Ho-Hum and the Alien Visitation
A Hyperdimension Neptunia Fan Fiction
by Derald Snyder
Chapter 54- Raid on the Base (Real)
*Ho-Hum W-2 Base, Front Lobby*
The reinforced steel door was no watch for White Heart's axe, especially after having been frozen and then heated up by the White Sisters' magic. Once a wide enough opening was made, the CPUs (and IF) squeezed through, though Green Heart had a tough time doing so with her E-cup bosom. "You could have made it a little wider!" she complained.
"Aww, did your Thunder Tits work against you for once?" White Heart ribbed.
"Blanc, save it for later," Purple Heart snapped. "We have company." Looking ahead, the group saw Dogoo Man standing there, along with another person dressed in a cloak, though a horn poked out from under the hood.
"Who is that?" Black Sister inquired, holding her rifle at the ready.
"Our newest recruit!" Dogoo Man announced. "She's almost as strong as me, it took all my muscles to beat her at arm wrestling!"
"Th-that's not good," Nepgear sweat-dropped.
"But what's with the horn? Or is that just for intimidation?" Black Sister mused.
"It absorbs lightning, so electric attacks are useless!" Dogoo Man replied.
"Good thing we didn't bring Sadie along, then," Purple Heart half-joked.
"Yeah, well you're still outnumbered nine-to-two!" White Sister Pink taunted.
"Not for long!" Dogoo Man taunted, the cloaked woman charging right at IF, the poor girl getting slammed into the wall and slumping down unconscious!
"IF!" Nepgear cried in dismay!
"Rom, go heal IF!" White Heart ordered. "Ram, let's get this bitch!"
"Okay!" "You got it!" And so White Heart and White Sister Pink charged at the enemy while Rom and Nepgear tended to IF, the woman dodging Ram's double kick, then pulling out a long-handled steel mallet to block Blanc's axe swing!
Meanwhile, the remaining party save Uni had surrounded Dogoo Man cautiously... "Don't let him grab your weapons, he can snap them like twigs!" Purple Heart warned.
"I doubt he could break my sword!" Black Heart proclaimed as she charged in with an overhead slash, only for the mutated Dogoo to catch it between his hands, throwing it aside and punching Noire away! Green Heart then struck with a Rainy Ratnapura, forcing Dogoo Man to put up his arms to block, allowing Neptune to hit him from the side with a Cross Combination, sending him tumbling away!
Back with Blanc and Ram, the latter magicked a mini-blizzard to try and slow down their enemy, but the horned woman seemed unhindered as she charged and swung her weapon, the White Sister barely parrying the blow, though it still threw her aside from the sheer force! But then the enemy was struck by a sniper shot from Uni, knocking her off balance!
"I got you now, bitch!" White Heart cried as she swung her axe... but only ended up catching the cloak and pulling it off, revealing the woman's true appearance! "W-what the hell...?"
Their enemy had pinkish-red hair, the bangs covering her eyes. She was dressed in what appeared to be a wedding gown of sorts, accentuated with long white gloves and high black boots. In addition to the horn, two brass bolts stuck out from the sides of her head, adding to her unsettling appearance!
"S-she looks like the Bride of Frankenstein or something!" White Sister Pink commented.
"GRAAAOOOOHH!" Fran screamed as she went on the attack again, White Heart barely ducking her mallet, which left a sizable dent in the wall! Fran swung again in a wide arc, this time catching Blanc and slamming her into the wall!
"Leave my Big Sis alone!" White Sister Blue cried as she rejoined the battle, sending an ice crystal at Fran, who easily shattered it with her weapon, but then was kicked from behind by White Sister Pink, though it barely moved her!
"Uh-oh," Ram whispered as she realized how ineffective her attack had been... one mallet swing later and she was hurling toward the other end of the room, only for Blanc to catch her just in time! Uni fired on Fran again, the shot hitting her in the face but only snapping her head back! But Rom was able to take advantage of the distraction, conjuring another large ice crystal which slammed into Fran's torso! Snarling, the homunculus attempted to hurl said ice back at it's sender, only for Rom to neutralize it with a fireball! White Heart then charged in and finally managed to score a hit with her axe, knocking Fran off her feet!
Meanwhile, Dogoo Man was managing to hold his own, despite having a few slash marks on his body. He grabbed Purple Heart's katana as she swung, but she let go before he could flex and break the sword, the goddess then striking him in the head with a flying kick! Green Heart then struck with a Kinestra Slash, leaving more slash marks on the muscleman's body!
"This isn't working!" Black Heart growled, "We need a decisive blow!"
"How about this?!" Suddenly White Heart charged in, rearing her axe back... "Getter Ravine!" She came down and smashed Dogoo Man in the head full-force with the blunt side on her weapon, the muscleman collapsing bonelessly to the ground a few seconds later. "This is the advantage of an intelligence-type CPU! His body may be tough, but his head's as squishy as any other Dogoo!"
"I should have thought of that..." Green Heart muttered, before seeing movement out of the corner of her eye! "Look out!" Her warning came too late, as Fran smashed aside most of the CPUs with a swing of her mallet, Black Heart only evading by dumb luck! The woman then turned her attention to Noire, charging and swinging, the goddess swiftly ducking! Fran's attempted follow-up was interrupted by another shot from Black Sister, allowing Black Heart to strike back with a Lacy Dance!
"GRRAAHHH!" Fran screamed as she hurled her mallet at Uni, the CPU Candidate barely able to block it with her weapon, getting slammed into the wall as a result!
"You're wide open!" Black Heart declared, hitting the woman with a Drop Crush, then following with a Fall Slash from midair! Her dress now sporting several tears, Fran jumped up and hit Noire with a roundhouse kick, sending her spiraling away! But then Fran was blasted by Purple Sister's arm cannon, the goddess then hitting her with a Mirage Dance, her enemy crying out in pain as she fell to her knees!
"Time to end this! Go, Nepgeardam!" Purple Sister exclaimed, summoning the robot from a portal! In her weakened state, Fran was unable to counter the robot's punches, getting blasted into the wall by it's eye-lasers! The homunculus slumped down into a prone sitting position, her head falling to one side, indicating that she had fallen unconscious.
(Neptunia Victory Jingle!)
"Nicely done, Nepgear," Purple Heart complimented. "Any major injuries, anyone?"
"No, but my cheek hurts," Black Heart grunted, putting a hand to said cheek, Rom promptly floating over to heal her.
"Ugh, didn't think she'd target me first..." IF groaned as she pulled herself up. "I'll be alright."
"Perhaps you should stay near the back from now on," Green Heart suggested. "Anyway, Haruhi, could you restrain this woman?"
"You got it!" the alien goddess grinned as she entered the room, waving her hand over Fran, who was encased in a circular force-field! "That field drains your energy if you try to brute-force your way out, so she's not going anywhere!"
"Good to know," Green Heart nodded. "As for Dogoo Man, just send him back to S-Sha, I'm sure she can handle his punishment."
"Okay then!" Haruhi agreed, pointing at Dogoo Man, who vanished in a flash of light. "Done! Shall we get a move on, then?"
"Right..." Purple Heart nodded as the group turned towards the door to the next room. "Actually, Nepgear, since you have Nepgeardam here..."
"I know, you want me to use it to bust the door down, in case of booby traps," Purple Sister finished. "Okay, Nepgeardam, go to it!" The robot charged and smashed the doorknob with it's fist, the door promptly flying open as a result. But then several poison darts hit the robot to no effect!
"I knew it! Generic Ninja #25!" Black Sister growled. But suddenly, the Nepgeardam went rigid as a fierce electric shock engulfed it, the robot then falling over with smoke and sparks flying from it's body!
"Oh no!" Nepgear cried in dismay! "First Nepgya, now Nepgeardam! Why does this always happen to me?!"
"I guess Ninja #25 learned from last time," Haruhi observed.
"And it's pitch black in that room," Black Heart noted. "With such a narrow doorway, anybody that comes through there is gonna be a sitting duck!"
"So what do we do?" White Sister Blue asked.
"...Vert, you're the fastest out of all of us," Purple Heart said after pondering for a moment. "How about Uni fires a shot through the door first, then you followup with your Inbetween Spear and charge in, and we'll follow after you."
"That sounds like a good plan," Green Heart assented, pointing her spear at the doorway, the tip glowing green. "Anytime you're ready, Uni!"
"Let me make sure it still works..." Black Sister said, firing a few test shots out of the entrance. "Okay, here we go!" She turned around and aimed... "EX Multi Blaster!" Green Heart then followed up with her Inbetween Spear, promptly charging in after the projectiles! Once inside, she started twirling her spear, and sure enough, ended up deflecting several kunai! The other CPUs then entered the dark room, flaring their battle auras for illumination!
*Ho-Hum W-2 Base, Chamber 1*
"Rom, stay out there in case of more poison darts, so you can detox us!" White Heart ordered, White Sister Blue nodding in assent. "Alright, ninja bastard, show yourself!"
"Why should I?" Generic Ninja 25's voice echoed from the still-dark far end of the room. "And don't think about looking for the light switch, it's on my side!" the goddesses were forced to dodge several more kunai, a few getting small cuts!
"Don't worry, I know what to do!" Purple Heart asserted. Dodging a poison dart, she promptly fanned her hands over her face, intoning, "Taiyoken!"
The room was immediately filled with blinding light, causing everyone to cover their eyes in pain! "Gah, what the hell, Neptune?!" White Heart yelled angrily.
"I second that!" Black Heart said, trying to blink the spots out of her eyes.
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Neptune retorted as she flew to the other end of the room, and hit the light switch, Generic Ninja #25 standing nearby with his hands over his eyes. "Admittedly, most of Dragon Ball's skills went over my head, but that's a fairly easy trick to replicate."
"Agh, those cursed aliens!" Ninja #25 cursed as he pulled off his sunglasses, blinking rapidly to try and regain his sight.
"Hey, he's got a blue eye and a black eye, just like Uni said!" Purple Sister realized. "Steamax! It was you all along, wasn't it?!"
"Wait, so that means... you betrayed Affimojas?!" Green Heart said in anger. "Shame on you, throwing your friend under the bus like that!"
"Yeah, not to mention trashing Noire's cosplay costumes!" Uni piled on. "I never thought you would stoop that low!"
"Well, I thought she had too many to begin with!" Steamax admitted. "That cosplay obsession is bordering on unhealthy! Practically on hoarding levels! You should find new hobbies, Lady Noire! And it was Momus' idea to hijack the General's ship!"
"My hobbies are none of your business, Steamax!" Black Heart yelled with a visible vein on her forehead. "I still do my duty as CPU, so I don't think you have any grounds to complain!"
"Still, I have to admit, it was quite clever shedding your armor, as almost none of us have seen you outside it," Vert commented. "And making sure you stayed out of sight of the one person who could identify you..."
"Until now," Black Sister said with a frown. "You owe us all an apology, Steamax!"
"Not yet!" the ninja growled defiantly, pulling something from his waist. "I still have one card left to play!"
"Wait, is that... an Armor Morpher?!" Green Heart gasped in recognition.
"Well, it was MAGES. who invented them in the first place," Nepgear pointed out.
"Yes, and she made this one for me! Now... It's Ninja Time!" Ninja #25 was overlaid with a holographic wireframe, which promptly materialized into his familiar purple armor! "Now, I shall face you CPUs as I did once before, as Steamax!"
(Music- 'Ninja', Megadimension Neptunia VIIR)
Steamax swiftly summoned his giant shuriken, hurling it in a wide arc, striking down most of the party! He then flash stepped between Ram and Uni, knocking them down with a roundhouse kick, vanishing before White Sister Pink could retaliate with her magic!
"We need to restrict his movement options!" Green Heart yelled. "Inbetween Spear!" The pointed energy projectiles shot all around the room, Steamax grunting as one grazed his shoulder! Purple Heart and Purple Sister then charged in with their blades, only to be parried! The ninja then vanished again, hitting Vert with a shoulder tackle and slamming her into the wall!
However, Uni had now recovered, firing a quick shot and nailing Steamax in the torso! He responded by throwing an object with belched out black smoke, blinding the goddess! "(cough cough) I can't see!" Black Sister gasped and hacked.
"Me neither!" Both White Sisters also coughed.
(If an opponent has you blinded, try to sense their energy and counter when they go in for the kill,) Neptune recalled Dragon Ball's advice, closing her eyes and concentrating... (There!) She immediately brought up her sword to deflect Steamax's shuriken, lashing out with her foot and catching him in the groin!
"Gah!" the ninja gasped as he staggered, having felt that blow somewhat even with his armor. "How did you...?!" He didn't get a chance to finish as the CPU swiftly struck with a Victory Slash and knocked him off his feet!
"Bits Combination!" Purple Sister intoned next, summoning her two drones which fired lasers at Steamax, the ninja barely evading! He managed to regain his composure, however, throwing his shuriken in an arc and destroying them both! "Not again!" Nepgear wailed.
"Rom! Let's slow him down!" Ram called.
"Okay!" the older twin agreed, the two combining their ice magic into a blizzard which filled the room!
"C-c-coooold!" Black Heart cried in dismay. "W-warn us next t-time b-before you d-do th-that!"
"I second th-that!" Green Heart's teeth chattered. The blizzard had done the trick however, Steamax slowing considerably from the lowered temperature!
"You're open!" Black Sister cried as she took aim... "NGP!" She dashed around, hitting Steamax with several shots from different angles... "Playtime's over! Time to end this!" she declared as her gun shot forth a bright blue beam, hitting the ninja dead-on and slamming him into the far wall! Steamax collapsed to the floor with a groan, his armor sparking and smoking.
(Neptunia Victory Jingle!)
"Nicely done, Uni!" Purple Heart complimented.
"I second that. Good work," Black Heart concurred. "You didn't kill him, I hope..."
"I lowered the power of my last shot," Uni assured her sister. "Like I'd be stupid enough to kill the one I love! ...Crap, did I say that out loud?!" she suddenly blushed deeply.
"You did," White Heart deadpanned.
"You totally did!" White Sister Pink piled on.
"Lucky... for me..." Steamax groaned, only able to pull himself to a sitting position.
"Honestly, Steamax, if you thought Noire and I were getting too complacent, couldn't you have just told us straight out?" Black Sister stated. "It's not like we can't handle criticism or anything..."
"I guess..." the ninja groaned. "At the end of the day... I guess I'm still inclined towards villainy... Forgive me, Lady Uni."
"I forgive you, but I can't speak for the others," Uni replied.
"Well, at the very least, he needs to spend some time in the slammer!" Black Heart nodded. "Haruhi, if you be so kind as to cuff this fool and lock him in Lastation City Jail... and make sure he can't use any ninja tricks to escape!"
"You got it!" Haruhi nodded, walking to Steamax and placing laser cuffs on his wrists, then teleporting him away.
"Alright, let's move on to the next room!" Purple Heart exclaimed, heading towards the door to the next chamber, the others following suit...
*Ho-Hum W-2 Base, Chamber 2*
"Fuahahahaha! Welcome, CPUs!" MAGES. greeted the party, standing at the center of the room. "I've been watching your previous battles... Clearly brute force or underhanded tactics aren't enough to stop you! But I have both brains and magical prowess! Not to mention the door to Overlord Momus is sealed by my magic, so the only way to get to him is through me!"
"Let me guess, Momus promised you a year's supply of Duck P to win your loyalty?" Purple Heart deadpanned.
"More or less," MAGES. shrugged. "It's not a decision I regret, though!"
"You hijacked the aliens' one giant robot, and destroyed the other one!" Purple Sister ranted. "I can't forgive you for this, not without some serious pain!"
"Alas, and we used to work so well together, Nepgear..." MAGES. shook her head with a smile. "But, at least now the Vers Empire will be forced to think twice if they entertain any thoughts of conquering Gamindustri!"
"As much as I hate to admit it, she makes a valid point," Green Heart said. "Even so, the property damage you caused to Neptune's capital city is likely to run into the millions of credits... you'll be working for free for a long time!"
"Only if you defeat me!" MAGES. shot back defiantly, a magic circle appearing under her feet. Holding out her staff, she intoned, "Mechanical Paradox!" A giant gear formed behind her, shooting six beams which struck down the party save Rom, Uni, and IF! Black Sister tried to take a potshot at the Mad Magician, only for her to teleport a few feet away! IF then rushed in, her qatars clashing against MAGES.' staff! "Fast on your feet, but not fast enough!"
"We'll see about that!" IF shot back defiantly, flash-stepping behind MAGES and slashing, managing to make a tear in her lab coat! But MAGES raised her staff, IF suddenly being engulfed in flames, forcing her to stop, drop and roll! The Mad Magician then cast a wind spell that sent everyone flying helter-skelter!
"Argh!" Black Heart grunted as she tumbled into a wall, though not with enough force to injure. "Everyone, dismiss your wings! We'll have to fight her on foot!" Her processor wings dematerialized, the other goddesses following suit!
"It won't help you!" MAGES. taunted, teleporting again as Black Heart rushed at her. "Burn in the flames of hell! Conflagration Dust!" Noire screamed as she was caught in two walls of flame, Vert, Nepgear and Ram also getting caught in the flames! Blanc managed to avoid the attack, however, charging in with her axe at the ready! MAGES. attempt to duck, only for White Heart to abruptly knee her in the chin instead, snapping her back upright, barely able to parry the follow-up axe swing with her staff! The Mad Magician then cried out in pain as a sniper shot from Black Sister grazed her shoulder! Teleporting again, she intoned, "Shiver Beam!" An artificial sun appeared from the ceiling, blasting the goddesses to the ground with several light beams!
"Dammit, she's our toughest opponent yet!" White Heart groaned as she sat on one knee.
"Uni, rapid fire!" Nepgear called, raising up her arm cannon.
"You got it!" the two CPU Candidates opened fire, MAGES. teleporting rapidly to try and avoid the shots, though a few still grazed her!
"Wait, I've got an idea!" Green Heart grunted as she stood up. "I call upon the power of the Hyper Share Crystal! Access NEXT Form!" Like Noire from Chapter 51, the transformation sequence was skipped, NEXT Green rushing at MAGES. with incredible speed!
The Mad Magician braced for impact as Vert swung her spear... but no pain was felt! "Ha! You missed me!" she taunted. "Now behold my ultimate magic: Blasphemous Theoretical!"
But nothing happened. "Huh?!" Looking at her staff, MAGES. gasped as she realized she was holding a spear instead!
"Looking for this?" NEXT Green taunted, now holding the staff in question. "Now, everyone!"
MAGES. screamed as she was hit with several projectiles at once, Neptune and Blanc finishing with a combined double-footed dropkick that slammed their opponent into the door! The Mad Magician slumped down in defeat, her magic seal over the door vanishing. "Hah... Well played, Vert..." she grunted before losing consciousness.
(Neptunia Victory Jingle!)
"Damn, that was tough!" White Heart grunted.
"Good thinking, Vert, pulling the old switcheroo!" Purple Heart said with a smile. "We should take a moment to recover, though, before we confront Overlord Momus..." She pulled out a healing potion and elegantly downed the contents, several others following suit.
"Sooo... where should I lock her up at?" Haruhi asked as she entered.
"Planeptune City Jail, sans any magical implements," Nepgear responded. "We'll make her help repair the damage she caused when this is all over!"
"You got it!" The Animenga goddess nodded, checking the prone MAGES. over, then removing her lab coat before warping her away! "All her stuff was in her coat, so that should suffice!"
"Good thinking," Black Heart nodded. "Alright, when everyone's ready, let's head through that door for the final battle!"
"Right!" the others agreed.
*To be continued...*