Disclaimer: Hyperdimension Neptunia belongs to Idea Factory and Compile Heart, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit belongs to EA, any cars used in this story belong to their respective brands and any references used in this story belong to their rightful owners.
Hyperdimension Racing: Hot Pursuit
Chapter 1: The Big Announcement
"NO! WHY WAS THERE A ROADBLOCK THERE!?" Uzume shouted before laying down on the floor in defeat. "Why did they put a roadblock THERE of all places?"
"Uzume, you were so close to winning. You were about to beat the 5:10 challenge, right?" Neptune asked.
"Yeah...I was...and that roadblock just ruined it for me. Now, I need to start the blasted race all over again." Uzume answered.
Neptune and Uzume were sitting in Neptune's room in the Planeptune Basilicom. They were playing an arcade racing game called "Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered". What happened was that Uzume was close to finishing the race and beating the 5:10 challenge, when outta nowhere, a roadblock was placed in and ruined it.
"Ugh! I don't get it! Its like this game wants you to be extra perfect on this course in order to beat the challenge!" Uzume complained. "I don't even know if anyone was able to beat it."
"I don't know either. I guess you either have to be an expert at the game, or just get downright lucky." Neptune said.
Uzume let out a sigh, took a few deep breaths and was about to select the "Retry" option, but then...
"Neptune, Uzume, can you two come here for a moment? Histoire has an announcement to make!" Compa yelled from another room in the Basilicom.
"For what reason?" Neptune replied back, eyes still fixated to the TV Screen.
"You'll find out. I'll explain everything when you come in here!" Histoire answered from the same room as Compa.
Upon hearing this, Neptune and Uzume paused the game, stood up and walked into the room that Compa and Histoire were in. Joining them was Iffy, Plutia, and Nepgear. Once everyone was in the room, Neptune spoke.
"Okay, Histy. What's the big announcement?" Neptune asked.
"Okay. So, as you all know, the Gamindustri Racing Officials have announced a new racing tournament that will occur this year, and to celebrate last year's release of Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, we decided this year's tournament will be a Hot Pursuit event." Histoire explained. "They're also explaining it on the news. Check this out."
Histoire floated over to the TV remote and changed the channel to the news. What they saw was Dengekiko in Lastation.
"Hello! I'm Dengekiko, bringing you a special announcement that has just been made by the Gamindustri Racing Officials!"
"Are you a massive fan of racing games such as Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and had a dream of competing in something like that? Well, this new racing tournament is for you. Grab a fast car and participate in the 1st annual "Gamindustri's Hot Pursuit Racing Tour", where racers will compete all over Gamindustri against each other in an all out high speed race, all while surviving the scripted pursuits. The winner will claim the grand prize of either the Maclaren F1, or the Gumbert Apollo S!"
"A new racing event? Sign me up!" Neptune cried, her eyes sparkling.
"Yeah. Its about time Gamindustri held a racing event, and its a Hot Pursuit edition? Let's go!" Uzume added.
"Now, you're probably wondering "Will we have to make our own cars?" Well, the answer is no. For those who got invited, you each have been given a catalog of what cars you could use during the tournament. However, you won't be choosing which car you can drive. We're gonna do this the old fashion way, and leave it up to chance. That's right! In order to claim a car to use, you have to leave it by Gacha chance."
The room suddenly filled with silence. Histoire noticed this and started to sweat a little.
"What?" was all Uzume can say.
Histoire floated back into her office and came back around with catalogs and gave one to each of the Planeptune girls.
"Hold on. So, you're saying we can't CHOOSE what car we want to race in? We have to leave it up to chance?" Neptune asked.
"Yes. That's exactly what they're saying." Histoire answered.
"Come on! Everyone knows the gacha chances are rigged." Iffy bluntly stated. "I mean, take gacha games for example! Gacha games ALWAYS screw you over if you're trying to get a five star or four star!"
"Yeah, and the people who play those games waste loads of money for pulls, only to realize they didn't get the five star character they wanted from the pulls!" Compa added.
"Hey! I didn't make the rules. I just go along with them." Histoire responded.
"Technically, you and the other oracles were a part of the Gamindustri Racing Officials at some point." Nepgear replied.
"While that may be true, I don't remember making a rule like that." Histoire rebutted.
"Girls, she is about to read over the list of who is competing this year." Plutia interrupted.
"And now, I'm gonna read over the list of all the participants. Let's see who is competing this year, and if you don't get selected, don't worry. There is always next year."
"Here we go. Listen well, girls." Histoire stated as all of the Planeptune girls were looking at the TV.
"Anyway, the participants from Planeptune will be...Neptune, Nepgear, Iffy and Compa, Rei Ryghts, Uzume, B-Sha, Kurome and Adult Neptune."
"Wow! All of us are participating this year!" Nepgear said in amazement.
"Well, not ALL of us..." Plutia replied in a little sad tone.
"Don't worry, Plutia. I'm sure the Gamindustri Racing Officials will have you play SOME part in the tournament." Histoire stated.
This caused Plutia to give a little smile.
"Yeah, and also B-Sha, my older version, Kurome and Rei are competing as well." Neptune replied. "Still, I'm a little disappointed that Chrome, Ester and Artura aren't joining us this year."
"We know, but there is always next year." Iffy replied. "I'm just excited that Compa will be joining me in a car this year."
"Yeah. I'm the "Co. Driver" as they call it." Compa replied.
"So, Kurome is competing as well? Well, this should be interesting..." Uzume thought to herself.
"Next, the participants from Lastation will be...Noire, Uni, me and Famitsu, Anonydeath, K-Sha and Steamax."
"Wow...It seems like Lastation doesn't have that many competitors this year." Neptune said.
"Yeah. I almost feel sorry for Noire and Uni, not to mention they have two perverted robots on their team." Nepgear added.
"Yep, and knowing Noire, she'll have no problem murdering both of them, even in a race such as this." Iffy replied. "But hey, K-Sha is in as well, so she and Uni can try and keep Noire in check."
"Right...I might need to talk with Uni after this to see how she feels about the arrangement." Nepgear thought to herself.
"Next, the participants from Lowee will be...Blanc, Ram and Rom, C-Sha, Financier, Abnes, Mr. Badd and Copypaste."
"Oh boy...Three former members of the Seven Sages are on their team?" Plutia asked.
"Why does that surprise you? You're not even in the race." Neptune asked.
"It doesn't surprise me. I'm just curious as to how they will handle Blanc. I mean, Mr. Badd may have a chance of surviving her, but I'm not sure if Abnes and Copypaste will." Plutia answered.
"I'm more interested as to how Copypaste will be able to race. He is already a big robot, so I see some contradictions here." Nepgear replied.
"Of course you do, you mech geek!" Plutia thought to herself.
"Finally, the participants from Leanbox will be...Vert, S-Sha, Chika, 5pb., Cave, MAGES, Linda and Warechu."
"So, the Underling managed to get in the competition?" Iffy asked.
"Iffy, her name is Linda. That whole "Underling" stuff is in the past." Compa replied.
"Uh huh...Well, it'll be pretty interesting running into HER again." Iffy stated. "I wonder what she has been up to since our last confrontation."
"So, Affimojas wasn't selected this year… I feel sorry for Steamax." Neptune replied. "His bro didn't make it in this year."
"Well, there is always next year." Uzume stated. "At least Affimojas can watch and cheer Steamax on."
"True." The girls said in unison.
"And with that, that is all the participants competing in this year's tournament. Participants, be sure to stop by Chuko's shop in Planeptune tommorow morning to draw the car that you'll be using in the tournament. Until then, this is Dengekiko, signing off." Dengekiko said before the news got cut off.
Once the news got cut off, the Planeptune girls took a seat on the couch and began looking through the car catalogs Histoire handed them. The cars went from the low end cars all the way to the high end cars. Silence filled the room except for the sounds of flipping pages and tons of humming coming from Neptune. Suddenly, the silence was broken by Nepgear when she discovered something in the catalog.
"WHAT THE GOODNESS!" Nepgear shouted, which caught the attention of the other Planeptune girls.
"Ummm, what did you find Nepgear?" Uzume asked.
"Girls, go to Page 10. You'll see..." Nepgear answered.
The girls did just that and flipped to Page 10 in their catalogs, and from that point, they looked in amazement. There, on the bottom right of the page...was the legendary, the most badass street racing machine EVER to exist in a NFS game: the BMW M3 E46 GTR.
"Is that what I think it is?" Neptune asked.
"The most legendary street racing car EVER?" Uzume added.
"The car that got a slap in the face in NFS: MW 2012?" Iffy stated.
"Yep. There is no doubt about it. Its the one and only...BMW M3 GTR. Legends say it was once owned by a legendary street racer who went by the name "Player". He held this car for the longest time, or at least until it was totalled in Palmont City." Nepgear explained, her eyes sparkling.
"Wait...We're not talking about "Secretary", are we?" Iffy asked. "Cause he used to be called "Player", until he became Noire's secretary."
"WHAT? NO! I'm not talking about that piece of crap! Besides, Secretary would NEVER be as legendary as Player. Hell, Secretary is already a bad driver that he would trash this machine the first chance he gets!" Nepgear answered. "Anyway, if this car is in the catalog, that means someone has to be REALLY lucky to pull the card."
"Yeah, but the question is...who will be the lucky guy or girl driving that M3 in the tour?" Compa asked.
"I guess we'll find out tommorow morning." Histoire said. "For now though, look over the catalogs before heading to bed. Okay?"
The Planeptune girls nodded. Histoire gave a little smile before going to sleep mode. Meanwhile, the Planeptune girls stayed up and looked over the catalogs. While they were skimming the books, Iffy decided to start up a conversation as to what cars the girls were hoping to pull.
"So Nepgear, what car are you planning on pulling tommorow?" Iffy asked.
"Well, I hope I get to pull the Bentley Continental Supersports. This car in particular has been my dream ride for ages." Nepgear answered.
"I see. Well, I hope I pull the Pagani Zonda Cinque, and to make things more cool, I would like to have it in orange and black." Uzume replied.
"Of course it needs to be something cool." Neptune thought to herself. "Well, I KNOW that I'm going to pull the M3 GTR card."
"Huh? You know you're gonna pull it? What makes you say that, Nep-Nep?" Compa asked out of curiousity.
"Duh. Its because I'm the protagonist, so I think its fair for me to pull the ultimate vehicle card." Neptune answered.
The other girls groaned in response. Then, Nepgear closed her catalog for a moment and looked at her sister.
"Neptune, just because you're the protagonist doesn't mean that everything goes your way." Nepgear replied. "In fact, in this racing story, no one is the protagonist."
"WHAT? That's a lie! I'm the protagonist!" Neptune shouted. "I always have been, and always will be!"
"You keep telling yourself that." Plutia thought to herself before letting out a little chuckle, but snapped out of it when Neptune turned to face her.
"Is something funny?" Neptune asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope. I just thought of something funny, so that is where the chuckle came from." Plutia answered.
Neptune only groaned in response, then shook her head as she continued looking through the catalog.
1 hour later…
An hour has passed since the girls had their conversation. Plutia has already fallen asleep while the other girls were struggling to stay awake. After a while, Uzume got up, placed her catalog on the table and let out a yawn.
"Well, I'm gonna hit the hay for the night. That 5:10 challenge got the better of me tonight, BUT I SWEAR, I WILL beat that challenge, and I WILL be the first resident of Gamindustri to beat it!" Uzume shouted before heading to bed. "Good night, girls."
"Good night." the other Planeptune girls said in unison.
Shortly after, the other girls closed up their catalogs, placed them on the coffee table and headed to bed, hoping that tommorow, chance is on their side and they'll be able to drive the vehicles of their dreams in the tournament.
To be continued…