This story arc starts with "Chapter 12: Double the Nep! Part 1".
Chapter 14: Double the Nep! Part 2
Both Neptunes, Uzume, and Umio were starting to feel exhausted as they continued to follow the determined Mercury, who was still marching ahead.
"Hey... Nep-mom..." Hyper Neptune called out. "Are you going to... slow down, anytime soon..."
"Not until my daughter is safe!" Merci shot back.
"Do you even know where you are going?" Umio asked.
"Of course!" Merci turned really quick to show them her phone. "I put a tracker on her!"
"You... put a tracker on my little sister," Ultra Neptune replied while panting. "When!?"
"Well, after the first time she ran off and was taken, I put one under the back flap of her dress. She's just a kid, and she doesn't know any better, and as a parent, of course I'd be paranoid if something would happen to her. Especially when your firstborn disappears for six years!"
"Ooh! Yeah..." Ultra Nep solemnly replied.
"...Actually, that's kind of helpful," Uzume noted. "NO ONE'S been able to find where this stupid bird nests. But if it took Lil' Gearsy there, then at least WE know where it is now."
"See, lady Uzume understands!" Merci replied, before she started running ahead again.
"...It's just Uzume," the redhead groaned.
"Ugh! Can't we just transform, and... she's gone," Neptune started before realizing that Merci was already on the move, and possibly out of a good range of her voice.
"Hey, come on, mini-me!" her counterpart replied, while jogging in place. "A little exercise is good for you."
The tiny Neptune gasped. "Even I betray myself! How could it come to this!"
"Awe, come on, don't be so dramatic, tiny me!"
"Weren't you just catching your breath a moment ago?" Uzume asked.
"I just got my second wind. Come on!" and Ultra Neptune began to chase after her mother.
Hyper Neptune groaned, while Uzume just shrugged. "Eh, I've been through worse," she said, as she and Neptune continued onward.
And Umio was just fine... since he could fly.
They ended up having to climb halfway up a mountain, which took over two extra hours. Everyone was feeling exhausted. Even Mercury was running low on adrenaline.
"She should... be just... over there..." Merci breathed out.
"Ugh... I don't want to move anymore..." Hyper Nep complained.
"We're... almost there though..." Ultra Nep replied.
Uzume managed to keep going for a bit more, just past her friends. She had to run to the aid the ones she cared about many before, after all. She walked over and looked over a ridge. And she was surprised by what she saw.
"That's a lot of sheep..." she called out.
Umio floated over to join Uzume, and indeed saw a massive bird's nest full of sheep. Most seemed okay, for the most part, but others were... less than lively. The stick barrier of the nest's edge was too high for the sheep to escape, and it was littered with bones, probably from less-than-fortunate sheep.
"If this is the giant bird's nest, then it must use these as a food source," Umio noted.
Once The Neps and their mother managed to catch their breaths, they walked over to see what their friends were looking at, and once they saw it, Hyper Neptune whistled.
"So... where do you think Nepgear is in this... sheep sea?" Ultra Neptune asked.
"Well, look for her purple hair," Uzume replied.
Though that was easier said than done, as there was just white as far as the eye could see.
"I'll just use my phone to-" Merci started, but her daughter stopped her.
"Let us handle this," Ultra Neptune said. "We're the fighters here. And if that bird comes back, or something else happens..."
"I... I understand." Merci handed her daughter her phone. "Please find her."
"I will." And Ultra Nep hopped into the nest, followed by Hyper Nep and Uzume.
"Okay... so, it says..." Ultra Nep called out, looking at her mom's phone, "that Nepgear should over this way."
The group began to push through sheep, calling out Nepgears name.
As Uzume pushed through, she thought she saw some purple. And quickly made her way to it, calling out, "I see her!" And when she got there...
...But it was just Hyper Neptune, kneeling down to look under a sheep.
"Uh, hi," she greeted the redhead. "I think you got the wrong Nep."
"Oh. False Alarm!" Uzume called out.
Ultra Nep followed her mom's phone, carefully looking through the sheep...
...Until finally, she noticed a ball of purple fluff, lying on top of a sleeping sheep.
Neptune made her way to the fluff, and began to shake it awake.
Finally, the fluff looked up, revealing Nepgear's tiny face, as it noticed her big sister. "...Big sis?"
"There you are. Found a nice sheepie to sleep on, did you?" Neptune teased.
"Big bird was really scary!" the tiniest purplette explained. "So I hid in the sheep. And they are very soft..."
"I see." Neptune knelt down to the sheep's face to tell it. "Well, it seems I have a competition in the pillow department."
The sheep didn't make a sound, and just remained asleep.
"Hey, let me hold you," Neptune said as she picked up her little sister. Then she called out, "found her!"
Neptune made her way out, as her smaller counterpart, and Uzume, came out from behind.
"Sweetie!" Mercury shouted as she ran up and snapped her youngest daughter from her eldest's arms. "You're okay!"
"Mommy!" Nepgear responded. "There were mean boys, and then a mean bird, and then sheep."
"Indeed," Umio noted, "sheep."
"Wait, what did the 'mean boys', do?" Uzume asked.
"They said there was cotton candy!" Nepgear shouted. "And then pulled my hair! I didn't have cotton candy... and I wanted some, too..."
"Oh..." Uzume looked away sheepishly (pun not intended). "...I should have saved some then..." she whispered to herself.
"I... think they mistook your hair for cotton candy," Hyper Nep told the little purplette. "Apparently our hair looks like flossy treats!"
Nepgear then grabbed some of her hair, sniffed it...
And put it in her mouth.
"Woah, no, no," Merci said, as she pulled the hair out of her daughter's mouth, "it's not actually cotton candy. It's not tasty at all."
"Aw... I still want cotton candy..." the little girl whined.
"We can get some once we get off this mountain," Ultra Nep said.
"Yay!" Nepgear cheered back up.
"Speaking of which, it doesn't seem like that bird it around," Umio noted.
"Yeah..." Uzume replied. "They said the bird was huge, but..." she looked back at the sheep's sticked-prison. "How big does a bird have to be to need a nest THIS big?"
"Eh... Maybe... that big!" Mercury shouted pointing behind everyone.
...As a large shadow began to fall over them. Looking back, a massive hawk with red, brown, and gold feathers. And yes, it was big, but that would be underselling it. It was a flying titan, larger than even the dragon Ultra Nep and Uzume fought a while ago.
The monstrous bird let out an earth-shatter screech, causing poor Nepgear to cry, and try to hide in her mother's chest.
"Oh... kay..." Ultra Nep said. "...So, what do we do now?"
There was an orange flash to the side of the group, as Uzume transformed into Orange Heart. "Uzume will knock it to the ground, and the Nepsies will then cut the birdie up!"
"Yay! Big sis! Little big sis! Go!" Nepgear cheered.
"Stay back, Nep-mom!" Hyper Neptune said. "Keep Nepgear safe. The Neps are going to handle this!"
"Yeah! No birds going to take my sister, and get away with it!"
Merci was extremely worried, considering that her family and loved ones were risking their lives. But there wasn't much choice in the matter now. "Please, be careful..." she said, trying to calm the little girl in her arms.
The Neps nodded, as Orange Heart shot into the sky.
The transformed goddess flew up to the bird, staring it eye to eye.
"You think you can mess with Uzume and friends!" she taunted, before summoning and raising her megaphone. "Take this!" she shouted into her weapon, blasting the bird with sound.
And Orange Heart looked up after the attack, smirking... until she saw how effective it was.
The bird was shaking its head, showing that it was bothered by the attack, but it wasn't necessarily weak to sound. It wasn't shaken up by the sound waves, or even showing any sign of having its fight disrupted.
"Eh-heh," Orange Heart sounded nervously. "Really could use a Candidate right about now."
Unfortunately, her plea wasn't answered.
Instead, the bird flapped its mighty wings, blowing Orange Heart away.
"Kyah!" she cried as he tried to stabilize her flight.
And that's when the bird took off. At speeds unfathomable for something of its immense size, flew into the distance as nothing more than a blur, before swinging back around, and delivering a lighting fast claw swipe on the unfortunate CPU.
Orange Heart slammed back into the ground, dizziness taking over.
"...And that's a terrible start to the fight," Hyper Nep said.
"No wonder Plutie was having trouble." Ultra Nep added.
The bird spun around, readjusting itself as it looked for the CPU it blew away, hoping to finish its prey.
"Okay, we've got to try something." And Ultra Nep pulled out her pistol and started firing at the bird.
It was doing some damage, but it wasn't really fazing the avian titan. But in response, the bird dived at the Neptunes.
"Ready?" Ultra Nep asked, swapping out to her swords.
"You know it!" Hyper Nep replied, readying her katana
And as the bird reached the girls...
"Cross Combination!" Hyper Nep shouted.
"Raging Rush!" Ultra Nep added.
And together they unleashed a rapid series of slashes with their blades, striking the bird.
However, halfway through their attacks, the bird made a mightly flap that knocked them back.
"Girls!" Merci shouted.
...Which unfortunately, attracted the bird's attention.
It immediately dashed towards the defenseless mother, causing Nepgear to freak out as her carrier tried backing away.
"Uzume won't let you do that! Umio Heaven!" Orange Heart shouted, sending a bunch of Umio copies to drop bombs on the birds. The explosions on its back caused it to rise into the air, narrowly missing Merci, who was trying to get away. It managed to flap really hard, shoot up high enough to avoid the copies from doing a kamikaze attack on it (they all ran into the rocky wall, uselessly blowing up).
But the real Umio was watching closely, and noticed something as the bird tried to spin back around.
"Uzume, Neptunes!" he called out. "You know how the bird is fast and large."
"Now's not the time for the obvious!" Hyper Nep shouted back.
"No, listen, all that speed, all that size, it gives one major disadvantage. It takes a while to stop and turn around!"
The three girls looked up and did notice that it was just getting into position for another dive.
"Okay, here's my plan," Ultra Nep said. "Me and mini-me will play the defensive and grab its attention, and try to make swerve around. Uzume, is your EXE ready?"
"Uzume's EXE is ready," the transformed CPU replied.
"Okay, you need to time it just right!"
"Uzume understands!"
The Neps nodded, and the smaller one started their plan. "Hey, birdbrain. Come here you stupid peck neck!"
The bird turned to Neptune. It didn't understand what she said, but it was angry that these tiny things were intruding on its home, and they were now making irritating sounds.
It began to dive at this annoying thing, which started to dodge to the side, when it heard yet another irritating sound.
"Hey, you! Yeah, you! You should lay off the seeds, fatty! You ain't staying in the air like that!" Ultra Nep shouted.
The bird angrily turned towards the other girl, snapping at her with its beak. But it missed, as the older Nep jumped back.
The two girls continued to insult the bird, dodging its attacks, causing it to spin around rapidly as it attempted to catch them.
Until finally, it spun out of control, trying to rebalance itself.
And this is when Orange Heart flew back up.
"Uzume is ready! Special Dream Combo!"
She then came out with a series of rapid sound bursts, followed by punches, and then set up magic circles to shoot sound lasers at the bird. It wasn't able to dodge any of this.
And finally, Orange Heart punched the bird down, sending it spiraling towards the ground below.
"Awesome! Great job, guys!" Ultra Nep shouted.
"Aw, thanks!" Orange Hearted replied
Merci, watching this entire thing go down, finally breathed a sigh of relief, as she put Nepgear down. The little girl ran up to Orange Heart, as she landed back on the ground.
"Thank you, pretty Uzie!" Nepgear told the goddess.
"Oh, thank you! Uzume appreciates your praise!" she replied.
"So is it over? The bird's gone?" Merci asked.
"Yes! Uzume got it good!"
"Great! So, you said this was part of a quest, right?" Hyper Nep asked. "How much is the reward!?"
"Um... mini-me, hate to burst your bubble... but," the other Neptune nervous started. "We never actually accepted the quest. I don't think we're eligible for the reward."
"What? Aw, that sucks!"
"Since when was Nepsy so greedy?" Orange Heart asked.
"I mean, I was curious."
Merci wasn't paying attention to this conversation, as she noticed Nepgear had wandered off, and was now standing by the cliff edge. "Sweetie, get away from there! You're going to fall!"
Nepgear looked up, and began to run back to her mother. But then...
A large shadow shot up, covering everyone in darkness.
It was the titan bird, coming back.
"Oh, come on!" the Neps shouted together.
Now, no one knew if it was being stubborn about this one specific thing or what, but...
...It grabbed the young Nepgear, and shot off, flying away from the sister.
"Wha- wha- wha- NO!" Ultra Neptune shouted, as her mother stood in disbelief behind her. "Come back with my sister!"
But as Ultra Nep was crying out for her sister, Hyper Nep ran towards the cliff and leapt off of it into the air.
"Neptune, no-!" Merci cried in horror as she watched her daughter's counterpart do something that foolish...
...Until Hyper Neptune was surrounded in a purple glow, and then shot off through the air at speeds rivaling the giant bird's.
Ultra Neptune was impressed by her counterpart's sheer bravery.
Orange Heart was amazed by the incredible speed she was flying at.
Mercury was trying to process exactly what she just witnessed.
The purple blur flew at speeds outpacing the birds, as a new sword shined in her hands.
"Enough! You're not getting away with this Nepgear, or any Nepgear!" a mature voice shouted out, following with, "Victory Slash!"
With a double slash, the bird's claw was forced open by the attack on its leg, releasing Nepgear, who was immediately caught into the safety of the flying swordswoman.
The little Nepgear, held in one arm, felt warmth and softness as she looked up at the visage of beauty that she saw.
"It's okay, little sis. You're safe now," the woman said.
"Little big sis?" Nepgear sounded.
At that moment, the bird angrily spun around, diving towards the two of them.
"Not done yet? Nepgear, hold on! Neptune Break!"
Nepgear held on tightly, as her sister shot forth at lightning speeds. Dash after dash, she slashed at the bird, tearing it down. And her precision strikes were aimed at the wings, distrusting its flying ability.
"This will truly be the final blow!" she shouted, as she tossed her sword in the air, and in a show of finesse, then grabbing it, delving a slash, uppercut kick, then she flew up...
...And back downwards, her sword stabbing the bird from the top, as it was pushed down at rapid speeds.
Then the sword was pulled out, as the swordswoman leapt off the bird, fly back up the mountain, as the bird fell, finally defeated.
Ultra Neptune and Uzume rushed up to the cliffside, watching as their friends and family flew back up, while Mercury just stared, stunned...
...As CPU Purple Heart flew up, holding her little Nepgear in one arm, and her black and purple hi-tech katana. Her long hair was styled in twin braids, her blue eyes glowing with the CPU's symbol. She had on two spherical hair clips in the front of her hair, with blue crosses on them, and a black swimsuit-like bodysuit which had long sleeves along with black gloves with metal armor cuffs, and had blue and purple outlines. This suit also left the cleavage of the woman's massive chest exposed, and had transparent, purple-colored mesh revealing her armpits and the front of her torso. The suit also had the Planeptune N on the butt. Finally, she wore thigh-high boots of a similar style.
"Lady... Purple Heart?" Merci spoke in disbelief. "Neptune, you're Purple Heart?"
"Hello... Nep-mom," Purple Heart replied.
At that moment, Merci freaked out. "What!? How, when!?"
Purple Heart smiled. "Since I came to be."
"What!? How!?"
"The people brought me into being."
"What!?"
Purple Heart flew up to the mother, as Nepgear squealed, enjoying being in the goddess's arms.
"It's okay, Mercury..." Purple Heart said softly.
And then Merci fainted.
"Oh, dear..."
Mercury's eyes slowly opened, as the sun shone in on her.
"Mgh," she sounded as she raised her hand to block the light, trying to regain her senses. "I... had a weird dream..."
"Uh, yeah, mom," Ultra Neptune said, sitting by her mother, watching her until she woke back up. "...That wasn't a dream."
Neptune pointed over to her counterpart, who was now Purple Heart, and was still holding a smiling Nepgear.
"Oh, uh..." Merci sounded, failing to come up with a response. "L-Lady Purple Heart, I-"
"Calm down, Mercury, it is fine." Purple Heart looked down at the little girl in her arms. "I would have turned back by now, but it seems the little one here prefers this form."
Nepgear snuggled into the CPU's chest. "Super... soft... pillows..."
"I... I can't believe it... my daughter's... a goddess...?" Merci replied.
"Mercury. Nep-mom. I'm just your daughter's counterpart, a lool-a-like. Your actual daughter is still completely human," Purple Heart explained.
"Yeah, but mini-me still a lot like me," Neptune replied.
"I... don't understand. You're so... noble... benevolent... Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter, but you're so..."
"Yeah, Nepsy's like that," Uzume, who had transformed back before Merci woke up. Merci hadn't even noticed, as she was so focused on Purple Heart. "She changes a lot when she transforms. Though, Big Nepsy is a lot like both of her counterpart's forms."
"But, still... she's still my daughter, in a sense. You're one thing, Lady Uzume, but my own-"
"Merci, listen," Uzume interrupted. "Ever since we met, you've struggled to understand. I get it, us goddesses seem so powerful and amazing. We protect and support our people, and in turn, they give us strength from their faith. But by ourselves, we're still people. We have interests of our own, beyond the people, friends, maybe family that we care about. I mean look at me and your daughter. We're close friends, and she treats me as nothing more than casual buddy, outside of a fight."
"And that is by no means to be disrespectful," Umio added.
"I... I understand... Uzume..." Merci said, ashamed of herself.
"There's no need to be disappointed with yourself," Purple Heart said.
"Thank you... Neptune," Mercury said. "Still, it's so strange. To think one Neptune got the chance to become something amazing. And the other... my daughter. She's wonderful, but..."
"Hey, I've done amazing things, too, you know," Neptune exclaimed. "But yeah, I'm human, and the other me is a goddess. Pretty crazy."
"Yes, it's just... hard to believe. I mean, I used to look up to Purple Heart as well as Iris Heart, until she went home."
"Okay, I feel the need to say, you've never seen Plutsy in her HDD until our dual, but you've never realized that Purple Heart was your daughter," Uzume spoke up, "well, technically your daughter. Like, you haven't seen her human form."
"The Planeptune in this world has always been Plutie's nation, but she's... you know, sleepy, and her HDD isn't suitable for addressing the nation," Purple Heart said. "So, I'd always have to do that. Eh heh." The goddess got nervous for a second. Her human form's nature wasn't very responsible either. "It wasn't like I was keeping my human form a secret from everyone, but while many people have seen me in my human form, you can't expect everyone to know."
"I suppose. Neptune, uh, CPU Neptune, can I ask. How did you become a goddess?"
Purple Heart put a finger on her chin. "What do you mean, like when I first arrived?"
"Huh?"
"I think I know what she's asking," Uzume said. "Remember when I looking for a CPU Memory. I said I need to regain my powers. Coming to this dimension made me lose them, until I became a CPU in this world. That's probably what Nepsy's talking about."
"Yes... I see," Purple Heart said, "it was me and Noire, who you probably know as Black Heart. We were fighting a member of the Seven Sages, and she found two CPU Memories, trying to keep them from us. But then Plutia got them for us in exchange for... I don't want to say."
Everyone sweated drop. They understood why Purple Heart didn't want to say.
"But... what about before that. How did you get your powers in your home dimension?" Merci asked.
"Well... I've always been a CPU," Purple Heart told her.
"H-huh?"
"In our world, CPUs are created differently. We come into being through the wishes and faith of the people."
"You saying..."
"Yes. I was born through the faith of Planeptune."
"Um, I thought Uzume was the Planeptune goddess of your world, though?"
"Not anymore. You see, in our world, eventually, a goddess's rule ends, and a new goddess takes their place," Uzume explained. "Sometimes, there is a Candidate, a little sister, that's there to take their place when they step down. Otherwise, a goddess is born."
"Indeed. My world's Nepgear is my Candidate," Purple Heart added, as she used her hand to brush the little Nepgear's head, who was still comfortably resting on the goddess's chest.
"So, your Purple Heart's predecessor," Mercury summed up. "Orange Heart stepped down, and Purple Heart took your place?"
"Not.. quite," Uzume replied. "I didn't exactly... step down. Sorry, it's a long story." The redhead looked down, somber. "Besides, Neptune wasn't the goddess who succeeded me. I'm her predecessor by two generations, she succeeded the goddess who succeeded me. I think her name was... Uranus."
Mercury's eyes widened. "Did you say... Uranus?"
"...Yes?" Uzume answered. "What, did you know this world's Uranus?"
"Yes, she was... she was my grandmother," Merci explained.
"Wait," Neptune spoke up. "So, my great-granny was mini-me's predecessor."
"Man, that's crazy!" Uzume cried out. "Hey, do you think...?"
"Think what?"
"That maybe, if I had a me in this world, that she could be your ancestor, big Nepsy!"
"Really?" Purple Heart exclaimed. "You think so?"
Even Nepgear sounded interested. "So, Uzie is granny?"
"Oh... u-uh huh... sure..." Uzume replied in surprise, and a hint of annoyance. "But just call me Uzie, please."
"Granny Uzie! Granny Uzie!" Nepgear cheered.
"Oh dear," Purple Heart replied. "Sorry, Uzume."
The redheaded goddess just sighed.
Then, Umio spoke up. "If it's true, you do realize that she must've been human. And she certainly lived a long time ago, and would've passed away since."
"Yeah... I know. But we can ask about her!" Uzume replied, cheering up. "I bet Plutsy or mini Histy knows something."
"Miss Uzume," Mercury spoke up. "I'm not so sure about that."
"Huh, why?"
"Planeptune wouldn't have existed back then."
"Wait, what...?"
"She's right," Purple Heart spoke up. "When I first came here, Planeptune in this world as a young nation, founded by Plutia when she became a CPU. In fact, only Lowee and Planeptune existed when I came here. Noire founded Lastation after she gained her powers with me, and Leanbox came in sometime after. I don't know, this world's Vert came to us by surprise."
"So, how old is Planeptune in this world, then?" Uzume asked.
"Maybe around three decades," Merci replied. "I was actually a teenager when it was first founded. I remember my parents wanting to move here when they heard about the new nation, so they did that. Looking for a new start."
"So, we're from Lowee, aren't we?" Neptune said.
"I was," Mercury told her daughter. "You and Nepgear were born here in Planeptune. But Uranus... at that point, she was too old to come with us... And I heard she... that she passed away... you were very young, Neptune."
Neptune suddenly looked saddened. She remembered her mom crying one day, saying that someone important to her was gone. But she was too young then to understand.
"That was during the war with Eden, so it wasn't safe to take a trip to Lowee to see her funeral..." Merci continued.
And that hurt Purple Heart deep down. Of course, as a goddess, she was involved in the war. But it was hard, considering Peashy was kidnapped and brainwashed by the other side. But she hardly thought about how it affected the citizens. It wasn't like Planeptune and Lowee were enemies at that point, but it wasn't safe to travel without an armed escort.
"I'm... sorry," Uzume said. "That must've been hard. I wish I could've been there to help."
"It's okay... Uzume. This world through has gone through much without you, and has overcome even more," Purple Heart spoke up. "If it means anything, if Mercury is from Lowee, then perhaps this world's Blanc may know something about her lineage."
"Yeah!" Neptune said in response to her counterpart. "And weren't we wanting to go see the other nations in this world at some point, right? This sounds like a wonderful excuse to go see Lowee."
"...I suppose," Merci said, "this would be a good chance to show my children my old home. ...And go see my grandmother's grave. Maybe it's time to go visit her."
"That sounds nice, Mercury," Purple Heart said. Then she put Nepgear down. "Sorry, little Nepgear, but staying in this form is exhausting after a while."
Nepgear pouted, but then she was picked up by Neptune. "Don't worry, little sis, you still get me."
The little girl immediately pushed her face into her sister's chest.
Purple Heart turned back into her human form of the petite Hyperdimension Neptune. "So, when are we going. Tomorrow?"
"Uh... I have work," Merci said. "I own the building I live in, so I have to address the needs of my tenants. It'll take me a few weeks to set up a time for such a long trip, especially one to another nation."
"What! Oh, come on! I can't stay that long!" Hyper Nep cried.
"Neptune! I may not be your true mother, but you will be respectful. I'm sorry if you can't come, but I am sure you have important duties to attend to."
Hyper Nep jumped back in shock. "Wow, Nep-mom... really is a mom. Especially when mad."
"Don't worry, Nepsy," Uzume said, coming up to pat her on the back. "We can visit Blansy together some other time. But for now... we should head back. Both of our HDDs are drained right now, so it's going to be a long walk back."
"Ugh... and now we have to walk..." Hyper Nep complained.
"Why don't I carry you. We've got some cotton candy to get for everyone."
"Thanks... Uzie..." Neptune said, as Uzume flung the petite girl on her back and started heading back, everyone else following her.
The group made their way back into Planeptune city, and found a place to get the treats they wanted.
As Nepgear got the cotton candy she so desperately wanted. The Neptunes of course got some pudding, and Uzume just picked up an ice cream. Merci and Umio decided to forgo any treats.
As they walked out of the shop, munching on their treats, they heard a voice call out to them.
"Hey, guys~"
"Plutie?" Hyper Nep replied.
"Hey, guys. I found Neppy Jr.!" the sleepy goddess said as she ran up to the group.
"Uh... yeah..." Uzume said. "She's right here." And she pointed to Nepgear, who was munching on her cotton candy, while looking up confused.
"Well, uh... it's not... um..." Plutia stumbled.
"Okay, Plutsy, you really got to get these things straight-"
"Plutia!? Where did you go?" a voice called in the distance.
"Over here~!" Plutia called out, and then someone started to walk up to the group.
And Merci, for the second time today, was stunned, while her youngest daughter started to hide behind her, confused by what she saw.
The person who arrived was a young woman, maybe in her late teens, wearing a white sailor-style dress, with similar colors to Hyper Neptune's. Even her long hair and eyes were the same color as Hyper Nep's and also had one D-pad hairclip that matched Hyper Nep's dual set. Overall, she looked very similar to the family (outside of Uzume).
"Nepgear?" Merci asked.
"Yes?" the young woman replied. "Do I know you?"
"Oh... I'm..."
"Hey, Nepgear!" Merci's daughter stepped in to say.
"Oh, Big Nep!" the new Nepgear replied. "Hey, I should've guessed that my sister would've come to visit you."
"Yeah, let me introduce you to mom," and Ultra Nep presented Mercury to the new arrival.
"Oh, h-hello," the mom greeted. "My name is Mercury. Merci for short."
"Oh, hello miss Merci," Nepgear greeted back.
"I call her Nep-mom," Hyper Nep added.
"Oh, is Nep-mom okay?" Nepgear asked.
"Y-yes..." Merci answered.
"Okay, Nep-mom, I'm Nepgear, the... smaller Neptune's younger sister."
"'Younger sister'? But you look... older than her." At least in her human form, Merci thought.
"Yeah, we get that a lot."
"Uh... u-uh... hi..." a shy voice spoke up from behind Merci.
"Huh...? What was that?" Nepgear asked.
"Oh! Yeah, Nepgear, you're going to love this!" Hyper Nep replied.
"Yeah, you're definitely going to enjoy this," Ultra Nep added, before leaning down to convince someone hiding behind Mercury to come out. "Come on, don't be shy. She's friendly, and you'll love her!"
And listening to her older sister, a little girl with long purple hair and wearing a black sailor-style dress shyly walked out from behind her mother.
The Hyperdimension Nepgear could swear she looked a little familiar, until she realized, "wait, what the goodness!? Is that me!?"
"Yep!" both Neps said at the same time.
"You're Nepgear?" the little Nepgear asked.
"Uh, yes, my name is Nepgear," the older Nepgear replied.
"Woah, my name's Nepgear too!"
Hyper Nepgear chuckled. "Yes, think we're the same person."
"Huh?" Ultra Nepgear asked quizzically.
"What she means is..." Ultra Neptune spoke up, "you know how I said the little big sis is me from another world? Well, this is little big sis's sister from that world. So, it's another you! Just older."
"I-I... suppose you can me 'big me', like how my sister calls her other self 'big me'...?" Hyper Gear added.
And then Ultra Gear got excited. "Big me! Big me!" she cheered as she hopped around her older self.
"Oh goodness, this is kind of embarrassing."
Then Ultra Gear stopped and looked up at her counterpart. "You have pillows!"
"Pillows?"
"Yeah! But they're not as big as big sis's."
"...What is she talking about?" Hyper Gear asked the Neptunes.
"Oh, you know, these," her sister said, coming up and poking her breasts.
"Wha-wha- huh!?" And Hyper Gear immediately got flustered at the thought.
Merci just sighed, realizing no matter what Neptune it was, they were perverts. At least she could appreciate the fact that this older Nepgear's reaction to this behavior... It gave her hope for her youngest.
"So, sis, what'cha doin' here with Plutie?" Hyper Nep asked her sister.
"Well~" Plutia piped up. "Everyone started freaking out, and you guys were nowhere to be seen. So, I went looking, and I found Nepgear! She was looking for Neppy, too~"
"You were looking from me?"
"Yeah," Hyper Gear replied, though she was more curious about what was going on. "So, where did you go?"
"We had to go stop a big bird," Uzume answered.
"Was it that meany bird that got away?" Plutia asked.
"Yep, but Nepsy got it! She was incredibly fast, and Uzume was super impressed, and then she flew down like an-"
"Ahem, Uzume?" Hyper Gear interrupted. Uzume was becoming her cutesy self, so the Candidate stopped it.
"Uh... oh..." And Uzume cleared her throat.
"Anyways, I came to get you, Neptune," Hyper Gear told her sister. "It's time to come home."
"As, but I wanted to stay for a couple of weeks."
"Neptune, I already told you-" Merci started.
Hyper Nep groaned. "I know, I know."
"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll see you later," Uzume told her friend.
"Yeah, have fun with Blanc," Hyper Nep. Then she walked over to her sister. "So, by the way... I may have burned through my HDD for today."
Nepgear sighed. "Don't worry, I don't mind walking. Though Histoire may offer a transport to the portal at least." She then turned to say goodbye. "Goodbye, Big Nep, Uzume, Merci, Umio. Bye, tiny me!"
"Bye, bigger me! Bye, little big sis!" Ultra Gear said, waving to the Hyperdimension sisters.
Everyone else said their goodbyes, as their friends left.
Then Uzume turned to Plutia. "You know, Plutsy, we need to work on your awareness."
"Hm, what do you mean?" the sleepy goddess asked.
"I mean, you confused the Nepsies for years, missed the TITAN of a bird that everyone else was freaking out about..."
"Uzie's mean!"
Uzume sighed. "Anyways, hey, do you got a good relationship with Lowee?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, we're planning on visiting in a few weeks."
"Really, wow! Can I come~?"
"Right... Nepsy's might not like this, but..." Uzume looked back up. "Sure, the more the merrier."
Plutia cheered, as Nepgear hopped back into her big sister's arms, as everyone went home to make plans.
Author's Note: So, if anyone found the Hat in Time reference, great job! It's not hard to find, but it's there. But the sheep pun... that really was not intended. I didn't realize it until I was reviewing this chapter.
But for a really niche reference. The "What!? How, when" part... I got that from an old Disney show I used to watch as a kid, Wizards of Waverly Place. This was in one of the earlier episodes. I removed a question, but really, I just randomly remembered this, and want to use it in this chapter.
But to get to the point, I'm sure everyone was expecting this. Mercury seeing Purple Heart for the first time, and how she was going to react. But I bet people were thinking that the Nepgear's meeting was going to happen later. And well... this story is about Nepgear, so, why not. You're welcome for the surprise. I hope you liked it.
There are still more characters that need to meet each other, such as the kid Uni, Rom, and Ram, as only Ultra Nepgear knows about them, and tons of other characters, like the other CPUs.
And if you think I hammed it up with the description of Purple Heart before actually revealing that it was her (even though I'm pretty sure everyone knew who it was), keep in mind that it's coming from the perspective of a little girl.
Also, now we have more history of Merci. Yep, she's from Lowee, and there was a Uranus (and maybe an Uzume) in the Ultradimension that was Merci's ancestor. If you're wondering... why Lowee? Mostly because it makes the most sense, story-wise, as explained in the chapter. That's about it. I mean... I guess you could say it's like how people choose to migrate to Sega's Genesis / Mega Drive instead of sticking with Nintendo and the SNES. But I think that was already the story of Re;Birth 3 in the beginning... I don't remember.
To be clear, we're not going to Lowee next chapter. Originally, that was the plan, but I feel that I really need to do something with the littles, as I haven't done anything with them since Chapter 5 (besides the side story that was last chapter), and I want them to be bigger characters. So, I'm going to make one chapter involving them before we go to Lowee. (And no, it won't involve them Neptune and Uzume, or anyone else. That's a different planned chapter.)
And finally, I want to mention, the bird, both its looks, and the specifics of the fight with it, were the only things I didn't have a clear idea of before writing this chapter. Even the sheep and Nepgear eating her hair was planned when I started. But I had to figure out the bird stuff on the fly.
And you know, I mentioned that I got the idea of the bird from Kirby, Dyna Blade. But while I love Kirby (I'm so excited for the new game), I'm a bigger Zelda fan. So how did I not think of the Helmaroc King? Okay, that's probably not even a big deal, but I am a lot more familiar with Zelda, compared to Kirby.
Anyways, that's all from me. I hope you liked this, and are excited to see more unfold!