Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Sega, Idea Factory and Compile Heart and whomever else worked on it.
Ugh, this took me all day to write.
Chapter 45
After dealing with Dark White, White Heart sighed as she transformed back into her human form. "I'd almost feel bad for Kurome. She goes through all that work to bring these things into reality and we just go and smash them." Her face was covered in shadow and her left eye turned red. "IF SHE DIDN'T MAKE MY DARK CPU COUNTERPART SO DAMN SMALL!"
The others sweat-dropped and Neptune slid up next to Vert and leaned close to her. "You really need to lay off on the boob teasing, okay? At least for today."
Vert was about to answer but saw just how upset Blanc was and nodded. "I suppose I can."
Not far away, Compa was looking at the giant Share Crystal in the distance in confusion. "Hey, Iffy..." IF looked at her in confusion as she pointed at the crystal. "Dark White's axe went flying that way, do you think it hit anything?"
IF had a weird look on her face. "I doubt that it would hit..." When Uzume suddenly cried out and fell to her knees, IF spun around and saw both Neptunes by Uzume's side in an instant. "What happened?"
Uzume panted, a pained look on her face as she smiled. "L...Looks like that axe hit the Share Crystal. I didn't expect it to hurt that much."
"If it affect you that much..." Noire trailed off as she saw Kurome forming behind Uzume, her expression pained and angry while her left hand gripped at her chest. "Look out!"
"So you think..." Kurome panted and growled as she took a step forward. "That you can just go ahead and try to kill me like that?!"
"Well, that was kind of an accident." Neptune said and rubbed the back of her head. "But if you're here..."
Kurome gave Neptune a look that was a mixture of sneering and amusement. "...You know what? This isn't the right place for this showdown." She chuckled and started to fade. "I'll give you, oh, how does... Oh right, three, as Histoire would say, three hours to recover and meet me where it all began. Take some time to rest and when you're ready..." In her place a button appeared on a stick in the ground. "Press that to come for the final showdown." A moment later, she was gone while Croire, who wasn't too far away, started to look nervous.
"Ah hell, I ain't gunna..."
"GOTCHA!" The bigger Neptune yelled as she tackled Croire from behind.
"HEY!" Croire's eyes went wide and her face went red as realized where Neptune's hands were grabbing. "Let go! I don't have the tits for fondling like that!"
Neptune grinned as she held Croire, who was starting to pant. "Nope, not letting go..." She kept one hand around Croire's chest, squeezing it and causing Croire to blush and squirm while her other hand reached into her pocket. "Kurome dropped this." She opened it up and Croire's eyes widened. "Back in you go." Neptune giggled as Croire got sucked in.
"YOU TEASING BITCH! AT LEAST LET ME FINISH IF YOU'RE GOING TO GET ME WORKED UP! ARRRGH!" Croire yelled as she was sucked into the notebook, becoming a pair of black fairy wings.
"And tape," Neptune smiled as she put tape over Croire's wings, "and close." She giggled and closed the book.
"Uh..." The smaller Neptune raised her eyebrow. "...I'm not one to complain about random fanservice in this franchise, but why'd you fondle her?"
The bigger Neptune just smiled. "Crostie's kind of cute when she gets all flustered and worked up." She giggled at everyone's dumb stare.
"AND YOU ALL WONDER WHY I WANT TO GET AWAY FROM HER!" Croire's voice was heard, albeit muffled, from the Nepnote.
"Well..." The bigger Neptune just smiled at the others. "Oh! I know! How about I go pick up Nepgear and the others?"
"That might not be a bad idea." Noire said as she tried to focus on something else. She looked at the other Neptune who nodded. "Okay, go get them then."
"Will do, be right back." The bigger Neptune smiled as a portal opened behind her and she left through it.
"So..." Blanc looked at the button. "...Three hours?"
"I'm guessing she wants us to be there in three hours." Neptune said as she looked at it. "...She took Ouya and Stadia, she probably intends to use them as bait to lure me in again."
"Speaking of which," Plutia, or rather, Iris Heart, said as she glared at Neptune, "we have things to talk about."
Neptune gave Iris Heart a stern look. "I thought we made up." She said as she transformed into Purple Heart. "But if you want to fight, argue, scream or whatever to me, Plutie, I'm more than willing to throw down with you."
Standing there with her arms crossed under her breasts, Iris Heart didn't waver as she and Purple Heart stood only a few inches from each other. The feeling in the air was so tense that the others were finding it hard to breathe.
"You made me be a secretary to greet people, Neppy." Iris Heart said, her voice disturbingly calm. "For the past three hundred years, I've been a secretary just because I couldn't transform."
"I wasn't risking you and P-Ko getting upset again and destroying parts of the city again." Purple Heart answered her. "And you only had to work part time over the years. I know better than anyone how hard it is to wake your lazy ass up when you're sleeping."
Vert, Noire and Blanc all sweat-dropped upon hearing that. Partially because hearing Neptune swear was an oddity and partially because they couldn't imagine anyone lazier than she was.
"You could have undone your seal on myself or Peashy at any time over the centuries, I planned on moving into the under cities after getting my HDD back."
Purple Heart merely closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "You're right, I could have. I probably should have let you and P-Ko regain your HDD states after a couple of decades." She opened her eyes and glared at Iris Heart. "I wanted you and P-Ko to make up first, and over the years, I somewhat forgot about it."
Iris Heart growled and in a flash of motion, grabbed the collar of Purple Heart's processor and pulled her close. "You... FORGOT?! Neppy, I love you like you can't believe, but right now, you better have a better excuse than that or I'll strip you naked and spank you in front of everyone."
Purple Heart didn't waver as she looked at Iris Heart. "I was busy with the nation, Plutie. By the time things settled down enough that I could take breaks, it was decades later."
The next thing either of them knew, Yellow Heart was separating them. "Ploot, come on, you know that Neptuna was way over-worked after what we did." Yellow Heart said as she stepped between them while Purple Heart stepped back. "And Neptuna," she turned to face Purple Heart and sighed, "Pea was at fault."
Purple Heart sighed and nodded. "...Plutie, when this is over, I'll undo the seal on both of you for good, okay?"
Iris Heart huffed and returned to her human form, as did Yellow Heart and Purple Heart. "Fiiiine..." Plutia said with a sour look on her face. "But I'm still mad."
Neptune sighed and nodded before walking off and sitting in a corner.
Compa and IF watched as Plutia did the same and walked off to sit by herself. The two looked at each other and nodded with IF going to Neptune while Compa walked over to Plutia. "Hey," she smiled at Plutia, who looked at her and smiled as Compa sat down next to Plutia. "You and Nep Nep have a lot of bad blood, huh?"
Plutia sighed and nodded sadly, looking over as Peashy went over to talk to Uzume, who was looking somewhat angry and somewhat confused. "...I love Neppy, I really do, but... She makes me so mad."
Compa nodded. "You know, my grandpa once told me that the person who made him the most mad was my grandma." Plutia gave her a confused look as Compa smiled. "Grandpa once said to me," she lowered her voice to try and emulate an old man's voice as she continued to speak, "Compa, I love her enough to marry her and have children with her, but your grandma is someone who I fought with all the time over everything. Just today we argued about what we're going to have for dinner. I wanted fish and she didn't. But I won the argument, so we're having fish." Compa smiled and coughed. "And then grandma slapped him with a trout." She giggled as Plutia continued to give her a confused look. "What I mean is, it's okay to get mad and have fights with someone, even if you love them. It's normal for friends and family to fight. I know Iffy's had arguments with me, Nep Nep, Ge Ge and others all the time. And Nep Nep fought with the other CPUs too."
"It's not the same." Plutia sighed sadly before blinking as Compa patted her back. "...Compa?"
"You and your Iffy lost your relationship and you and Peashy fought for a long time because no one would say sorry." Compa gave Plutia a gentle look. "Do you want to lose what you have left with Nep Nep because no one would say sorry?"
Plutia sighed and smiled at Compa. "...Thank you." She hugged Compa. "I..." She let go of the hug and sighed. "I don't know what to do."
"Just forgive her." Compa smiled. "I'm sure that Nep Nep is sorry for what she did."
(-)
"Hey, Nep." IF said as she sat down next to Neptune. "Never thought I'd see the day when you're complaining about someone else being lazy and not getting out of bed." She sighed at the blank look Neptune gave her. "Listen, I can't say anything about what happened over there in the other world, but don't you think you were pretty harsh on her?"
Neptune sighed and hung her head and muttered something.
"Nep? What was that?"
Neptune lifted her head and IF was taken aback by how... Tired Neptune looked. "I said, I'm just so tired of stuff." She closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists. "I don't regret my life, Iffy, but..."
"You made a lot of mistakes, huh?" IF asked and Neptune nodded. IF smiled and Neptune gave her a confused look. "With how you had basically been acting lately, it felt so weird to see you have a lover's spat with someone."
Neptune gave IF a flat look while her cheeks turned lightly pink. "Plutie and I... We're more like sisters."
IF shrugged. "Well, that explains why you fought with her, huh?" When Neptune didn't rise to her barb, she simply shook her head. "You know, I over-heard Gear say that it felt like you had lost some part of yourself." Neptune gave her a confused look and she continued. "I didn't know what it was. Sure, you sometimes zone out when something triggers a past memory for you pops up. But," she looked over at Plutia, "I've never seen you get so personal when you argue with someone. Even when you had fights with the other CPUs, you always just yelled at them for ganging up on you or something. But the more I think about it, Nep..." She trailed off and thought about it for awhile while Neptune gave her a confused look. "...When you and B-Sha were making that model figure awhile back, you took time to go work and leave it unfinished. That's not you."
Neptune sighed softly and spoke just as softly. "A CPU has obligations to her people that need to come first."
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but..." IF gave Neptune a stern look. "I agree with Gear. This isn't you. If you keep giving and giving, you're going to be burned out." She stood up and started to walk away before stopping. "...Maybe the you that I knew really is dead and all I see is a walking husk."
A few minutes later a purple portal opened up and the four CPU Candidates and the other Neptune walked through it.
"Where's the others and Histy?" Neptune asked as she noticed the group was rather small.
"Oh that?" The other Neptune smiled and held up a finger. "Well, how about a quick flashback to explain?"
*Flash*
Neptune walked out of the portal and looked around in confusion. "Woah, is this what it's like to be on a drug trip? I've never been on one, but I've heard it's weird."
"Moron," Croire grumbled from inside the NepNote, "we're in Hyper Dimension, I don't know what kinds of drugs you've been smoking lately, but leave me out of it."
"Aw, come on, Crostie," Neptune smiled at the Nepnote as she opened it up to look at the fairy's page. "You brought this on yourself."
"...Including you fondling me?"
"Okay, that was just because I wanted to distract you." Neptune smiled and looked around. "But, man, where..." She heard a loud thump and she looked up...
...And up...
...And up. "Oh, that's the missing Dark CPU, huh?" Neptune muttered as she watched it swing around while fighting some things she couldn't see. "I bet Nepgear's up there with the others."
"Excuse me." A voice she didn't recognize spoke up and Neptune looked around before blinking as she saw a blonde haired, blue eyed book fairy.
"Oh wow!" Neptune's eyes sparkled as she looked at the book fairy. "You look like Crostie."
"Urgh, is that Histoire?" Croire's voice was heard from inside the NepNote.
"Yes," Histoire nodded as she looked at Neptune, "but why are you here?"
"Ah," Neptune smiled at Histoire, "I grabbed Crostie before she could just make a run for it and we got a bit of downtime before the final showdown, so I was sent to pick everyone up, but it looks like they're busy." Neptune laughed nervously.
"Indeed," a male voice spoke up and Neptune's eyes lit up as she saw Steamax walking towards her and Histoire. "Lady Histoire, Lady Neptune, it seems that Lady Uni and the others are about to finish with this Dark CPU. If it's alright with you, I will escort Lady Histoire back to the Planeptune Basilicom."
"Of course," Neptune smiled at Steamax, "I'm sure that Tiny Me would love to know that Histy here is safe and sound."
*End Flashback*
"After that, the Dark CPU was beaten and the Gold Third went back to Planeptune saying something about protecting Histy and coming through the portal the long way for some reason." Neptune shrugged.
"That's about right." Uni said and looked around. "So, we're just going to relax?"
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to unwind a little bit." Noire told her. "I'm a bit stiff all over."
"Blanc!" Rom cheered as she ran over to her sister with Ram following her. "We got to beat up a Dark CPU."
Blanc smiled and put a hand on their heads, ruffling their hair through their hats. "Good job." Both of her sisters had bright smiles on their faces.
"Hey, Gear..." IF whispered to Nepgear and looked at the smaller Neptune, who was sitting off to the side, looking troubled. "Will you talk to her in private? I think she needs to hear something from you."
Nepgear looked confused but nodded and walked over to Neptune. "Hey..." Her sister looked at her and Nepgear looked worried by the troubled look on Neptune's face. "...Do you want to talk out in the hallway?"
"Sure." Neptune nodded and the two walked off.
Uzume watched them go and sighed before looking back out towards the large Share Crystal. "...I'm coming, other me. And when we finally meet up, I'll end it all."
Standing near Uzume, Peashy frowned in concern. '...I understand why you think like that Uzume... But Pea thinks its sad.' She really didn't have any ideas how to handle this.
(-)
In the hallway, Nepgear smiled at Neptune, who gave her a small smile in return. "So, what's going on, Neptune?"
Neptune sighed and felt her shoulders slumping. "...You said that I lost something, even Iffy thinks I did."
"Well..." Nepgear thought about it. "Remember when I said I like the lazy and cute you?" Neptune nodded and Nepgear smiled at her. "I meant it. I'm happy that you're more responsible, but, I think you stopped being you. Besides," Nepgear said as she turned around, "is it so wrong to be a little selfish?"
Neptune could only watch as Nepgear walked off. "...Is it so wrong to be a little selfish?" She lowered her arm. "You don't get it, Nepgear... Being selfish did nothing but bring me trouble."
"Was it worth it though? Was it worth giving up our happiness?"
"...I don't know, Noire." Neptune whispered as she thought about her friend and those words she had spoken to Neptune all those decades ago. "...I really don't know anymore."
Unlike certain conspiracy theories out there, you can trust the plan I have.
...I think.
Don't worry, this will all be worth it in the end, I promise.
