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


Chapter 37

Arfoire smirked as she put Ouya and Stadia in the stasis pods. "Don't worry, you cheeky little brats, when this is all over, you'll be, GAH!" She cried out as something hit her in the stomach, knocking her over and onto her back. "Wh...aa..?" She wheezed out and saw Peashy standing above her, giving her a murderous glare. "What are you going to do, you little brat?" She asked as she started to push herself up before Peashy suddenly reared her arm back and lashed out with a fierce uppercut, slamming Arfoire in the jaw and sending her flying across the room, where she crashed onto the floor, unconscious.

"Good." Peashy nodded and dusted her hands off. She ran over to the stasis pods and opened them up, as Arfoire had not yet locked them, and pulled her younger sisters out of them. "You okay?"

"Big sis?" Stadia gave her a confused look. "...Why are you..?"

"Pea's the big sister!" Peashy smiled at her. "Pea has to protect her little sisters."

Ouya looked troubled and Peashy gave her a confused look. "...Arfoire told us... Mom and the others came to save us... But it's a trap."

"Mom's going to be turned into a weapon like we are." Stadia said, looking miserable. "What..."

Both Ouya and Stadia were bopped on the head by squeaky mallets.

"Pea knows..." Peashy smiled at them. "Pea knows that Neptuna, Nowa, Blanny and Beru Beru all have people coming to help."

"But..." Stadia began as she and Ouya both got up.

"Come on!" Peashy yelled and ran with the two chasing after her. "You'll see! I bet booby lady, Rom and Ram will be here soon!"

As they ran after Peashy, both Ouya and Stadia hoped that they would be rescued...

...but they didn't have much hope.

'After all...' Stadia thought to herself and gave Ouya a nod while they turned a corner. 'It's our fault mom's been captured.'

(-)

Zero Dimension...

There was a loud growl and everyone turned to look at Rom, who blushed. "I'm sorry. I'm just hungry."

"We have been walking awhile." IF commented. "I'm getting a bit hungry too."

"That's okay." Nepgear smiled and pulled out a large lunchbox. "I made some onigiri last night with Neptune before she had to leave."

"That's quite a bit." Uzume stared in shock as she saw over a dozen large rice balls.

Nepgear smiled at her. "Well, Neptune's a bit of a glutton and loves food and apparently her daughters are the same."

"Wait, hold up." Uzume gave Nepgear a sharp look. "Nepsy has kids?!" Nepgear gave her a dumb look and nodded as C-Sha took three of the large onigiri. "But," her voice started to pitch up in shock. "Then that means that CPUs can have babies and Uzume didn't think that it was possible to have babies and Uzume is now wondering what a pregnant CPU would be like and Uzume wonders if she'd be super duper ditzy or..."

Nepgear coughed into her hand while most of the others gave Uzume a weird look. "Uzume, your voice." She whispered to the redhead.

"Huh?" Uzume's eyes went white and blank before she coughed a few times like she was clearing her throat. "Y...Yeah," she continued, her voice back to normal, "Nepsy has kids? That's a shock."

"You're telling me." Nepgear deadpanned and handed one of the Onigiri to Uzume, who took it with a smile. "When I found out I was like," her eyes went white and blank as she continued, "Neptune has kids? That means that she has a husband and that means that she had lewd fun and AHHHH!" she coughed into her hand and blushed softly, "so yeah, it was a shock to me too."

"I didn't imagine Uzume acting like a ditzy version of Compa, did I?" IF asked S-Sha, who shook her head and looked at Uni, who was staring in shock at Uzume. "Uni?"

"...The hell happened?" Uni muttered before shaking her head and munching on her onigiri. "I swear, I sometimes feel like I'm surrounded by crazy people."

"You are." IF reassured her and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you're doing a good job as Gear's handler."

"Urgh..." Uni groaned and hung her head and looked at IF. "How come you aren't Nepgear's handler?"

"You volunteered." IF answered and Uni hung her head, causing the brunette to shake her head. "You're doing really well. Being her handler means making sure that she stays focused."

"Like you were for Neptune?" Uni asked and IF nodded.

"Yeah, like I was for Nep. I wasn't always successful, but if you have to be rough with them, so be it. I mean, how many times did Noire run off to have fun with work piling up?"

"Too many times to count." Uni muttered. "Are all CPUs this bad?"

"Well, Uzume seems..." IF trailed off as she remembered that outburst from Uzume. "...You know, maybe it's a curse to be a Goddess?"

Uni laughed at IF. "Probably."

"ALRIGHT!" Uzume cheered loudly. "I finally got over my Shiitake mushrooms weakness!"

Both IF and Uni sweat-dropped upon hearing that. "You know, Uni, you should be careful that you don't develop into a crazy Goddess like everyone else is." IF said to Uni, who laughed nervously and wondered what she'd develop in the future.

(-)

As they got close to the border where the Zero Dimension supposedly ended, Uni stopped and pulled Uzume off to the side to speak to her in private. "Hey, um, Uzume..?"

"What is it?" Uzume gave Uni a confused look.

Uni sighed. "I'm sorry, for trying to shoot you, I mean."

"Nah, it's okay." Uzume smiled at her and Uni sighed in relief. "You were doing it for Gearsy and your sister, right? I can understand."

Uni groaned in dismay. "You know, I'm not sure what to think of Nepgear. One moment she's a tough girl who can make clear-headed decisions and she's doing better, but she was so..."

"Was it bad?" Uzume asked and Uni nodded. "Well, if she's gotten better, think of it like this." Uni gave her a confused look while Uzume smiled at her and put a half-closed fist against her chest. "If Gearsy was a complete wreck and is better now, she must have had a lot of help and people who cared for her. So don't be too upset, Unisy. I'm sure that she'll continue to get better so long as she has friends to support her."

Uni nodded, but looked conflicted. "I'm glad but..." Uzume gave her a confused look and asked her what she meant. "I mean..." Uni sighed and looked down as she leaned against a tree. "Sometimes, between having to be her handler and taking care of other things, I wonder if I'll ever have anyone to help take care of me."

Uzume nodded as she understood. "Hey, don't worry about it so much, Unisy." The girl gave her a tired look and Uzume walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "The fact that you're still standing strong shows how cool you are, I'm sure that you'll have someone who will help you in the future."

"I dunno," Uni sighed softly, but smiled. "But thanks, Miss Uzume, I feel better now."

"Hey!" Uzume gave Uni a poke on the forehead. "None of this "miss" stuff, okay? I might be a CPU, but I'm a CPU of Zero Dimension, not your dimension, and even if I was, I'd want you to not be so formal with me."

Uni giggled and nodded. "Alright then, Uzume."

"There we go." Uzume smiled at her. "Come on, I'm sure that the others are wondering what happened to us." Uni nodded and the two walked back to the group.

(-)

It took them only a few more minutes before they got to the edge of Zero Dimension.

"Whaaaa?!" Ram screamed as she saw there was literally nothing after the ground ended.

"This is the end of the world." Umio explained as he looked out into the vastness of it.

"There really is nothing here." C-Sha muttered in disbelief.

"But our sisters are definitely somewhere up ahead."

"But what should we do?" Ram asked as she picked up a rock and threw it. When she heard nothing, she turned to give Nepgear a confused look. "What are we supposed to walk on?"

Uzume's eyes widened and she grabbed a tree. "Quick! Everyone! Grab something! Anything!"

Suddenly the ground, the air, everything started to shake, forcing everyone to latch onto the nearest thing to keep from getting hurt.

"Why is everything sh-sh-sh-shaking?! WHO-O-O-O-O-AAAAAH!" Compa screamed.

After a few moments, the intense shaking slowly came to a halt. Everyone was panting and looking around nervously with C-Sha helping Rom and Ram to their feet and away from the edge.

"I knew it..." Uzume muttered as she looked at her wrist. "Gearsy, look at this."

"Huh?" Nepgear blinked as she looked at what Uzume was showing her. "Wait, those numbers," she mused as she saw the long string of numbers, "are Dimensional Coordinates. Could they be Zero Dimension's coordinates?"

"I think so." Uzume told her. "Ever since you and Nepsy left, there have been lots of quakes and then these numbers changed."

"Wait, what?!" Nepgear gasped in shock. "That... That shouldn't be possible." She fiddled with the device and stared in absolute horror. "This... This dimension's moving. But how?" It was then she noticed something about the numbers. "Wait a moment, these numbers, they're... Oh no."

"Gear?" IF asked as she saw Nepgear getting more and more agitated. "What's going on?"

Nepgear looked at everyone, her face pale. "Somehow, Zero Dimension is moving towards Hyper Dimension."

"...What will happen if the two dimensions end up in the same space?" Uni asked and Nepgear shook her head.

"I... I dunno." Nepgear sighed and slumped. "This isn't something I've ever dealt with before." She looked around and saw that everyone was just as confused as she was. "...I almost wish that Histoire was here." If there was anyone who knew what this meant, it would be her.

Uzume grimaced and gripped her head. "...Histoire?" She asked as the image of a small blonde fairy appeared in her mind.

"Here you go!"

"Huh?"

"Uzume thinks it's super cute! Now we have matching headgear!"

Uzume shook her head. "Why would I know a Histoire? Was there someone by that name here in Zero Dimension?" She blushed as Nepgear gave her a confused look and realized that she had spoken that part out loud. "Sorry, Gearsy, but that name seemed really familiar to me."

"By the way, how's your memory?" Nepgear asked and Uzume smiled at her.

"Well, thanks to being able to gather shares from the monsters, my memories have been returning." She huffed in slight annoyance. "But it's just minor things, like using a wagon to carry my console around and some brat calling me lame."

"Well, even if they're not important, they're still your memories." Nepgear smiled at her. "It's great that you're remembering them."

"Yeah, I just wish I knew the name of my nation already."

"...Planeptune." A new voice spoke up, causing everyone to turn to the source as they saw a girl wearing an almost identical outfit to Uzume, except it was dark and blue and her hair was blue as well. "That's the name of your, no..." She had a knowing smile on her face. "The name of my nation."

"What the hell?" Uzume gasped in surprise. "You're... Me?"

"Hello, me." The blue-haired Uzume smiled at her. "This is the first time we've ever met face-to-face, but I've been watching you for some time now."

"Yoo hoo!" Another person cheerfully spoke up and waved. "Heya, Nepgear, it's been awhile, huh?"

"N-Neptune?!" Nepgear gasped as she saw the taller, bustier version of her big sister. "What are you doing here?"

"So that's the big Nep Nep?" Compa asked as she looked the bigger Neptune over. The girl was a little shorter than Purple Heart, slightly smaller in the chest and was wearing a black parka with two black D-clip hair pins and her hair was longer, hanging in two loose ponytails, compared to Purple Heart's tightly braided long ponytails.

"Well, she's taller and..." IF couldn't help but stare at her chest. "...I guess Nep's HDD isn't just what she wants to be if she could grow up if this Nep looks like this."

"Ah yes, I had missed this kind of silliness." The blue-haired Uzume smirked at everyone.

"Who are you? And what do you mean "Planeptune"?" Uzume demanded as she looked at the other girl. "That's Gearsy's nation, don't mess with me!" When the other girl started to laugh, she frowned in confusion. "What?"

"The truth is, the origins of everything can be traced back to your nation." The blue-haired girl just smirked at the confusion everyone had. "If you want to know more..." She trailed off and shrugged. "That's up to "me" to remember, nothing more and nothing less."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Uzume felt an urge to call up her megaphone but held back, just barely. "What do you know?"

"Everything you don't." The blue-haired girl answered instantly. "In fact," her smile started to increase in size, "I know what happens when two dimensions occupy the same space at the same time. This one's a freebie." She held up her left hand and extended her index finger while giving them a wink. "See, if two dimensions occupy the same space at the same time, they fuse together and, well," the smile on her face was ear to ear, but considering that her voice was still just as serene as ever, it was a disturbing clash that had even Neptune looking at the blue-haired girl in worry. "When Hyper Dimension and Zero Dimension meet, the two can't exist in the same place at the same time. It would be like two people trying to sit on same the toilet at the same time. So what happens is that the two dimensions end up fusing together." Her smile became more normal after saying that and she was quiet for a few moments to allow it to sink in. "Sadly, for Hyper Dimension, when that happens, it will end up looking like Zero Dimension."

"Uzume..." Neptune whispered in shock. 'This was your plan all along? I thought you were just a lonely girl.'

"You're the one who's behind Nepsy and the others getting kidnapped!" Uzume shouted as she came to a realization. "What the heck are you planning?"

"Sorry, can't tell you." The other Uzume shook her head. "I'm here for something else, actually." She gave Nepgear a pointed look. "That console you stole from AffimaX, please return it to me."

IF gasped as something clicked in her head. "You! You're the one who was manipulating and controlling AffimaX and the Gold Third, weren't you?"

"And you must be why Peashy turned into a monster then!" Ram pointed out, remembering that fight.

"And why Neptune's daughters suddenly appeared." Nepgear continued as she put the pieces together.

"Well, you're all smart enough to figure that out, huh?" The other Uzume smirked at them. "I also have Arfoire, Nepsy and a girl named Plutsy working with me as well, or did they all slip your mind as well?" She yawned. "Oh well, the console, now." She gave Nepgear a stern look.

"I don't know what you're planning with it, but I'm not letting you have it." Nepgear told her.

"Disappointing, oh well." The other Uzume shrugged. "I guess I'll just have to retrieve it later. Nepsy, let's go."

"Wait! What about our sisters?!" Nepgear yelled as Neptune and the other Uzume turned to leave.

"...Oh yeah, I had forgotten about them." The other Uzume chuckled softly. "They're coming along quite nicely." She paused as images of what Neptune went through flashed through her head and she turned to give Nepgear a look.

Nepgear gasped as she saw pain, betrayal and sadness in the other Uzume's eyes, even though they weren't close to each other. "What?" She could even see tears filling the other Uzume's eyes as she looked at Nepgear.

"You have no idea how lucky you are." The other Uzume said and walked off with Neptune following after her. The two walked off the edge of the world, but the group could hear their footsteps hitting something hard along the way.

"Come on!" Uni called out as the group ran after them. "We can't let this chance slip through our fingertips."

(-)

After following the other Uzume and Neptune, the group stared in shock at where they were. "What... Is this place?" More than one person gasped in surprise. It was similar to the Gold Towers, but it felt... Disjointed and weird.

"I don't like this place." S-Sha said as she looked around. "Let's hurry up and get this over with."

"I agree." C-Sha nodded. "Blanny and the others are somewhere in here, or at least we can find them when we get to the end."

"Yeah." B-Sha nodded and the group moved through the new area, making sure to keep an eye out for new monsters.

(-)

Meanwhile...

"Uzume..?" Neptune looked at the blue-haired girl, who was standing there, shaking. "What's wrong?"

"...Why?" Uzume asked as she balled her hands into fists. 'Why does what happened to Nepsy hurt me so much? Is it because she's my successor? Is it because she knows what it's like to be betrayed by everyone? ...Is it because she still loves them? Why would she still care about them?'

"Uh... Neptune to Uzume..." Neptune smiled and put her hand on Uzume's shoulder. "Are you okay? Why what?"

Uzume looked at Neptune and gave her a curious look. "...Why are you staying with me?"

"We're friends, aren't we?" The busty Neptune smiled at Uzume, who stared at her.

Flash*

Histoire looked at Uzume. "...Why did you give me this headgear?"

Uzume smiled brightly at Histoire. "It's because Uzume and Histoire are friends, silly!"

End flashback*

"..." Uzume bowed her head and had her hair cover her eyes. "...I'm not worthy of being your friend, Nepsy."

"Nonsense." Neptune smiled at Uzume. "I still owe you that date to the sunflower fields."

"...Heh, alright." Uzume smiled back and sighed. "...But you know what I'm planning, so why are you sticking with me?"

"Someone has to, right?" Neptune smiled at her. She tilted her head as Uzume turned away and coughed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Uzume said, her cheeks red.

Neptune smiled and turned to look in the distance. "Uh oh... Looks like they caught up."

"That was fast." Uzume muttered as she sighed and saw her other self and the others making their way to them. "Oh well." She shrugged and waited for three minutes before the others stepped onto the platform she and Neptune were on. "Nice to see you again, Gearsy." She snapped her fingers and a strong-looking monster appeared in front of her. "Here, you can have fun with this. The next time you'll see me, your sisters will be done. Nepsy, get the portal open."

"All done." Neptune smiled as she opened her NepNote and a purple portal opened. "Next stop, Heart Dimension!"

"Wait!" Nepgear called out and grimaced as the monster charged at them. "Dang it! NEPTUNE!"

(-)

Heart Dimension...

After returning to the Heart Dimension, Uzume and Neptune warped to where Ouya and Stadia were at...

...Or where they weren't, as Arfoire was slowly pulling herself off of the floor. "That little brat..." Arfoire groaned and staggered to her feet. "Dammit." She groaned and rubbed her jaw.

"...What happened?" Uzume asked, frowning in confusion.

"That little blonde brat punched me in the jaw and set those two other brats free." Arfoire explained.

"Oh, is that all?" Neptune smiled as Uzume gave her a dirty look. "I mean, this is your entire dimension, they probably didn't get very far, right? And without Crostie, they can't leave."

Uzume's frown slowly disappeared and she nodded. "Indeed, without Croire, they can't leave." She suddenly stiffened and turned to give Neptune a glowering stare.

"Uh..." Neptune sweat-dropped heavily. "Are you pissed for some reason, Uzume?"

"Nepsy..." Uzume walked up to the busty girl. "Did you... Forget to close the portal behind you?" When she saw Neptune go pale, she sighed. "I just felt them enter this dimension."

"Eh heh heh..." Neptune laughed nervously. "Sorry, Uzume, that was my mistake."

"Yeah..." Uzume sighed as she trailed off. "...Nepsy..." Neptune gave her a confused look before Uzume grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in, kissing her on the lips, much to both Neptune and Arfoire's shock. When Neptune felt Uzume's tongue on her lips, she opened her mouth and accepted the kiss.

Arfoire grimaced and looked away as she watched Uzume make out with the purple-haired brat. "...Get a room you two!"

Uzume broke the kiss and smiled at Neptune. "Thank you, Nepsy..." She walked away, leaving Neptune blushing and stuttering while twitching.

"First the other Miss Busty that I thought was Miss Busty's older sister makes out with me and now Uzume does. Do us Neps have the ability to attract lonely women or something?" Neptune muttered to herself.

"...I was looking forward to that date, Nepsy." Uzume said, her voice soft with remorse. "...But you betrayed me."

"Oh, come on..." Neptune tried to smile. "I didn't betray you, Uzume... I just... Don't want Tiny Me or her friends and family to get hurt, that's all."

"Just like everyone else in my life." Uzume muttered as she looked away. "Everyone eventually betrays me. Arfoire," she looked at the witch, "get Croire away from Nepsy, you can do whatever you want to Nepsy afterwords. I'm going to go check on the other Nepsy."

Arfoire grinned while Neptune started to sweat while Uzume disappeared. "Now then, brat... Time to pay you back for that insult you gave me before."

"...Which one?" Neptune asked. Seeing the darkening look on Arfoire's face, she gulped. "Wrong thing to say, huh?"

"Yes." Arfoire nodded as magical spheres formed around her. "It's time to pay, brat."

'Plutia, Peashy, Ouya, Stadia, I hope I gave all of you enough time to get away.' Neptune thought to herself as Arfoire ripped her NepNote out of her pockets. "Well, poopie." She said before turning and running while Arfoire laughed. Her only hope was that Nepgear and the others would either be able to save her smaller self and the other CPUs or run into Peashy, Plutia, Stadia and Ouya and get them out of Uzume's reach. 'I need to think up a new name for her, it's getting confusing with two Uzumes.' Neptune thought to herself as she dodged magical bullets from Arfoire.


Neps always take care of their families after all.

And the dream sequences are finally showing up in the next chapter.