'm going to have to close you and take you to Vert's so we can fix this."

"Very well," Histoire sighed softly. "Please be gentle though, I do not travel very often."

Neptune smiled and rubbed the top of Histoire's head, causing the tome's cheeks to turn a bright pink. "Of course, Histy, I won't let anyone or anything hurt you." She then took the book and gently closed it and put it in her pocket before she did the same with Blind Histoire. She turned to the communication screen next and waved at Vert. "We'll be there soon, okay?"

"I'll be waiting for you then." Vert nodded and the screen turned off.

(-)

Neptune looked at both Nepgears. "I'm worried about P-Ko, and I'd like to go see her right away, would you two..?"

"If it's okay..." Maidgear said softly. "I'd like to stay here." She had a troubled look on her face that had both Nepgear and Neptune looking at her in worry. "I... Maybe it's selfish, but Cave was like a big sister to me and..."

Neptune smiled softly. "It's okay. But if it's okay with you..." She trailed off as the door to the room opened up and a flustered Rei walked into the room.

"S-sorry, I got lost after going to the bathroom." She bowed, her face red.

"Actually, this is perfect." Neptune said cheerfully. "Nep Jr. and I have to go to Leanbox with both Histys, but Maidgear," she gestured to the Nepgear in the maid outfit, "wants to stay here for now. Could you stay here in case the bad guys come back?"

"Sure." Rei nodded at Neptune. "I-I may not be a Final Boss anymore, but I still have my power after all."

Neptune nodded as she and Nepgear transformed. "Thank you, Rei." Purple Heart smiled at Rei. "Will you be okay, Nepgear?" She asked Maidgear, who nodded. "Okay. Come on, Nepgear, we need to see Vert then."

"Right." Purple Sister said before they took off.

"Good luck." Maidgear said softly and looked at Rei. "...Please, excuse me." She curtsied to Rei and then left the room.

Rei watched as Maidgear ran off, tears falling from her eyes. "...Poor girl." Sighing, the blue-haired woman walked out of the office and ran into a member of the Basilicom. "Ah... Um, sorry."

"It's fine." The woman said and Rei suddenly realized that the girl wasn't dressed as a typical member of the Basilicom with her dark skirt, suspenders, mostly open dress shirt and tie, along with her red hair. "Nepsy gave me a call to come in after what happened to Cavesy. You must be Reisy."

"Uh..." Rei blinked a few times as the girl, who had long, red hair and red eyes and was fairly curvy. "Um, I'm sorry, but who..?"

"Ah!" She smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "My name's Uzume Tennouboshi, CPU of Planeptune from two generations ago."

"Ah, you're Neptune's predecessor then?" Rei asked and Uzume nodded. "My name's Rei Ryghts, former Final Boss who gained the power of an ancient CPU from another world."

Uzume blinked a few times and had a dumbfounded look on her face. "...That sounds really complex."

"W-w-w-well..." Rei blushed and poked her fingers together. "It's like th-this... I was causing problems and the me of another world was the CPU of an ancient land known as Tari. She failed as a CPU and I ended up with h-her p-power." She had a troubled look on her face. "What about you? I th-thought CPUs either died or retired."

Uzume shrugged. "I was sealed away when Nepsy and Gearsy found me and helped me get free and that's why I'm here now." It wasn't a pleasant experience, but it was nice that she was able to live again. "Former Final Boss, huh?" She suddenly grinned so hard that her eyes shut and laughed. "I was too! In a manner of speaking."

"...I see." Rei nodded. "Oh! I need to make sure that the other Nepgear doesn't get attacked by any b-bad guys."

Uzume tapped her chin. "Well, how about we both check on Gearsy and then if she's okay, we can play games?" Rei jerked in surprise and Uzume shrugged. "Like, it's been so super stressful around here that Uzume is feeling like she's going to explode and that would be super bad for Nepsy and Gearsy and..."

"Uh..." Rei had a blank, white-eyed stare as Uzume's way of speaking became more silly and like a valley girl than what it was before. "Uzume?"

"...and then, Uzume would need to do all sorts of things to fight off the stress because that's all super-duper icky!"

"Uh..." Rei tried again. "Uzume..?"

"Uzume even felt really pent up one day and made a whole hill explode by yelling at it!" Uzume stomped her foot onto the ground. "But that doesn't even compare to the time when Uzume was feeling like doing something naughty and stripped..."

"UZUME!" Rei yelled, her face red, and Uzume's eyes went white and blank with black circles around them. "You were talking about a lot of stuff and talking weirdly."

"...Weird how?" Uzume asked as she coughed into her fist. "Sorry, don't worry about it." Her face was bright red. "I, ah, sometimes act like that when I get excited or stressed out."

Rei nodded, she understood. After all, she wasn't any better when her Goddess form's psychosis got the better of her. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as it was when she was the Final Boss, but it was still unsettling. 'How did my other self live with such an insane personality?'

(-)

Leanbox wasn't exactly a close nation and Purple Heart was so thankful for the light roads that she and the other CPUs had installed across Gamindustri. It made getting around so much faster and more convenient as well. Sadly, crossing the ocean wasn't something they had figured out how to with the light roads just yet. For some reason the roads got unstable over bodies of water and no one could figure out why. 'Oh well, it's a new technology, we'll figure it out.' At least transforming and flying was still an option.

"Neptune, what do you think happened?" Purple Sister asked and Purple Heart shook her head. "Neptune?"

"I don't want to start speculating on what could be wrong, Nepgear." Purple Heart answered and Purple Sister was taken aback from the utter lack of her sister's usual attitude. "I'll find out when we get there."

There was a glint in Purple Heart's eyes that was frankly a bit scary. "...Neptune..." Purple Heart looked back at her and stopped flying as she saw that her younger sister had stopped flying as well.

"What is it, Nepgear?" Purple Heart asked and stiffened in surprise as Purple Sister hugged her. "Nepgear?"

"It'll be okay." Purple Sister said softly. "Peashy's tough." She let go of the hug and smiled at Purple Heart. "Anyone who's your daughter has to be really tough."

Purple Heart smiled at that. "Thank you, Nepgear, I needed that." And she really did, even if the hug wasn't for very long, it really did lift her spirits.

(-)

It didn't take the two of them long to get to the Basilicom. After entering the Basilicom, the two transformed back into their humans forms and were quickly escorted to Peashy's room. When they got there, they found Vert sitting by Peashy's bed, squeezing her little sister's hand as Peashy lay there, unconscious. Vert looked up and smiled as they entered. "Thank you both for coming as quickly as you have. Is Histoire with you? I'd like her to look Peashy over."

Neptune nodded and reached into her pockets to pull out two tomes. Opening them up, both Histoires appeared in front of her.

"Goodness, I forgot how much I hate being closed." Histoire shook her head and looked at Peashy. "Hmm..." She and her other self floated over to Peashy and put their hands on her head. The two tomes and Peashy were both bathed in a gentle light for a moment. "Interesting..."

"Interesting how?" Vert asked, her voice neutral. "Good or bad?"

"I... I admit, I'm not sure." Histoire said and looked at her other self. "You know more about the CPU Candidates of your world, what do you think?"

"...Interesting."

Vert, Neptune and Nepgear all sweat-dropped at the answer. "Interesting how?" Vert asked again, her voice increasing slightly.

"Just interesting..." Blind Histoire said. "I can still feel the Shares flowing through her, so there's nothing wrong there."

"And the connection is just as strong as before." Histoire told Vert, causing the other three to sigh in relief. "But it feels like... I'm not sure, it's like something is missing..."

"But she's physically fine..." Vert pointed out and looked at Neptune, who had a contemplative look on her face. "If you have an idea, please..." She looked at her friend with desperate eyes. "Please, Neptune. I really need to know." Tears welled up in her eyes as she hoped that her fellow Goddess could help her little sister. Vert had wanted a younger sister for so many years that the thought of Peashy hurting and unable to help her was tearing at her very being.

"...Um..." Neptune scratched the back of her head. "This is going to sound a little weird, but... P-Ko was born from a Fearicite Crystal out of people's hate for Green Void... You said she was missing something, Histy?"

Blind Histoire gasped and suddenly glowed a bright red as she touched Peashy's body. "Could it..." When Peashy wasn't responding, she sighed in relief. "I see..."

"...Histy, what did you do?" Neptune asked while Vert and Nepgear both had goosebumps on their arms, shivering slightly. "That wasn't Fearicite, but it felt kind of like it."

"I apologize, I developed that ability after my world was modified thanks to Kurome." Blind Histoire explained to Neptune. "No, it was not Fearicite, but it was a spell that causes reactions in CPUs and if there was Fearicite here, I would have found it."

"...Histy, what are you saying?" Neptune asked Blind Histoire, confusion on her face and in her voice.

"Even if they draw upon Shares now, there was always something like a core of Fearicite inside of each of the CPU Candidates." Blind Histoire explained to Neptune. "I can't feel that anymore. It was removed."

"What does that mean for Peashy though?" Nepgear asked while Vert was looking more and more agitated by the moment. "Wouldn't that be painful and harmful to her if her core was removed?"

"Merely that she is unconscious and needs time to recover." Blind Histoire smiled at the unconscious girl. Floating back, she turned to face the others. "From what I can see, she's missing the essence of Fearicite that was inside of her being, and the missing part of her is being filled in by Share energy. So, in effect, she's missing the core of Fearicite energy that was her creation, but as she survives on Shares now, she'll recover. And before you ask, core of Fearicite is just how to describe it, nothing more."

"But then why did she look like she was in pain?" Vert asked and blinked as Neptune touched her arm. "Neptune?"

"Trust me, Verty, Fearicite is nasty stuff, only thing that comes close to how much that stuff hurt when it was shoved into me was when I was stabbed by that sword and died."

"I see..." Vert sighed in relief. "Thank you, all of you." Tears fell freely from her eyes. "I..." She flopped onto a chair and buried her face into her hands, sobbing openly. "I was so scared..."

"Aww, Vert..." Nepgear walked over to Vert and hugged her gently. Vert grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "GURK!" Nepgear swung her arms up and down as her face was buried into Vert's breasts.

"Shift your head so that your nose is between her boobies." Neptune told Nepgear. "Chika taught me how to survive big boobie hugs."

Vert looked at Neptune curiously. "I know she's not the one who was my oracle, but how is she doing?"

"She's doing okay," Neptune told Vert and rubbed the back of her head, blushing. "She hasn't been as grabby lately, so that's nice."

Vert nodded and let go of Nepgear. "Thank you, both of you." She rubbed her eyes to wipe the tears out of them. "I'll find out what happened later. I'm just... So happy..." Before anyone could react, she grabbed Neptune and gave her a huge kiss on the lips. "Thank you, so much!"

Neptune blushed hard. "Eh heh... I didn't do anything..."

"Technically, if you hadn't come to our world, Vert wouldn't have a chance to have a little sister." Blind Histoire smiled at Neptune.

Histoire smiled at them while looking at Peashy and floating back to the unconscious girl. "Hmm, I wonder..." She put her hands on Peashy's forehead and closed her eyes for thirty seconds while glowing softly. "Ah, I see..." She nodded and opened her eyes. "My other self is right. Now that I know what to look for, I can safely say that Peashy just needs time to rest and she'll be just fine."

"Three days?" Nepgear asked while Neptune was still trying to recover from the kiss she had gotten.

"At least three days." Histoire looked at Vert. "Just keep your Shares up as high as you can and she'll recover just fine."

"You're sure, Histy?" Neptune asked and Histoire nodded one more time.

"Yes, for the last time, I'm sure. In fact," Histoire smiled at them, "I can tell that Peashy has a pure Share Crystal forming where the Share energy is flowing in."

Sensing some confusion, Blind Histoire spoke up. "Peashy was created from Fearicite energy, like Nepgear and Vert, she has a crystal inside of her that was storing the Share energy inside of her. The Fearicite essence was removed, but the Share Energy is still there, and it's currently forming a pure Share Crystal and she'll recover just fine."

"Oh no!" Neptune gasped, her eyes bugging out. "Wait! Someone took the core, and there's these new bad guys with strange powers, right?"

Histoire gave her a sharp look. "Yes, it's very possible that this was the work of the new bad guys. Quickly, Neptune, Nepgear, Vert, we must get the conference call set up between this world and Ultradimension."

"Yes." Nepgear nodded and looked at Vert and Neptune. "Please help us, Vert."

"Of course." Vert smiled and rubbed her eyes some more. "I'll do all that I can."

(-)

"Where are we?" GBox asked as he and the Leader stepped into a large, open and frankly weird location.

"Still in Leanbox, if you were curious." The Leader told him and looked around. "The space of this place is pretty weird, isn't it?"

"Floating platforms that act as stairs?" GBox shrugged, he had seen weirder. But what concerned him was that there were so many monsters running around, but they were below where the two of them were at. Looking over the edge of the platform he was on, he shuddered and stepped back as he couldn't see the bottom. "So why are..." He began as he turned around and paused as some glowing crystals float up into the air in front of the leader. "What is that?"

"Fragments of power that can alter the course of destiny." The leader said and held the orb up towards the glowing crystals. "These crystals used to be part of something much bigger, but were shattered and were potent enough to give regular, if powerful, humans, powers similar to CPUs."

"...That's impressive." GBox said as he watched the black energy escape from the orb and surround the crystal shards. "Just out of curiosity, what will this do?"

The leader chuckled softly. "The power to alter the course of destiny, the power of a Void and the power that I gained from this orb..." The leader's eyes glowed as the chuckling increased. "The power to draw upon parallel worlds."

GBox shuddered softly, but he couldn't deny the ability that the leader had. After all, it was how the leader gave him and the others of RMCP their powers in the first place. It was why the leader was in charge of the group after all.

"You know, with that power, why don't you use it to strip the CPUs of their power and make them human?" GBox asked and the Leader turned back to look at him while the black energy continued to flow into the crystals.

"Because, even in realities where they were turned human, they somehow regained their status as CPUs." The leader told him. "There was no point."

GBox nodded and watched as power continued to build up. "So now what?"

As the last of the energy left the orb, the leader turned to him. "Now, you lay low for awhile. I have things to attend to." A portal opened behind GBox. "Head back to base and wait for further orders."

"Of course." GBox told the leader before turning and going through the portal.

"Soon..." The leader said softly after the portal closed. The leader reached into their pocket and pulled out a small crystal with a gentle golden glow. "The power that once saved Gamindustri shall be its undoing."

To be continued...

So, in case you're utterly confused, when Blind Histy said that the leader pulled the core of Fearicite out of Peashy, it was just the Fearicite essence that she was born from, not an actual core of herself. Since she survives on Sharicite now, she'll be fine, but it was still part of her being that was pulled out.