Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. If I did, then this would all be canon.
All characters and music belong to their respective owners. I also give HamasakiArruno credit for the basic design and name of Compa's HDD, Pink Heart. I also thank Author Heart - Ance for the appearance and name of Leanbox's new CPU Candidate. The only thing I can probably take ownership for are IF's HDD, Indigo Heart, and the monster's END Forms.
Leanbox's Theme (Hyperdimension Neptunia)
Three days have passed since the defeat of the Aristocrats, which was followed by the birth of Leanbox's CPU Candidate as the CPUs and CPU Candidates of the other nations plus IF and Compa walked down the streets of Leanbox.
"Man, to think that this chapter starts three days after Benia was born." Uni said, thinking about the new CPU Candidate.
"Well, Vert and Ance had to make her known to Leanbox." Noire pointed out.
"And then Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram had to help her complete quests so that people would have faith in her, but since she was just born and not as strong as the rest of us, it was mostly E-rank quests." Neptune added.
"By the way, how did those quests go?" IF asked the Candidates.
Nepgear groaned. "It was a lot more difficult than it should've been for Benia's first few quests. Vert said that we should go with her in case she gets into trouble, but more than half of the Jakis went into their END Forms, some having different elements. And don't get me started on the Blue Shadow boss..."
Uni groaned as she remembered that battle. "Tell me about it. That mutt was going so dang fast, we couldn't land a hit! We only managed to beat it when Rom decided to freeze the floor, which made it crash into the walls with its own speed."
"Just be glad that we beat it." Rom told her.
Neptune exchanged a worried look with the other CPUs, which was understandable. These END Forms have spread to even uncommon spawns. They don't want to know what would happen if they met a super rare spawn in its END Form.
They continued walking until they reached the Basilicom, where they saw Ance waiting at the door.
"Ance? Why are you waiting out here?" Neptune asked.
"Well, Vert is currently out doing quests with Benia, so she told me to wait here for you guys and help you get the last Key Fragment." Ance explained.
IF nodded. "Alright, c'mon. We'll show you where the Key Fragment is." Neptune, IF, and Compa left to the last Key Fragment's location with everyone else following them.
End BGM
The group was now standing in front of the dungeon where the last Key Fragment is.
"So this is the place?" Ram asked.
Neptune nodded. "Yes. The last Key Fragment is in here."
"Once we get the last Key Fragment, we'll be able to unseal Histoire...wherever she is." Ram said, shrugging her arms as she said the last part.
"Then let's go!" Ance ran ahead into the dungeon.
"Whoa! Wait up, Ance!" Compa called as everyone ran in after her.
Face It! (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
The group made it to the end of the dungeon as they were now facing the last Guard Vermin in its END Form. Unlike the other Guard Vermins, this one's skin color was now white and green with gusts of wind swirling around its body.
"The last Guard Vermin, and you three were right. Not only is its color different, but also its element." Neptune said.
"Lightning in Planeptune, Fire in Lastation, Ice in Lowee, and this one in Leanbox is Wind." IF listed.
The Guard Vermin roared at them, the wind swirling around its body getting faster as the Goddesses changed into their processor units while IF and Compa transformed into their HDD.
"I don't care what element it uses, we'll take it out, just like the others!" Uni exclaimed.
Noire looked at Ance. "Are you gonna be okay, Ance? These monsters are very powerful in their END Forms."
Ance gave a cheery smile. "Don't worry. I'm a lot tougher than I look."
"Alright." Noire nodded before facing the Guard Vermin and summoning her sword as everyone else summoned their weapons. "Let's do this!"
Normal Boss (Freedom Planet)
Neptune and Noire flew up to the Guard Vermin to slash it...but they were suddenly knocked away by a gust of wind.
"What the-!?" A startled Neptune exclaimed.
"What happened?" Noire asked in confusion.
The Guard Vermin fired a wind slash wave at the two, but Nepgear quickly got in front of the two.
"M.P.B.L!" Nepgear fired her signature purple beam, canceling the slash wave and dealing damage to the Guard Vermin, but it didn't seem to do much as Blanc flew up and tried to slam her axe down on the monster...but like the CPU couple, she was suddenly knocked away by a gust of wind.
"What the hell is going on!?" Blanc shouted in frustration.
Rom looked at the Guard Vermin, and noticed that the wind was swirling around to look like a shield.
"It's using its wind abilities to form a shield that protects from close-ranged attack." She told everyone.
"So ranged attacks and skills only? Fine with me." Uni aimed her gun at the Guard Vermin. "EX Multi Blaster! Mode: Empress!" Uni fired a golden beam at the monster...but it only dealt a little bit of damage as the Guard Vermin ran at Uni and slashed at her, but she quickly dodged the attack.
"It looks like that wind shield is also halving damage taken from non-elemental skills." Ance observed.
"Are you serious!? This just turned into a drag!" Uni complained.
"Let's try this! E-Force Blizzard!" Ram spun around and slammed her staff into the ground, encasing the Guard Vermin in a giant glacier that exploded and damaged it quite a bit.
"Looks like that did the trick!" Ance said.
"Elemental ranged attacks, huh? Alright then." IF's left energy blade glowed a blazing red. "Nuclear Inferno!" IF released a stream of fire at the Guard Vermin, damaging it through its wind shield.
"Ice Cubes!" Rom created ice cubes out of thin air and flung them at the Guard Vermin, dealing some damage to it.
The Guard Vermin roared in anger and slashed its sword very hard, sending a giant hurricane at everyone.
"32-bit Mega Blade!"
"Love Cannon!"
Neptune sent one of her pixilated blades into the hurricane, and then Compa fired a powerful pink beam at it, making it explode and cancel out the hurricane with a pillar of light.
"Holy Burst!" Compa then charged her gun with energy and fired a light blast at the Guard Vermin, resulting in an explosion of light that dealt some damage and left it weakened.
"Ice Coffin!" Combining their magic, Rom and Ram trapped the monster in an enormous pillar of ice.
"Gefahrlichtern!" Blanc then created orbs of icy blue energy with a wave of her hand and then batted them at the frozen Guard Vermin, causing the glacier to explode in a pillar of light as the monster burst into pixels.
End BGM
"Every boss in Leanbox so far has been pretty difficult. The author must be trying to give us a good challenge after Destroyer." Uni said as everyone changed back to their normal forms and Neptune picked up the Key Fragment that was left behind.
"Histy, can you hear me? We've obtained the last Key Fragment." Neptune to Histoire through the Key Fragment.
"Yes, I can hear you clearly. Very well done, Neptune." Histoire spoke.
"Now that we have all the Key Fragments, we can free Histoire from her tome, right?" Rom asked.
"...Am I even going to ask who that was?"
"That was one of Blanc's twin little sisters, Rom. The other one is Ram." Neptune introduced.
"Hey, Histoire!" Ram greeted.
"They're the CPU Candidates of Lowee, the White Sisters."
"..."
"Histy?"
"...I'm already getting familiar with the nations having a CPU Candidate, but Lowee has two?"
"Yes. Leanbox also has a CPU Candidate. Her name's Benia. She's not here with us right now because she doing quests with Vert."
"I see."
"So, where is your tome, Histoire?" Ance asked...and then she saw everyone look at her with surprise. "...What?"
"How can you hear Histoire?" IF asked. "Only Goddesses should be able to reach her."
"...I guess I'm just special?"
"I don't believe that." IF said unconvincingly.
"We'll get on to that matter later, IF. As for your question, Ance, well..."
"Looking for this?" A voice spoke behind her. Everyone turned around and saw Arfoire behind them, smirking as she held a familiar tome in her left hand that everyone recognized.
Villain of a Sort (Kingdom Hearts)
"Histoire!"
"Histy!" Neptune exclaimed.
"Haaa ha ha haah!" Arfoire laughed. "I had a feeling you were collecting the Key Fragments to free Histoire, so I decided to find her before all of you."
She then frowned. "Although, I expected that you have recruited all the Goddesses. Where is Vert?"
"She currently doing quests with her CPU Candidate." IF told her.
Arfoire shook her head with a sigh. "At this rate, I shouldn't even be surprised. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your maid friend there is also a CPU."
Everyone blinked at Arfoire before turning to Ance.
End BGM
"...Oh dear, looks like the villain blew my cover." Ance simply smiled cheerfully...and then she was engulfed in a bright light, shocking everyone except Arfoire, who was expecting this, and IF.
Iris Heart Theme/Battle (Hyperdimension Neptunia V)
"No way..." Neptune gaped.
"I had a feeling." IF said as everyone saw Ance's HDD form.
Ance now wore a white overcoat with cotton tied around her neck and black stripes around the overcoat. Underneath the coat she was wearing a frilly black blouse with white polka dots. She also wore short jeans and different colored shoes (the left one was red and the right one was blue). Her hair was now longer and reaches down to her feet, and she had a sharp, intent gaze. But what was interesting was that her eyes and power symbol pupils were different colors. Her left eye was completely pitch black with a bright red power symbol pupil, and her right eye was completely white with a bright blue power symbol pupil. Her weapon was the same broadsword, but it was now gold, even the handle.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Author Heart." Ance introduced her HDD Form. "I will get straight to the point, Arfoire. Hand over Histoire's tome, and the author of this story won't have to type a one-sided battle scene."
Everyone stared at Ance with plate eyes, registering what she just said.
"...Did Ance just...?" Noire asked.
Neptune slowly nodded. "Yep. She broke the fourth wall."
Arfoire summoned her spear. "I had expected that you also would be a CPU, but do you really think I would hand over Histoire without a fight?"
"So be it." Ance said. "Eevee?"
On it.
Boss Battle (Persona 2: Innocent Sin)
"Interesting music for this battle." Ance commented on the music for the battle.
"If your done breaking the fourth wall, let's get on with this." Arfoire said impatiently.
"Alright." Ance flew at Arfoire very fast and slashed her as she blocked with her spear, but the force of the attack knocked her back into a wall. She then looked behind her at the others, who were still plate-eyed. "Am I doing this fight alone, or are you guys gonna help me?"
Everyone snapped out of their dumbfounded state. "O-Oh, right!" Neptune nodded as everyone changed into their proceesor units while IF and Compa transformed into their HDD.
Arfoire pulled herself out of the hole in the wall. "Not bad." She said, and then she fired dark blasts at everyone, but the ranged attackers fired lasers or magic blasts to counter them while everyone else dodged.
"Demonic Dance." IF flew at Arfoire and slashed her several times as she blocked the attack with her spear, but after the fourth slash... "Rising Hell." IF ended her skill early and immediately used another one, her right energy blade glowing orange as she performed an uppercut slash, which caused magma to erupt from the ground below Arfoire, breaking through her guard and sending her into air.
"Falling Echo!" Ance then appeared in the air and flew down as fast as a jet, punching Arfoire square in the face and sending her back down to the ground.
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Ram winced.
Arfoire stood back up, holding a hand to her face as she glared at Ance. "You will pay for that!" She exclaimed, and then she sent a dark slash wave at her, but Ance countered with her own slash wave that overpowered Arfoire's and hit her in the stomach, sending her into a wall.
"Fall Slash!" Noire flew up into the air and sent a slash wave at Arfoire that erupted into a shockwave and dealt great damage.
Arfoire flew out of the wall and slashed at Uni...but she suddenly summoned a black pixelated sword with a white handle like Neptune's in her left hand and used it to block the slash, shocking Arfoire and surprising mostly everyone (the ones not surprised being Neptune, Noire, and Nepgear).
"Neptune taught me how to use that 32-bit Mega Blade skill between breaks." Uni smirked, and then she slashed Arfoire away and threw it at her, the sword impaling her in the left shoulder and erupting in a pillar of light, dealing continuous damage to her.
"Looks like I taught her well." Neptune smiled proudly at Uni, and then she turned to the weakened Arfoire. "Delta Slash!" Neptune fired two diagonal slash waves at Arfoire, and then she sent a horizontal slash wave, the slashes connecting into a delta sign and exploding, dealing more damage, but surprisingly she was still fighting.
"Tough, but this ends here." Ance pointed her finger at Arfoire. "Fytium!" Ance fired a rainbow beam at Arfoire, but time white, black, and even gray was added to the mix of colors as it hit Arfoire and sent her to the wall with an explosion as Histoire's tome flew out of the explosion and landed near Nepgear's feet.
"Oof!"
End BGM
Nepgear bent down and picked up Histoire. "Are you okay, Histoire?"
"Yes, I'm alright."
Arfoire shakily stood up and glared at the CPUs and CPU Candidates. "You may have won this battle, but I am not finished yet. We'll have our final battle in Celestia." She said before disappearing.
Everyone changed back into their normal forms. "I've honestly never been to Celestia before." Uni admitted.
"Well, you, Nepgear, and the twins weren't yet born at this point of time, so that's natural." Noire said.
"Alright! We got back Histoire!" Ance cheered. "Now let's head back to the Basilicom. Vert and Benia should have finished the quests by now."
"Now, hold on, Ance." Neptune halted the maid-dressed CPU. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
Ance sighed. "I'll tell you on the way back, okay?"
Leanbox's Theme
"So you mean to tell us that you're not from here, but another dimension?" Blanc asked based on what she was told as everyone walked back to the Basilicom.
Ance nodded. "Yes. I was given word from a friend that this dimension met an unfortunate end, and that he sent Neptune back in time to recruit all her friends so they can become strong enough to defeat the villain that caused the destruction." She explained in a serious manner.
Uni blinked. "A friend? You mean the author?"
Ance nodded again. "Yeah. His full name is eeveeboy359, but I call him Eevee. Anyway, I asked him if I could assist you guys on your quest. He happily agreed and opened up a portal to allow me to travel to this timeline."
"And you ended up in Leanbox and met Vert." Neptune knew what happened next.
"Yeah, and I was honestly surprised when she said she could no longer change back to her human form." Ance commented. "But anyway, she said that she was going to stop the Aristocrats this time, so I asked if I could help her. She accepted, saying she needs all the help she can get. But then, at one point, Trevon himself revealed himself to Vert and fought her."
"And then she...died." IF grimaced.
Ance nodded sadly. "Yeah... Luckily, Eevee sensed that Vert was killed and immediately revived her, albeit in a random location. You girls know the rest."
Nepgear nodded in understanding. "I guess I understand. Anyway, thanks for coming to help us, Ance."
Ance gave a cheerful smile. "Glad I could help out. Oh, there they are!"
Everyone looked ahead and saw the blonde-haired CPU and CPU Candidate in the distance.
"Hey, everyone!" The younger of the two waved.
"Hi, Benia!" Rom waved back as everyone ran up to the Leanbox sisters.
"So, you're all back. Did you get the Key Fragment?" Vert asked.
Neptune nodded and showed her Leanbox's Key Fragment. "Now that we have all the Key Fragments, we can free Histoire so I can remind her."
Benia tilted her head in confusion. "Remind?"
Vert blinked at her little sister. "Oh, that's right. We never explained it to you, have we?"
Benia shook her head. "No, you didn't."
Vert pulled the blonde Candidate into a hug. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll explain it to you on the way to Planeptune." She then looked at the others. "By the way, we still have to find Histoire, don't we?"
"We already did." Nepgear said, pulling out Histoire's tome. "Arfoire found her tome while we were collecting the Key Fragments and dealing with the other nations' problems. We beat her and got Histoire back."
Vert smiled. "Well, that was awfully convenient."
"Yes, and I must say I was never able to foresee any of the events that had happened." Histoire spoke from her tome.
Benia went plate-eyed and pointed at the tome. "Whoa! That book is talking!"
"Huh? Who said that? I don't recognize the voice."
"That was Benia. The CPU Candidate of Leanbox we told you about." Nepgear told her.
"Ah, I see."
"Benia, that is Histoire. She records the history of Gamindustri within her tome." Vert introduced. "Right now, she's sealed in her tome, so you can't yet meet her face-to-face."
"How do we get her out?" Benia asked her big sister.
"Don't worry. Neptune and the others have already collected all the Key Fragments, so you'll see her once we get to Planeptune."
"By the way, did you collect enough faith for Benia to transform?" Ance asked.
"We were about to test that now." Vert said, and then she turned to her little sister. "Benia?"
"Okay... Here I go." Benia closed her eyes, focusing the faith of the people of Leanbox into her, and then she was engulfed in a bright light.
"Looks like it." Ance said as the light dimmed to reveal Benia's HDD.
Benia's HDD, Green Sister, wore a white and green two-piece battle suit that looked similar to the one Nepgear used to wear in Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2. She had green hair tied into twintails down to her waist. Her weapon was now a trident that was surging with electricity.
Oh yeah, and her chest grew to a C-cup. Uni was a bit jealous of that, while Blanc is currently trying not to get angry...
"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?"
...which failed miserably.
Benia opened her eyes, which were now purple like Vert's with white power symbol pupils, and looked at her new form. "Wow. So this is how I look in HDD." She said in awe, admiring her HDD.
"You look adorable~" Vert gushed as she hugged her little sister.
"B-Big sis..." Benia blushed in embarrassment, her head currently between Vert's breasts.
"Looks like we're flying." IF grinned, and then the Goddesses changed into their processor units while IF, Compa, and Ance transformed.
"So, how far is Planeptune?" Benia asked.
"Don't worry, it won't take long." Ance assured. "After all, Eevee is going to use a line skip riiight...now."
Planeptune's Theme (Hyperdimension Neptunia)
"See?" Ance grinned as everyone landed in front of Compa's house.
"Okaaay...?" A plate-eyed Green Sister said as everyone changed back to their normal forms.
IF looked up at the sky and saw that it was night time. "Looks pretty late, let's free Histoire and call it a day." entered the house.
"Alright, time to free Histy." Neptune said once they all gathered in the living room.
Nepgear placed Histoire's tome on the table, and then Neptune, IF, and Compa held out the four Key Fragments and fit them together, and then the completed key began to glow with the tome. Benia watched in amazement as the tome floated off the table and opened itself, revealing a glowing white silhouette familiar to everyone but her. Both bright light dimmed after a few seconds to reveal Histoire sitting on her tome.
"Thank you! Now I am free from the seal!" She smiled.
Benia looked at Histoire with sparkling eyes. "Whoa! A fairy! A fairy came from the tome!" She exclaimed childishly. "Big sis, can I hold her!?"
Vert chuckled in amusement at the Leanbox Candidate's childish behavior. "Now now, calm yourself, Benia."
The fairy looked at Benia. "So, you're Leanbox's CPU Candidate, Benia?" Benia nodded, and then Histoire turned to look at Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram. "And you four are the CPU Candidates of the other nations?"
Uni nodded for the four of them. "Yeah, but you've already met us. Benia's the only one that's new."
Histoire blinked in confusion. "But...I'm not familiar with you four, either."
Nepgear smiled. "You'll understand what Uni means really soon."
Histoire simply gave a confused stare, before she saw Neptune walk up to her.
"Good to see you again, Histy." Neptune smiled as she put a hand on the fairy's head, and then there was a faint glow for a few seconds as she gave Histoire her memories.
"Now I understand what you mean. Yes, I'm familiar with all of you except Benia." Histoire looked at Ance. "And her."
"Oh, sorry. I'm Ance Xila Scott, but you can call me Ance. I'm a CPU from another dimension." Ance introduced herself with a smile.
"Well, it's not the first time we've met other-dimensional CPUs." Histoire shrugged. "Now, can someone please explain to me what's going on?"
"Well, basically..."
"I see... So we're currently going through time travel." Histoire said, collecting the information she gathered.
"You're a time traveler, big sis?" Benia asked Vert.
"More like Neptune is. I was simply given my memories of the previous timeline, just like everyone else, excluding you and Ance." Vert explained.
"Well, since we now know what our true opponent is capable of, you're all going to have to train to become strong enough to defeat him." Histoire told everyone.
Neptune grinned. "You said that as if you're not included in the training as well."
The fairy gave the purple CPU a startled look. "What?"
"Actually, that brings up an interesting point." Ance said in agreement with Neptune. "Histoire was a playable character in the remakes of the first three games, so why doesn't she help out in fights?"
Everyone except Benia, who was really confused, looked at Histoire, expecting an answer as the tome gave twiddled her fingers.
"Um... I'm afraid I might be a burden to you all." Histoire answered in a whisper.
Noire shook her head with a sigh. "Why would you think of yourself as a burden?"
"Huh?"
Will Be Venus (Hyperdimension Neptunia VII)
"Histoire, we're very thankful for your support in our previous adventures." Neptune said before her face became serious. "But this time, it's different. Gamindustri isn't all that's on the line. We're fighting to save the entire dimension, and we need everyone strength to accomplish this."
"I-I know that, but I-"
"Don't worry if you're not as strong now, that's the entire point of training." Rom assured her. "Ram and I will help train you. You look like you'd make a good magic user."
Touched that everyone was going to help her grow stronger, Histoire couldn't help but smile. "Everyone..." She then nodded with newfound determination. "Thank you, I promise I'll do my best."
Neptune smiled. "That's the spirit, Histy."
End BGM
Everyone went out for bed after deciding to train the next three days as Neptune was laying down in one of the guest rooms, Noire sleeping peacefully next to her as she looked out the window.
'Tomorrow is when our training starts. I'll become strong enough to protect everyone this time.' Neptune thought before drifting to sleep.
The next chapter is going to be everyone training.
However, I am planning something on the night of the third day. Stay tuned for that.