Hello all, welcome back, I give you the first more AU of the one-shots, I wanted to get a lot of my more vanilla ideas out before starting to delve into some cool concepts I have, some will be pretty out there, and others will be relatively tame, but I think I have a few good ones to share, so stay tuned!
-marketvalueneps
Synopsis: As the CPUs have one of their regularly scheduled meetings, two of the young candidates break in, and they have some interesting questions that may prove difficult for our dear heroines.
Gamindustri… a world by which all of you are familiar with by now, after all, you're ten bloody chapters into a shitty yuri fanfic… ahem. Correcting for any estranged narrator, Gamindustri is as it always has been, a peaceful land watched over by its guardian goddesses, and through their tireless efforts, and ever building friendship, the world maintained its tranquil state.
As with most times, we take our stage in the ever-elegant Planeptune basilicom, where we find the ruler of the nation, the ever kind, gentle, and respected Lilac Heart, better known as Nepgear, waiting in one of the meeting rooms. In the chair next to her was the fierce and intimidating Gray Heart, but to her friends she was simply Uni, as she tapped her finger on the desk, her face did little to hide the annoyance she felt as she continued waiting for the rest of their group to arrive,
"Seriously where the hell can they be!? I've come to expect a certain level of jackassery from Vert, and usually Ram, but I expect a little more from Rom! They're 15 minutes late!" She groaned in anger, but seeing as the only other person present in the room was…
"Let's be patient, Uni, I'm sure they were all busy haha" Nepgear put her hands up as she defended her fellow CPUs, although knowing them as well as she did, she kind of figured that wasn't the case, as was also well known by the temperamental woman she was with.
"Pssh! As if! Vert probably had to be dragged out after another gaming binge! And Rom probably couldn't get Ram's lazy ass to decide what outfit to wear!" Uni scoffed at the notion of any of the CPUs actually working, especially the brunette and blonde, as she pushed her hand through her ponytail she kept to the side of her head. Her dark hair making it mostly down to her modest (at best) chest. She wore her standard outfit consisting of a dark tank top, with baggy shorts. She honestly preferred functionality over looks, which is why she so often was unable to comprehend the mindset of a certain Loweean CPU.
"Just because you don't understand the intricacies of picking a stylish outfit doesn't mean you have to take it out on me! Don't hate me cause I'm gorgeous!" As if on cue, a voice rang out from the door, and Nepgear couldn't help but let out a deep sigh as she saw the younger of Lowee's dual CPUs walk through the door. It truly was an anomaly, to have two CPUs run a nation, but with how well the two complemented each other, it rarely, if ever, was an issue. While Blue Heart was kind, nurturing, even keeled, and made sound decisions for the nation. Pink Heart was there in case anything needed to listen with force, her bravado and raw expertise in offensive magic were legendary in Gamindustri.
"Ha! Imagine if you put as much effort into running your nation as you did with your appearance! You might not need Rom to carry your ass!" Uni rebutted as she looked the girl over. She didn't get the point, sure Ram was often considered the 'prettiest' and 'best dressed' of the CPUs, but that was just meaningless gossip. As she looked at her, she noticed she probably had been late because she had done herself up, her long hair was in intricate weaves, and her outfit was very well put together. A pink sleeveless top was held to her by a neck strap adorned with a blue gem, matching blue earrings accented the piece. A matching pink thigh-length dress with a slit revealing her right leg was what completed her outfit, with a hand on her hip she planned her next attack, well before being cut off,
"Enough, you two! We don't need you fighting before we even get started!" Nepgear chastised the duo, and they looked away from each other in haughty defiance, before both mumbling under their breath,
"She started it…"
"What kind of CPU is late to a meeting…"
Ram than Uni mumbled, and Nepgear elected to ignore the comments for the moment, looking around, she noticed they were missing one, well two, but Vert was MIA at the moment,
"Say, Ram, where is Rom?" She asked with curiosity, and Ram quickly turned to answer her,
"She's dropping off Blanc with the others," Ram explained, eliciting nervous chuckles from the other two CPUs. Blanc, as the oldest of the CPU candidates, was looked up to by the younger Noire and especially the ever eager Neptune. The only problem with this was well…
"Your weird sister better not be corrupting Noire anymore, that's ditto for you Nepgear!" Uni pointed at her fellow CPUs, and as much as Ram wanted to start up something again at the comments at her younger sister, she couldn't force herself, knowing full well how ahem quirky her sister was,
"Blanc is just… uh… she uh…." Ram trailed off as she tried to justify her sister, but in all honesty, she herself didn't really gel well with her on most days. But only she was allowed to say that damnit! "Blanc is just really creative, yea! That's it! She's creative, and uh unique, and she might be weird, but at least she puts her full effort forth!" Proud of herself for thinking of something nice to say about the young goddess, Ram put her hands on her hip as she bore a proud smile, well for a moment before hearing someone behind her, still in the doorway,
"Awww~ That's so sweet Ram, I'll be sure to tell her that next time you two get into one of your spats" The ever kind and sweet voice of the other CPU of Lowee was heard in the room, and the other two CPUs couldn't help but chuckle at the moment,
"Ah, crap… How much of that did you hear?" Ram asked, defeated,
"The whole thing silly~ Now let's sit down" Rom gave her twin a wry smile as she tugged her arm, and the two took their spots. Rom adjusted her glasses as she looked around, taking a quick headcount, before sighing, "Well it appears we were not last, at least…." The short-haired brunette gave a side-eye to her twin, who only whistled, playing with her earring.
"But I look so pretty…" She whined, truly the only person who could speak to her and get away with it was the usually reserved CPU,
"And you took 20 minutes to get ready" Rom calmly pointed out, and to anyone who didn't know they would think her voice was kind and held no pointed direction or resentment. But to the CPUs, they all knew that Rom was not particularly thrilled with her sister at the moment. The pointed and orderly CPU hated being late, and with how often the younger of the two made that the case, it truly was a mystery how Lowee still had two CPUs.
Ram could only grumble, she didn't get why her flesh and blood couldn't see how important it was to dazzle and amaze everywhere they went. Looking over she scoffed at Rom's boring choice in her standard outfit, a white dress worn beneath an opened blue coverup with pink accents. Boring. CPUs needed style, they were goddesses, and they should dress the part.
Meanwhile, across the table, Uni could only chuckle in soft amusement at the sight, it never ceased to be amusing to the smallest of the goddesses that the rowdy and annoying CPU got so easily shut down by the calm woman.
Nepgear, on the other hand, let out a soft sigh, and made a quiet prayer to whatever deity she felt fit at the arrival of Rom, she held Ram in check enough that her and Uni rarely went at it, and Nepgear had to say she was grateful. She wasn't all too good at playing the mediator role, especially between two close friends. The arrival of the short-haired brunette meant they could talk in relative peace, electing to start up, Nepgear looked to the two Loweeans as she made small talk,
"Thank you for making your way over Rom, Ram, how are you? How was your flight?"
"Well after Ram finally got ready it was fine" Rom softly laughed at her quip,
"Jeez, Roooom you act as though I destroyed one of your books or something…" Ram whined, and Rom immediately turned her head to face her,
"You have done that; might I point out"
"Since when!"
"You destroyed the book Blanc wrote for me two weeks ago"
"That's a freebie! You've read her stuff, it's not great!" Ram tried her best to weasel her way out, she seriously didn't get why her twin indulged her little shit sister so much. I mean did she ever actually read whatever it was that she wrote about Nepgear and Uni!? Ram couldn't look at them for a month…
"Ram you should try being nicer to her, she'll run our country one day you know" Rom pushed her glasses up her nose as she gave the speech for what felt like the hundredth time, only this time it was cut off short by a snicker across the table,
"Yea Ram, you should try being nicer to your sister" Uni was the one who added the less than thin veiled backhanded comment, and Ram narrowed her eyes on the petite woman,
"You're one to speak! I bet- I bet one day with how strict you are Noire is gonna run away… she'll run away and take Neptune with her, yeah! She'll take Neptune with her and they'll have like 30 children! That's how strict you are!" Ram yelled at her fellow goddess, not even fully comprehending the words that left her mouth. Why her? Why did she have to be stuck with the weird, hair-over eyes, fanfiction writing, edgy sister? She knew she was weird! Why did Uni have to think it was so funny with her goody two shoes, never wrong, hard-working sister. Hell, she even dressed well!
"Ram!" Rom however was not pleased with her sister's tirade and slugged her in the arm almost as soon as she finished, but to the hot-headed goddess of Lastation, this was simply not enough.
"Hey don't talk about Noire like that! Don't go projectin your weird insecurities on me! If anything, I bet Blanc is only so weird cause you're so damn mean all the time!" Uni yelled back and crossed her arms, but she soon heard someone yell back at her, and to her surprise, it wasn't the annoying voice of the brunette,
"Uni! That's enough!" It was Nepgear, and Uni could only look down after the outburst. It certainly was rare to have Nepgear yell at anyone, especially to Uni. In the ensuing few moments of silence another snicker rang out among the group,
"Haa why is it you only listen to Nepgear huh?" Ram defiantly added her quip, before recieving another punch to her arm, this one stronger than the last, "Oww oww owww! That hurts you know! Besides you know I'm right" The last part came out as a quiet grumble meant only for her twin, and after a moment of rubbing her arm she soon put her chin in her hands in annoyance, "And besides where the hell is Vert!"
"Now we're in agreement! That brat always holds us up!" Uni responded
"Now you're speaking my language! We don't even need her, why do we even bother!" Ram raised her voice once more, and the other two could only sigh, at least this was better than yelling at each other.
"Hold your damn horsebirds ladies" A suave voice called out from down the hall, and the CPUs all looked to the doorway for who they knew the voice belonged to, no not the CPU of Leanbox herself, instead…
"Why Chika, it is good to see you" Nepgear greeted the busty woman with a bow, "And where might Vert be today?"
"She's riiiiiiight here, get over here darling" Disappearing for a moment she soon tugged the green goddess into view.
"Uggggh why do I even have to be heeeere, you're the one that always does all the talking, Chika!" The adolescent CPU whined about her current position. It was a seeming anomaly that the sharicite gave rise to a goddess as young as her, and as she was, she was not fit to run the nation on a day-to-day basis. As such the oracle of the nation was tasked with raising and teaching the young girl the proper ins and outs of running a country. To say the green-haired woman was at her wit's end most days would be an understatement, but that is not to say she wasn't partial to the girl, this was far far from the case.
"Darling as I have told you before, it is uncouth for a CPU to not show up to a meeting, try to understand that." Chika tried her best to explain it to her protege, who was not having any of it,
"Whatever…." She pouted, before taking the opportunity to take her seat, right next to Nepgear, before latching on to the lilac CPU, "The only solace in all of this is I get to spend time with my lovely older sister~" She cooed, and Nepgear could feel a sweat drop fall down her face as she felt a set of eyes bore into the back of her skull, likely from the green-haired woman who had escorted the CPU, she could also hear inaudible mumblings from the other side of her, from where Uni was seated, and she gave a not so vague death stare to the blonde CPU.
"Say that's all fine and dandy, that you lot are all having a not so vague competition over that loser, but why are we even here?" Ram was all too familiar with the invisible warfare that had been going on for years at this point, and just wanted to get through with this probably worthless meeting, Rom could only shake her head at the unfiltered mouth on her twin,
"I told you this is our bimonthly CPU meeting, honestly you all act like this every time, no matter how many times we meet up" Rom only sighed, eliciting a nervous laugh from Nepgear, and a razzberry from Vert,
"I bet you're just jealous of me and my lovely older sister" Vert huffed out, and if one listened closely, they could almost hear the vein popping in Uni's forehead. But before anything else could be said, Nepgear took charge of the situation,
"Haa, Rom's right this is just so we can discuss the current outlook and ongoings in Gamindustri so it shouldn't take that long," She said before clearing her throat and beginning to give Planeptune's report which she had meticulously prepared with Histoire over the last few days… and as always the report went on 3x longer than most people wanted it to, but for the moment our story shifts from this humble meeting room to down the hall in the main living room where 3 other goddesses, or more accurately goddesses in training were also meeting up…
We take our stage right as Rom dropped off the oldest of the candidates, saying her goodbyes, she soon left to join her twin down the hall,
"If any of you need us, we'll just be in the meeting room" Rom looked at the trio, anticipating a response,
"Ooookaaaaaaay…" All three groaned in synchrony before the short-haired brunette nodded, leaving them to their own devices,
"Heya Blanny how goes it!" The ever-energetic Neptune bounced over to her friend, wearing her usual iconic… small sailor styled short dress with frills on the end of it, accompanied by her dual d-clip hair accessories and blue and white striped socks,
"Young one I believe I have warned you about calling me by that accursed name…" The brunette looked at the young girl with her uncovered eye, if she had to, she would feel no guilt about unveiling her cursed eye, which held back the burning flames of hell… or something. She even brought her clasped hand out of her black hoodie and used it to open up the cloak she wore to emphasize she was not joking with the little pint.
"Blech that's just a bunch of hoo-ha, you know you love us! Right my trusty companion, Noire" She turned to the shy girl to gauge her response.
"Ohh- uhmmm yeah… what Neptune said…'' The black-haired candidate gave it her best shot to sound intimidating and brave, but it only came out as a whimper as usual. Letting out an internal sigh, she didn't know how she could ever live up to her brave and super-duper cool older sister.
"Yea, you tell her!" Neptune, however, was more than happy to give her pal reassurance, she only really spoke regularly around her, and when Neptune asked the smartest person she knew about it, Nepgear, she said that Noire was just a little shy around others, and that it showed how close Neptune and her already were, and that she should do her best to encourage her.
"O-ohh uhh…" Noire gave a small smile at the praise she received, it felt good, she was happy she had a friend as nice as Neptune.
However, the receiver of the bold words could only scoff, as she looked at the ignorant masses (2 people) before her with disdain, "You fools, someone like I can never experience the thing you call love! I am a being of unkempt rage and disdain!" Blanc lashed at the two, and Noire quickly hid behind Neptune, who only looked right at the black-cloaked girl,
"See now look at what you did, you scared Noire! Meanie! Besides, don't you love your sisters!" Neptune pointed her finger as she accused the girl of the horrendous crime.
"Ack! Surel- surely you jest tiny one! The two false idols are just…" Blanc looked around as she tried to think her way out of the accusation, "They're just pawns! Yea… everyone knows you can't love people bonded with blood" She crossed her arms as she re-upped her persona. She couldn't let the youngins know she felt anything, they had to fear her.
"Wha…" Neptune looked in disbelief at the older girl, before turning to face her companion, who was still hiding behind her, "Bu- but I love Nep Sr…" Neptune spoke, and Noire soon looked down,
"What do you mean I can't love Big Sis?" Noire sounded like she was already on the verge of tears, and Blanc soon felt herself panicking, she didn't want the little shits crying. She was a demon, not heartless.
"Well uhh… well I mean you guys can feel love with people, but… uhh I can't… yea" Blanc stumbled her way through her explanation, she only got like this when she was alone with her fellow candidates, she couldn't really describe it, but it was easy to keep up when all the adults around her were obviously looking down on her, but these two genuinely looked up to her… it was an odd feeling but she almost felt it was fitting to have two younger kids looking up to her.
"So can I love Noire?" Neptune innocently asked, while looking to her compatriot,
"Uhhhhh" Blanc was speechless, this was not something she had anticipated,
"Wa-wait N-Neptune…" Noire tried her best to calm down her friend, but her voice seemed to fall on deaf ears as she felt a tugging on her arm, as Neptune tugged her around the room,
"Yay! I love Noire! I love Noire!" Neptune marched around the room, having no idea what it was she was proclaiming, Noire unable to stop her, not that she wanted to, Neptune seemed happy,
Blanc simply took out her notebook she kept hidden in her cloak and wrote a few notes, this would make some excellent material. However, she was soon brought out of her notetaking by a question, surprisingly asked by the quiet black-haired girl being tugged around,
"He-hey uh- Blanc? Can Big Sis feel love…" Noire asked with her eyes trained to the floor, and soon Neptune stopped as she put a finger to her chin,
"Hmmm, you think Nep Sr can?" Neptune asked as a follow-up,
"The goddesses are capable of many things… and their power is mysterious in many ways" Blanc tried to sound as mysterious as possible in her explanation as she could, she had to maintain her cool persona.
"Hmmm, do you think Nep Sr loves Big Nowa?" Neptune pondered, cupping her chin, as she had come to the revolution that she loved Noire today, could it follow that her own sister loved the older sister of Norie? They were sisters after all,
"Big Sis…?" Noire seemed equally confused by the question, she wasn't quite sure what love was, but with how Neptune seemed to be throwing around the word, it certainly seemed likely that it was the case. The two candidates shared a look, trying to telekinetically communicate, but they seemed to be at an impasse, it was a question they couldn't seem to answer.
"Welp! No use sitting here like a bunch of extras! Let this one-time protagonist show her stuff as she boldly discovers the unknown!" Grabbing onto Noire's hand once more she took off in the direction of the meeting room,
"Eep! N-Neptune? Do you think we should interrupt them…. Big Sis might get angry" Noire pointed out, nothing was scarier than Uni when she got into a mood.
"Hmm? You think? She never really gets angry as long as Nep Sr is around" Neptune pointed out, she had picked up on that subtle detail after spending time over at Lastation's basilicom when she went to visit Noire. Noire considered it for a moment as the pair made their way down the hall. Noire had to admit that Uni did look a bit different when Neptune's sister was around, maybe that's what 'love' was? I mean the way Neptune said it made sense, and Noire had to consider that she herself acted differently around her friend, she just felt more comfortable around the purple-haired girl.
The duo stopped in front of the door, and Neptune put on her serious face as she looked at the grand door, giving a nod to her partner,
"Ok best partner of mine, let's do it!"
"Y-yea!"
On the count, the two pushed open the door, and immediately all the eyes of the CPUs were focused on the small girls, but the first thing that Neptune focussed on was…
"Hey! You big fat nasty sister snatcher! What did I tell ya would happen if you ever tried to steal Nep Sr from me again! She's my big sister and don't forget it, pal!" Neptune jumped, and latched on to her sister, as she tried her best to detach Leanbox's CPU from the Lilac goddess.
"You are unworthy of such a kind and perfect older sister!" Vert rebutted, and the two soon devolved into their usual bickering, as Nepgear tried to appease both parties,
At the same time, Uni could only let out a frustrated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose, she turned to her sister, who was standing around awkwardly, "Noire!" She called out,
"Y-Yes!" Noire straightened up as she looked to her sister,
"What are you two doing here? Didn't we leave Blanc in charge?" Uni asked as she narrowed her eyes on her sister, who could only squirm around,
"O-oh Uhm that… uh well Neptune said… Uh, Neptune!" Noire called out as she ran over, tugging on Neptune's sleeve, who immediately looked over, "Tell her what you told me"
"Oh yeah, I can't get caught up in this evil sister snatcher's games!" Neptune dusted herself as she cleared her throat, "Ahem, Nep Sr, Big Nowa, I have come here to ask you something, we wanted to ask if you two love each other. I have been informed by a wise person that you two hold mysterious power" Neptune put her fists on her hips as she asked her question, and immediately pandemonium broke out, Ram burst into a cackling fit almost instantly, Rom rubbed her forehead, already knowing who this 'wise person' was. Vert seemed very interested in this question, while Chika did her best to stifle her own giggle.
The two goddesses whom the question was aimed at both burst into embarrassed reactions as the shameless question the young goddess in training asked. Both women were not in any way prepared to answer that question, but Nepgear tried her best as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself,
"Neptune, why are you asking that?" Nepegar looked at her younger sister seriously as she tried to decipher how and why she was coming to her with this,
"Hmmm well, I came to the revolution that I love Noire! So, I wanted to know if my big and wise older sister loved the older sister of my best pal" Neptune put on a bright smile as she explained, and Nepgear could only sigh at the raw innocence exuberated by her dear younger sister. The other goddesses, namely Ram, seemed to find this even more hilarious.
"Neptune, I'm not sure you know what you're asking" Nepgear put her hand on the smaller girl and ruffled her hair a bit as she explained, but this didn't seem to satisfy the candidate,
"What do you mean? Do I not love Noire?" Neptune tilted her head as she looked over to the girl beside her, who looked as equally confused,
"Y-yeah I love Neptune" Noire pointed out
"Jeez, you two, young girls aren't allowed to love each other" It was Uni's turn to jump in as she put her foot down,
"Whaaaat no fair! How come you're allowed to love Nep Sr but I'm not allowed to love Noire! Cheapskate! Loser! Meanie!" Neptune flung her insults to the raven-haired CPU, who only could grit her teeth in embarrassment.
"Yea Uni, explain that one!" Ram was losing her shit at this; this made the boring meeting she was sitting through worth it and more.
"Ram… calm down" Rom only sighed, although she did find this interaction to be amusing and wholesome, she had to be the one to keep her head, as per usual.
"Goodness N-Neptune, calm down, Uni is right, you're too young to be saying things like that" Nepgear tried her best to explain it. But with her wording, Neptune only pouted, and Noire looked like she was on the verge of tears, sighing deeply, Nepgear put her hands on Neptune's shoulders, "Say look at me, how's this sound, when you get to be Blanc's age you can tell Noire you love her all you want" Nepgear put on her brightest smile as she gave the terms of their agreement, and Neptune tried her best to not throw a fit, that would only prove her point,
"Ok…" Neptune pouted, and after a short while longer the candidate duo departed from the room, and the CPUs all looked amongst themselves, and eventually, Rom pushed up her glasses as she started,
"Say, that was near the end of everything we needed to discuss, shall we call it there?" She asked, receiving a nod from all parties concerned. And soon the meeting was called to a close, and all persons involved began to take their leave, Rom and Ram giving Nepgear and Uni (begrudgingly in the case of Ram) their regards, before making their way to grab Blanc, and head home.
Vert had to be detached from Nepgear's side by a less than thrilled Chika, who grumbled the whole way as she left the room, leaving behind the CPUs of Lastation and Planeptune. With both letting out sighs they had kept in since the intrusion of a certain pair of candidates, eventually, Nepgear leaned her head over on Uni's shoulder before beginning,
"Sorry Neptune almost gave us a heart attack…"
"Jeez, just about killed me" Uni spoke through her embarrassment, with a palm to her head,
"Teehee~ She's just a little curious is all" Nepgear pointed out, and Uni gave a small scoff,
"Yea, and you know what they say about curiosity and cats…" Uni pointed out, and Nepgear laughed,
"Well you know, you have to admit she's done wonders for Noire" Nepgear latched herself around Uni's arm as she defended her sister,
"Y-yea I guess you're right… Say you think she'll actually remember that 'promise' you gave her?" Uni asked, and Nepgear pondered it for a moment,
"Hmm she very well might, that just gives us a deadline to tell everyone about us, now doesn't it~" Nepgear gave a quick kiss to Uni's cheek, before detaching herself, and making her way down the hall to check up on her sister,
"Jeez, that girl is going to be the death of me…" Uni shook her head, but she couldn't shake the idea that she didn't actually mind the concept. It sure beat when they were trying to kill each other every other day. She still really couldn't get over it, long ago she thought the girl would be the death of her at the end of her MPBL, now… she was going to give her a heart attack. That was how she was going to die.
That or of embarrassment when Ram finally figured everything out…
Why hello, I just wanted to take a moment before I get to the review this time around to do a little explaining, this AU of switching the candidates and CPUs has always been one of my favorites, and I have long since been waiting to write this one, but at the same time I know that some of my interpretations need a little more explanation.
Nepgear-I didn't change her much, which is supposed to be a bit on how little she changes relatively with HDD and the like.
Uni- I thought the idea of a hot-headed Uni who doesn't feel the need to compare herself to Noire constantly would work well
Ram- I love the idea of a petty fashion-obsessed Ram, I don't really know why, I just feel it fits.
Vert- I tossed around so many ideas for Vert, I even considered making Boquet the actual CPU, but I just couldn't make it fit well, so instead I went for Vert being older sister obsessed, with Chika as her guardian.
Noire- I feel like Noire under a super strict and hotheaded Uni would end up as a super-shy little girl, but I thought the idea of her opening up around Neptune was super cute, so I rolled with it
Blanc- Ooo boy if you understand the reference as to why Blanc is a ridiculous edge lord then good for you, if not, then you should read 'The Year of Ram' by Blade of Justice, it's honestly one of my favorite works on here, and that is a reference to how he handled a candidate, Blanc.
Ok as for the review this time
Gigarot- I can't remember any instances of Big Nep and Uni interacting so it was fun to try it for myself, I thought it turned out pretty decent. I do think the Neptune bit is a pretty good one, and I was tempted to do it on this one, but I figured that'd be beating a dead horse at this point. Personally, my favorite running bit I do is the fact that Nepgear has absolutely no clue how her robots keep getting the Nepgya face.
