Heyo ? :" no no this fanfic is still alive
sorry for the re-upload since Fanfic web didn't allow me to edit document of published Chapter.
man, I am taking too long didn't I ? alright alright, thanks a lot to : Kurogems1208 for Fixing this mess.
It's already past morning, and the light is shining through the windows.
Noire opens her eyes, and finds that Neptune is still sleeping besides her. She looks like she's really enjoying her sleep.
"Neppy?" She is surprised to see her being this close, then remembers that she fell asleep first rather than Neptune, so Neptune might have snuck up on her last night, or too tired to find where the other bedroom is.
Either way, she's glad that her lover is with her all night, and now she gets to see the cute face Neptune makes while she's sleeping.
She can't help but to pinch Nep's left cheek and kiss her lover's forehead.
"We worked very hard yesterday... especially you."
Lastation, Superdimension.
Noire washes her face and walks to her office and finds a notification light lit up on her monitor. That means someone just sent an important E-mail to her directly.
"Huh, I wonder what this is-" Noire reads the email, which belongs to Dengekiko the Journalist. "EEEEEEEEEHHH!?" Noire screams as she's taking a look at the content of the sent E-mail. It's something that she wasn't expecting to find in the morning.
It's an article about her and Neptune's relationship.
'Citizens' overwhelmingly positive responses to the two CPU's relationship on display.'
She didn't even take time to read the article itself. Instead she just goes straight to call Nepgear with her computer.
Not long after, she gets a response, or so it seems...
She was expecting the Candidate of Planeptune to pick up the call. Instead, she's looking at a very familiar looking young woman, way too familiar...
The woman on the screen has black hair with crimson red eyes just like herself. It's like looking at her own reflection.
'What? Is that...me? I thought I called Nepgear, not opened the mirror cam.' Noire thinks.
Noire scratches her head, and her 'reflection' does the same.
"What...?" Both Noires say in unison, they react the same way too. "Are you...?" They both say the same words. "...other me?"
Both Noire look stunned in response, they both don't know how to react nor think of what to talk about.
"Ahh umm..." Both Noire just looking at each other awkwardly. until the one originated from this Dimension asks something unexpected.
"Hey, tell me... do... you have any friends?" Asks Super Noire, awkwardly of course.
'Way to go other me... she really sounds like awkward me from all those years ago...' Hyper Noire thinks. "Well I do have friends... uhh... " She tries to come up with a few names. "A girl named K-Sha is my close friend, and of course there's Neptune." A pause. "What about you ? You're not... lonely, right?" She cringes about what she just asked.
'WHAT? PLEASE DON'T ME I AM THE ONLY NOIRE THAT LONELY - oh right!' Super Noire thinks. "Of course I have friends! I have a Neptune too!" She says as she smiles awkwardly. "Oh!" She sees someone coming over to her.
"Waddaya mean? I am not your friend!" A certain purple haired loli comes and stands besides Super Noire with a grumpy expression.
"Huh? Then-" Just as she wants to say something, her lover suddenly hugs her.
"I am your lover silly~" She says as she hugs Noire tighter.
"Nep-tune... don't hug me... not while someone else is watching..." Super Noire is blushing hard, she's surprised to get hugged so suddenly.
"Umm..." Meanwhile Noire on the other side of the screen just stares dumbfoundingly with blushes on her cheeks. She's trying to look the other way, but her eyes are still gravitated towards the screen.
'So they are in Lastation now, they are... so close... I mean I saw them confessed. Why am I having this weird feeling...' She's still not sure what she is feeling right now... is it Envy? Sadness? Both?
While the other Noire gets all lovey-dovey with Super Neptune, Noire looks down and thinks about what happened last night.
"Good night, Noire."
That was the last words she heard from Neptune last night. She still couldn't find out why she left her. She freezes up thinking about it.
A waving hand suddenly appears in front of the Lastation CPU, stopping her daydreaming.
"Noire, what are you-" Neptune turns her head to the screen and sees what Noire has seen, their counterparts. "Oh. I see... well this is something..."
After seeing them, Neptune and Noire exchange an awkward glance. After all, who they are seeing are basically themselves.
"Wait Neptune! Look!" Super Noire who has just been hugged and kissed several times by her lover points out to Hyper Neptune who has just arrived. "It's other you!"
"Huh? Oh! Wowiee! It's like looking at our own reflections!" Super Neptune lets go of her lover and greets her counterpart. "Hello there other me! To be honest I thought you looked older or taller, well since you know... you're alternate me and all~..."
"Hello hello! And I thought you will look different too! Actually, if you want a taller, way hotter version of us, she's back in my Dimension!"
"Wow there's a non-loli version of us? You must be the Ultimate Neptune! Can't wait to talk to you directly!" A pause. "It's kind of a bummer that the Author is making us meet like this, I thought we will meet when something big is happening, ya know? It's not like there's pandemic going on-"
"(*coughs*) Neptune..." Super Noire is about to scold her lover after she broke the 4th wall.
"Oops! Just kidding...~ " A pause as Super Neptune turns her head back to the screen. "Well time for an Intro! My name is Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune the Land of Purple progress, Big Sis of Nep Jr. or Nepgear. I was going to check on Nep Jr. since I'm worried about her and then I met you two!"
"You already know me, but I am Noire, Lastation CPU, the Land of Black Regality. My nation is located on the East, oh and I have a sister named Uni there."
Hyper Neptune and Noire are thinking about the same thing, that their counterpart are not too different from them. Except...
"...and...we are couples! We started dating several days ago!" Super Neptune reveals.
"Neptune! They - ah right... umm" Super Noire pauses. "-you two have already been here for days right? We are sorry about... what happened recently."
"Huh? What's wrong, my love?" Super Neptune is confused as she doesn't really know what's going on since she has been busy recently.
"I just heard rumors about it, but it looks like Nepgear might have something to do with this.. " She says as she brings up her tablet to show the recent news about their relationship being on display everywhere on Planeptune. "And how did your sister get these pictures anyway? Some of these are too much for kids!"
"Look on the bright side! Our shares went up! Surely Blanc and Vert will not be pleased but I think Blanc is the only one who will be pissed since Vert is-"
"But this is embarrassing! I think this is going to take a long time to get this calm down..."
"Actually, this person here just added fuel to the fire." Hyper Noire points out Neptune besides her. "She's the one who made that article exist, but she's the one who dealt with that issue too."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Hyper Neptune replies.
"Can you please tell Nep Jr. that she's grounded for 24 hours? Ask her to watch over something or whatevers..."
"Sorry for not welcoming you two properly. We have some issues here... so we can't go meet you two for the time being. Uni is there so feel free to ask her for help." A pause. "The same goes for White Heart and Green Heart, though I'm not really sure about the latter..."
"Enjoy your time in Planeptune, make sure you two bonds well. If we meet again, let's talk okay? Can't wait to hear the stories you have."
"Yeah, it's nice having people around!" Super Noire sounds excited.
"Hey, am I not enough for your lonely heart?" Super Neptune asks jokingly.
"It-it's not like that! That's just-"
"Bwahahaahah!"
Meanwhile both Hyper Dimensionians don't really know how to react, not long after that they end the call since Super Noire and Neptune have their own nation issues to deal with.
Planeptune, Superdimension. Morning.
"Neptune, I'm heading out for a stroll then I will go to the Guild." Noire informs Neptune, and she is hoping that Neptune could join her too. "You are free to sta-"
"Can I join you?" Neptune suddenly asks. "Don't worry, this is not a date, and I won't treat it like one... I won't joke about it either." She pauses as she knows it's hard not to tease her friend "...at least I'll try."
"Huh? You want to join me?" A pause as she looks around, and notices that there's a game console along with game catalogs lying on the table near a large sized LED TV. "I... thought that you wanted to rest and... play games or something..."
"To be honest, I just want to explore right now and besides I don't want to get scolded by you." While parts of it were true, Neptune wanted to spend more time with Noire. She knew that Noire belongs to K-Sha now but she can't help herself.
She knew that what she did last night were rather stupid to say the least. She needs to clear things up with Noire, and she can't think straight after seeing her Counterpart falling in love with other Noire. She needs a good time to chat later.
Not long after, they change their clothes and Noire dresses up like she did yesterday, apparently she really likes her new look, and so does Neptune.
"Astrid huh? Gotta say that name is kinda sick, where did'cha get that?" The purple loli tries to strike a conversation while they are walking.
"That? It's just a pretty name that I have read about somewhere." A pause as she starts thinking of something. She wants to open up more with her friend, maybe she will get the answer on why Neptune left her last night. "Actually... That's the name I will pick if I..." She gulps. "...if I am not a CPU anymore..." Noire did think about what she would do if she is no longer the CPU of her nation. "Things were looking bleak that time Neppy... luckily for me, you cheered me up, you ensured me that Lastation citizen love me, that I'm still worthy of the CPU title..." She says as she smiles, she's not hiding her blushes, she wants Neptune to know her grateful feeling.
Seeing her friend's expression, Neptune's heart skips a beat. She didn't think she has done anything special, because that's what friends do right? Because that's what heroes do, but she's glad that she made an impact in Noire's life, she was pretty sure K-Sha did help more on the issues anyway.
"Aww, you're making me blush... that was nothing special, just thank K-Sha more okay? She deserves more praise than me." She smiles back and tries to avoid eye contact since she might stare on Noire too much. Well she doesn't mind it, but Noire will, she thinks. But then she remembers something: "Hey, don't worry Noire, you will get your powers back when we get home and then-"
"Oh? You two are going out?" Nepgear suddenly interrupts as she appears from a corner. "Can I come along? I can guide you around the city." Nepgear offers.
"Gearsy! I didn't expect you there!" Neptune is a little surprised, though she doesn't mind it. She wants Nepgear to tag along as well, but with Croire there, it would be unwise if she's left unguarded. "Well, we'd like to let you show us da wae, but-"
"Your sister contacted us, and she said that you're grounded for 24 hours because of what you did, and you have to watchover Croire." Noire explains.
"...ohh right, that other book fairy... you two told me that she's powerful, but she's still unconscious though... Since I got grounded, I can observe her while fixing your N-Gear." She smiles as she turns her head to the left, a door leads to multipurpose room, where she and IF decided to put Croire. "I will hold the fort, there's Uni inside, and I can protect her in case something happened." Both Noire and Neptune are about to say something but Nepgear already knows it. "Don't worry about it, you two just enjoy your time here. My lovely sis taught me to never let my guard down, even when the enemy is sleeping."
"Nepgear... thank you. Hey, let me pay you back later okay? I will teach you and this little CPU here the Lastation's Proud way of Cooking!" Noire puffs her chest and smirks, she's really proud of her cooking skills. Even if she's not that skilled, she at least can show-off in front of these two.
Not long after, the two CPUs walk around a park near a department store that Noire has been shopping there. Many citizens can be heard talking about the recent article that was posted by the Journalists, and so far the citizen react positively to their CPUs' relationship after a seemingly endless war. It's relieving to know that love could fix even the biggest grudge.
"Have you heard? NepNowa is finally Canon!"
"Our CPU and Lastation CPU is like Yin and Yang, they can't exist without each other!"
"I can't believe that the Black Heart herself came to my store several days ago... she bought some sewing equipments and some plain clothes. I bet she tailored some cute dresses for Lady Purple heart to surprise her!"
Ranged from Nepfanclub to gossiping Store Owner. The citizens' responses are overwhelmingly positive, and hearing the citizens being happy makes Neptune equally happy too. But... Noire is on the other hand... extremely embarrassed and struggling to calm her beating heart. But she keeps walking this time instead of freezing up like last time. Neptune have been paying attention to Noire's reaction, knowing really well that Noire will be embarrassed, so she's keeping an eye out in case she froze up again.
"LADY NEPTUNE!" Suddenly a familiar voice can be heard. A young lady with a broad sword sheathed on her hip, wearing her usual red colored outfit is running towards Neptune who's trying to lay low to not get noticed by the citizens. "I am glad that I found you my Lady!"
"Hey hey! Falcom chill out!" Neptune looks around and checks if there's a citizen or paparazzi nearby. Luckly there's none. "I love attention, but we're laying low for now, cuz.. you know why."
"Oh right! Sorry I didn't know, I'll try to be careful next time." She says as she scratches her head in awkwardness. Then she notices a young looking woman with black glasses and long hair walking alongside Neptune. "Uhh Milady... who is she? You are not cheating on Noire, are you ?" She says the last part as a joke.
"What!? There's no Neppin' way I would betray her!" She laughs, and then she remembers to hold her teasing habit. "Oopsie... sorry... uhh Falcom, this is..."
"Noire... yeah I know, I just want to know her reaction hehe!" Falcom reveals that she already knew.
"What!? I... how do you-" The megane girl is surprised to find that another person is able to recognize her.
"Oh, that's because I've been with Lady Neptune and Noire since we set on adventure to achieve eternal peace..." She says as they continues to walk down the street. "You know, the CPUs wearing glasses to disguise themselves, what's funny is that it works!" ... "Only among the CPUs."
"Bwahaha! Oh, no wonder you recognized Noire, this Dimension sure is something!" The Purple haired girl looks around the cityscape, its tall buildings, its technology progress... she notices that the city does look similar, but only in architectural theme.
'Wow, my other self really knocked it off the park. What's that? I've never seen that tech, or what's that one? Where did they get the materials? We're standing on a big piece of floating rocks.' Those were what Neptune's thinking, she was never a big tech-maniac like her sister, but she does know a thing or two since she oversees her Nation growth. She thinks she might be able to learn something new from this Planeptune for her own nation.
"Hey Falcom, do you know where the Guild is? I don't want to ask the civilians too much..." Noire pops up a question for the ponytailed girl. "And where have you been?" Noire asks because Falcom is nowhere to be found yesterday, she could use her help.
"I... uhh... sorry, IF called me yesterday. I really wanted to help Lady Neptune move to Neptower, but..." She lets out an awkward chuckle. "...I broke a tram ride again." A pause. "The tram operator was already too late to notice there's something wrong with their system, so I was stuck on the tram for a while... just my luck."
"Hey hey, it's not like it was your fault, okay? Last time it was Neptune's fault." Noire says half-jokingly.
"What!? No way... hey I didn't remember much! Tell me tell me!" Neptune didn't really understand.
"Nah~ you have to figure it out yourself." Both Noire and Falcom joke in unison.
After walking for a while they finally arrive to the Guild, they find IF standing and waving her hand, waiting for them near the entrance.
"There you are. Nepgear said you gals are coming." A pause. "You know, Nepgear got you two covered right? There's no need to do chores. You girls are our guest here." She's a little confused why both Neptune and Noire would bother to take quests on the Guild.
"There's no way we just stand around while you girls do the hard work." Noire looks ata a group of Guild Agents who happen to pass by. "I might need some exercises after all this time anyway."
"Well... that sounds like Noire that I know." IF guides the girls inside the Guild building. The building is enormous, and filled with field agents, most of them are just hanging out and talking about the recent news. "Since the bots are cleared out in Planeptune, most remaining quests available in Planeptune are Material gatherings." She approaches her Guild Operator and asks her to open up the current available Quests.
The group examines the list and finds out that there's a special quest labeled 'Higher Risk, Higher Reward!' located in Leanbox continent menu section. While the highest level quest in Planeptune is to find a Horn of an Ancient Dragon.
"I know there are more challenging quests in other nation, but we can't get anywhere right now, especially Leanbox..." IF comments.
"It seems like you miss Lady Vert so much, right IF?" Falcom notices the girl's expression.
"Do- don't be ridiculous! I was just worried about Lady Ver-Ver okay?" IF says as she blushes a little.
After hearing Vert's nickname from IF, both Neptune and Noire turn their attentions to her and give her a smug expression.
"Ver-Ver huh ? Ohoh... someone is really into a C.U.T.E Nickname~" Neptune immediately makes fun of IF.
"I think Verty is better... but I guess Ver-Ver sounds cuter to our big sis over here~" Noire adds.
"It's rare to see IF this flustered... it's cute honestly..." Falcom adds fuel to the already burning fire.
"Not you too!"
...
Not long after
After deciding what quest they will take, the group heads towards the last known location of the Ancient Dragon. They chose said quest because it has high rewards and they have 2 veteran heroes in their group, making it easier to beat the enemy.
But, to get there, they need to be transported with a Skytram to one of the floating islands in the West side of the Central City. It's one of the medium sized islands so it will take a while to find the target. But the witness said there's a sighting of Dragon passed by several day ago, and there are two possible hiding spots for the said creature.
"Wowwowowow... I can't believe we're finally going to ride the SkyShip!" Neptune's filled with excitement.
"It's called Skytram... you look awfully excited about this Nep." IF comments.
"Well duh ~ even I can be bored after a week of non-stop rest." Neptune replies.
"Well, if you're a regular human, after that fall you would hit the grave instantly and rest forever." IF is being blunt.
"Oof, that's is super dark that I couldn't even imagine about it." Falcom comments. "Well girls, the tram has arrived." The Red haired girl changes the subject because their ride is coming.
All of them aboard the tram, except Falcom who just stands there with conflicted emotions.
"Falcom, come on in." Noire asks her to join.
"I... think I'll wait for the next tram to come by so I can be alone."
"What's wrong ?"
"I'm afraid that my... bad luck will affect you all.." A pause. "I don't want the tram to be broken." She feels that her 'bad luck' will affect the luck of everyone else, at least she thinks so.
"Seriously? That's what's bothering you?" IF facepalms. "In, now. We've been traveling together for who knows how long, especially during the crisis, ZERO accident if you're together with somebody else."
"Hey Falcom! Don't ya worry! My Protagonist power will nullify every side effect that my party has!" Neptune places her palm on her chin, remembering when Falcom had similar worryness back in Ultradimension. "Hey, there's no sinking ship accident when you're in my party in Plutie Dimension right? Don't worry and come here."
The red haired girl lets out a sigh and goes in the tram. Not long after she feels that she's safe. She speaks up "Ahah... I guess we're safe after all. Sorry for worrying too much everyone..."
The tram is moving on a relatively slow pace. It's safer that way, and since the view is quite nice many people wouldn't complain about it. With clouds moving around the island, along with smaller rocks and islands floating alongside the bigger one, it's a view that they wouldn't get in Hyper Dimension.
"Alright alright, small talk: which nation is your favorite IF? Falcom?" The Purple girl opens up a new conversation.
"Hmm... well I prefer Planeptune. But if I'm going to retire, I would go to Leanbox, they have the best scenery hands down." IF doesn't take long to answer.
"Hmm... ahh... I am not sure hehe..." And then the Pony-tailed girl looks on the horizon, a snowy landmass on the distance. "Well I do like Lowee, Rom and Ram are there. I miss them already, but I prefer my world Lowee since it's warmer in spring. But Planeptune is still where I choose to live."
"Huhhh?! No- no one mentioned Lastation... Wh-what's wrong with Lastation? We are equal to Planeptune!" Noire's pride is kicking in. "Don't say it... don't say that in this world I'm the lazy one!"
"Oh hey! Is that really Lowee?" Neptune ignores Noire. "It's so pretty! I can't wait to go there!" Though, she only pretends to ignore her to see how Noire will react.
"Yep, the Land of White Serenity... protected by Blanc herself, she's currently trying NOT to swear or let her anger out in front of her sisters, it's hilarious sometimes." IF lets out a small laugh.
"Oh I knew she's going to fail already~" Neptune says jokingly.
"HEY! DON'T IGNORE ME!"
"Haha, calm down miss Noire..." Falcom tries to calm her down but can't help to giggle a bit.
Several Moments later...
"Alright, we're here... " IF looks around the surrounding environment, they're on the forest border. The forest itself is dense enough to hide enormous monsters and confuse novice adventurers. "Hmm... the witnesses said there are two potential hiding spots of the target. Since the target itself is a Dragon, there isn't much choice of hiding place for them. Nep, I usually asked for a plan to your counterpart, since you're more of a Warlady in that HDD of yours... but since both Falcom and I have already been here once, we'll take the lead." A pause as she pulls out one of her phones. "Alright, there's a giant crater on the side of that hill on the east, a cave could be there too. High chance is that our target hid there. And there's a mine on the other side of this island as well."
"I am pretty confident in our strength since we have two CPUs with us..." Falcom says with a smile.
"Alright Nep, you go with Falcom towards the mine. Noire and I will go to the crater between the hills. I know it's risky but a mere dragon is no match for either one of you two." A pause as IF smirks. "After all. you fought enemy as tall as a skyscraper before. Seriously, you two need to tell us your story later."
"Really? That's super awesome! As expected of Lady Neptune! Tell me what I've been missing pretty please?" Falcom's excited after hearing it.
"Well... I got my friends and a certain Valley Girl from the 90's who did most of the hard work, I can't take the credit here..."
Instead of adding comments to the whole 'fighting the Dark CPU', Noire just wants to get paired with Neptune on this journey since she can talk privately with her along the way.
"Why can't I hunt it along with Neptune? I mean we can defeat it in an instant when we bo-" Noire's searching a reason to change IF's plan.
"Noire, it's important to have a balanced team. We both provide the Power, they provide the Knowledge." The Planeptune CPU explains, she also wants to talk with Noire along the way as well, but she feels that she will get overboarded again and try to get closer to her while K-Sha's not around. Besides, it's safer for them this way.
Hearing it makes Noire feel a little disappointed, but she knows it's true and just goes along with it. She lets out a sigh. " ...fine, let's go."
"Alright, we'll meet up 2 hours later in that cliff over there. Falcom, don't lose your phone again this time." IF warns Falcom as she departs.
"I'll try, no promises! Let's go lady Neptune!" She says half-jokingly as she starts walking with Neptune.
As they separate from each other, Noire takes a look behind her and watches Neptune walking the opposite direction, but to her surprise her closest friend actually looks back directly towards Noire albeit with unreadable expression. The Black haired girl feels that their private talking session will have to wait.
...
Noire's Side
Noire lets out a big sigh as she walks along with IF. She really hopes to walk with Neptune. Her expression catches IF's attention.
"Not being with Nep bothers you this much huh?" IF comments with a slightly concerned tone. She knew this Noire somehow doesn't want to be apart from Neptune much, but she doesn't really know the reason. "To be honest, if Nep didn't bring up that point earlier I would've swap you with Falcom."
"Please don't make fun of me..."
"No no, I'm serious... It looks like you two have been apart for too long that it bothers you if you're not with her." IF says directly to Noire and then makes sure the road ahead are safe without any monsters. "Well I'm not going to pry much further, but you need to get a hold of yourself or else you'll get distracted later."
"...Guess there's no point of hiding it anymore in front of you huh." She has a feeling that this IF has spent a long time with her counterpart, and Noire feels it's fine to tell IF about this too. "Well.. it'll be a lie if I say it didn't bother me... I might tell you about it."
"It'll take a while to get there... so I'll listen to you."
After that the Tsundere girl tells IF about how long she and Neptune have been apart and how, as they keep walking towards the destination.
Neptune Side
Both girls walk at a slow pace while being relaxed since they don't feel any monster presences nor a hint that monsters are nearby.
"Lookie look Falcom, my Na- Other self Nation... it's super pretty~" Neptune's astounded by the view.
"No matter how many time I've seen this scenery, it will never cease to amaze me."
"Yeah... I bet, this is a kind of place that every spot is a good spot for just chill and have some pudding~"
"That's Lady Neptune that I remember haha..." She looks once again at the cityscape, the red adventurer somehow is reminded of something "...This is all nice...but..."
"...nothing like home right?" Neptune suddenly interrupts, she notices that Falcom might be the only person from that came from Ultra Dimension that's still left here. Her friends are already home, far away from her.
Neptune knows well how her friend feels.
"Uhh, you got me Milady...haha..." Falcom replies awkwardly since the Purple CPU is right. "But maybe I miss my friends the most, since I got nothing left but them."
"Oh? Who's your favorite?"
"It's Marvy... since she... No. They left me, I started to think how I could get back to my homeworld..." She sounds sad but she keeps a little smile on her face. "But then I realized that even if I asked the CPU here it will not worth their time to find me a way home. I mean, I'm not as great and important as you Milady."
Neptune is taken aback by Falcom's story. What does she mean?
"Uhh, what do you mean pal?"
"I mean, you're not too surprised to find yourself in another world anymore, because you WILL BE ABLE to find a way home. But, I feel powerless, I can't even save my home, let alone traveling between Dimensions like you."
"Hey hey... you're already a Dimension Tripper! I know I was quoting the Opening song of the Anime but it's what you are now!" Neptune's trying to cheer Falcom up. "Why don't you come with us back to our Dimension? There's a portal leading to your home Dimension! Well it's still closed for now but it will open soon... I hope."
The CPU's words manage to do the job because Falcom turns happy again. "I'll take you up on your offer Milady, thank you! I don't know why I was ever worried when the Great Lady Neptune and Noire, the best duo that I have ever known, is here!"
"Aw shucks~ you think we... uhh what's the word? Compatible?"
"Oh you have no idea Lady Neptune. I've met two versions of you remember? While I do remember our Party's Journey, what I remember the most is your interactions with Noire..." Falcom's worryness begins to fade away as she believes she has another chance of going home, and changes the subject to be more lighthearted. "I remember that time when Noire of this world was getting all friendly with CC2, Lady Neptune was getting all jealous and pouty, and then Miss Noire said 'Stop being stupid you're my... most precious best friend.' I really dig your chemistry with miss Noire too!"
"Well, glad you like it pal, because it's official... well, at least in this Dimension." She's somehow glad that one of her alternate selves coupled with Noire, but fate might have another plan for her since another Dimension means another possibility. At least she thinks it like that. "Alright, maybe we need to keep the text short so we'll skip to the dungeon!"
A 4th wall break skip segment later.
"Wow, we really skipped the whole journey." Falcom is confused but nonchalantly accepts it.
"Heh, that's the Protagonist Power for ya!" They arrive at the front of the mine and notice a huge claw mark near the entrance, with several giant footprints leading inside. The carts are forcefully pushed aside, some of them are flipped upside down. "Yep, our target is here." Neptune summons her Katana and changes her stances. "Ready your weapon." She is thinking if she needs to use her HDD Form here, but if the situation gets dire then she might even use her NEXT Form.
"On your lead Milady." Falcom unsheathes her broadsword and points it forward. They move forward, back to back, following the trail of their target. As they go deeper their surrounding becoming darker because the lack of light. Some mine lights are still functioning, but most of them are either broken or flickering.
"Falcom if you see a tor-" Neptune's just about to tell Falcom to light up the torch across the dungeon but the Red Adventurer has already casted her fire magic.
"Scattering Star!" She shouts her special skill, and she makes several tiny fireballs with her hand and quickly swings it to throw the fireballs to hit the torches, thus litting up the central part of the mine. She does it with incredible precision. One of the fireballs hits a larger torch or rather a bonfire on the ground with a sword sticked on the ground.
'BONFIRE LIT'
"Yep, a boss fight is coming alright..." Neptune knows well what this means. Suddenly a chill runs down her spine, a danger close. "LOOK OUT!" She sees a silhouette of a giant creature approaching from above and it jumps straight at them.
Noire Side.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" A girly scream can be heard near where IF and Noire are fighting. They are being surrounded by Nextgen mech robots from previous accident that happened several times ago.
"IF! You said Planeptune was cleared of this!" Noire;s slashing her Rapier blade towards incoming bots, destroying them. "These machines just keep coming!"
"Well I don't know that crater was a dumping ground of these mechs!" A pause as she swings her Qatar. "CHAOS EDGE!"
Noire sees the the camping citizens scared out of their lives behind her. She tries to keep the wave after wave of bots away from the citizen. "Rest assured Citizens! We will protect you! Please go as far away from here as possible!" She has duty to protect the citizens and she won't forget about it.
"Astrid! Can you do something?" The guild agent calls Noire by her fake name. "We're getting outnumbered here!" The bots are coming from a cave hidden among the hills near there. It looks like someone used that cave to disassemble the parts of the mechs. A group of half-dead mechs with dangling cables have chased them the minute they entered the cave.
The Black haired girl is thinking a way out, but she's not Neptune who is apparently good with coordinating attacks. She has other thing in mind, and that's to attack them with overwhelming power! "Time to go all out - PROCESSOR UNIT ACCESS!" She shouts, but nothing happens.
'What? I can't transform? Why is my... oh no...' She just remembered that she no longer has her CPU Power.
"Is she a CPU? That means we're safe right!?" Someone asks out loud in the group.
"Huh? Nothing happened?" IF asks in surprise, then she suddenly gets attacked by a weird sphere-shaped drone. "ARGH! DAMMIT!" She can't take it anymore, but she has already planned something in case things go wrong. She throws one of her phones to Noire and the CPU grabs it. Then, in a flash, IF lights up her Qatar with magic, engulfing it with burning fire. "Astrid! Get the civilians to safety ASAP, or the mechs will corner us in no time!" She says as she slashes multiple bots in one strike. "I'll hold them off! Have to make sure they couldn't follow you!"
Noire clenches her fist in frustration. She doesn't like the idea, but she has spent too much time on her desk that she only depends on her raw power too much when it comes down to it. "Everyone! Follow me!" She shouts to the civilians, as she sees IF fighting the horde fiercely. She might be as skilled as her world IF, but she knows that IF will get overrun soon. "DON'T YOU DARE DIE, IF!" She and the group of campers start running towards the dense forest. However, several bots are already on the way, but they're not real troubles that Noire can't handle herself. "Lace Ribbons!" She quickly destroys the following bots in her way.
"Are we safe?"
"Hey, what about her? Is she going to be ok?"
The group starts panicking as they head towards the SkyTram. Noire holds IF phone tight and assures herself that everything will be alright.
"You will be safe when you reach the Tram, and I'll escort you. I'll come back for her later, just focus on getting out of here okay?" She's trying to give the civilians a sense of safety.
But the more she thinks about it, the more she feels worried about Neptune. If the Dragon is not where she was, then...
Neptune side.
"Hope it'll reach her."
Neptune is hiding in one of the corners in the mine. She is carrying and hiding the unconscious Falcom who has tanked a hit from the dragon earlier.
She just called IF with Falcom's phone, but she can't reach her, and instead sent her a voicemail while hiding from the giant.
Since she hid Falcom well enough, she can lure the dragon somewhere else and fight without reservation. No need to hold herself back.
(*GROOOWLLL*)
A roar can be heard closing in seconds by seconds. She thinks she has run far enough, but it looks like the predator is faster than she thought. Neptune can't let it get anywhere close here.
She crouches out from her hiding spot and walks slowly towards the unsuspecting dragon while gripping her katana. Her eyes lit up, blue colored looking brighter than usual and finally her pupils become the shape of a power symbol while her weapon transforms into an energy blade.
"This will be over in an instant..."
Noire side.
Noire finds some resistance along the way back but she quickly dispatches it since they are smaller in number.
After non-stop running, the group finally arrives at the Skytram station. When suddenly...
(*ROOOOAAAAARRRRR*)
(*SROOOM*)
A loud roar can be heard on the west, followed by an even louder crumbling sound.
'Isn't that coming from Neppy's hunting spot? Oh no...' Noire is definitely worried now. She wants to go there but she has to wait for the group to get onto the tram safely.
"Someone is in danger there..." Says one of the person from the camping group.
"Thank you Kind lady, we are in your debt." Another is thanking Noire after being rescued and escorted to safety.
"I will stay here to pick up what's left behind. Don't worry about us, just worry about your friends."
"You're welcome.. but where should I go?" 'IF is alone and wounded, but Neppy...what if... what if she can't move a muscle again?' She fears that if her best friend was unable to move her body... 'What if this was too early for her?' She's hesitated, but she chooses to run towards IF's last location, since she's alone fighting waves of bots. But after running for a while she gets a call. 'Incoming call - my 8th Phone' She quickly answers it. "IF! IF! Are you okay?"
"Hgh, don't worry, I am fine." It sounds like she's burning something on her end. "HELLISH DEMONIC INFERNOOO!" She suddenly screams her skill right into her phone straight to Noire's ear, making Black haired Goddess jump a bit.
(*BOOOOMMM*)
A loud explosion can be heard from the phone. IF sounds like she's blowing up a cave. "Hahah... sorry about that, don't worry about me, I'm almost finished. Go save that girlfriend of yours." She sounds tired but not heavily wounded.
"WH- SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" The Tsundere's face starts showing a shade of pink.
"See? I can still crack jokes on you. Go get Nep, I can hear loud battle and crumbling sounds even from here." She reassures Noire. "I'll catch up with you later. Let's meet up on that Cliff okay?" She still has leftover mechs that need to be destroyed.
Noire closes the call, then notices a notification of a voice note from Falcom's number.
"Iffy, uhh is this reco- oh it is. I am hiding from that Dragon, funny that we're supposed to find it and not the other way around. Sorry but... Falcom is knocked out, but I was able to drag her to this hiding place, aw shucks that Dragon is coming closer!"
The Lastation CPU's eyes widen and her heart is beating faster that it starts to hurt. She closes the phone and instantly begins to run the opposite direction, but she takes a shortcut towards the denser part of the forest. It's the fastest way to get there, and it's near the cliffside that IF pointed out.
She runs as fast as she's able to...
There's no sound in the distance anymore. It's quiet, and that makes her worries get worse.
"Please be ok Neppy... I can't lo-" Suddenly her body collides with something...
(*thud*)
"Whoaaahh!" A smaller framed girl collides into the black haired girl and falls. She's unable to see Noire running in this dense woods. "Ouchies..." She looks up and finds out who she just ran into.
"Augh.. " Noire on the other hand is fazed, but shakes her head to clear her head quickly, and finds a small girl with a purple hair wearing Planeptune headband. She instantly recognizes who she is.
"NEPPY! Oh gosh, are you hurt?"
"Noire! Are you okay?"
They both say simultaneously, they are both really worried about each other.
"Aw... don't worry about lil me, I can handle it just fine!" She gives Noire a waving hand gesture. Though she's glad that Noire is really worried about her safety. "I just heard screams and loud explosions so - wait... where's Iffy?" She just notices that IF is not here.
"She said she got the issue taken care of, she will join us soon. And where's Falcom?" She lets out a sigh of relief after seeing her closest friend being safe and sound, she's able to catch her breath.
"Ahh, that..."
Several moments ago.
Neptune un-summoned her weapon after defeating the ancient dragon. She killed it without difficulty, but it turned out someone was watching her.
"Milady... Neptune... did my eyes just trick me?" It was Falcom, she saw Neptune defeating the Monster. she can't believe what she just saw. "...I just blacked out a moment and I was about to stop you from rushing but then..."
"Ummm... Falcom, take a deep breath..."
"Then a flash appeared in front of me, and in seconds that Dragon fell to the ground, it's like..." Falcom was at loss of words. "... you were attacking incredibly fast that my eyes couldn't keep up..."
Present
"Then she asked me to come here as fast as I could while she gathered the material."
"Ahh, okay, that's great..." Now Noire is really relieved. She just needs to rest and wait.
She and Neptune walk to the cliffside, since the said cliffside is facing directly to Planeptune, and the view is astounding. On the other side they can see other Landmasses moving closer.
Both of them are stunned while watching the view, and since this small island is floating above the main island, they can even see clouds passing by.
"Now I know why IF chose this place, this is a perfect place to rest and have a pudding." Sadly she didn't bring any.
"Me too, this view... is something else." She sits on one of the rocks there, she feels her exhaustion surfacing. "Neppy, you should sit down too."
"Nah, I am good."
The wind breezes, making Noire's straight hair waving to the wind's direction. They have been there for a while, but between them there's only a sound of the wind. Not even a word comes out of their mouth. Until...
"Hey Noire... I know this is sudden but..." A pause as Neptune turns her face towards Noire's direction. "Sorry for last night."
"It's alright...umm, do you mind telling me why you left?" The megane Goddess has tried to catch up with the purple CPU after she left last night, but she stopped halfway since it might be a bad idea. "It's fine if you don't want to..."
"Ummm, it's embarrassing. So maybe later?" She didn't even know why she said that. "Soo... how's things going with K-Sha?" The Planeptune girl lets her heart do the talking.
'K-Sha? Why does she mention her?' "Her? Oh, things are doing just fine. She visits me regularly, she said she wanted to help as much as she can, and she did." The Black haired CPU replies. "Since Uni's work is reduced, Uni can be around Nepgear more."
Neptune feels she should be happy hearing that, but instead she feels something else. "Ohh that's good to hear, wish you two have long last relationship." She forces out a smile, but she feels a massive pressure on her chest.
"Thank... you? Neppy what's wrong?" She knows that is a forced smile. Her best friend's smile usually radiates warm feeling. "I'm sorry that I uh..." Noire might have an idea of what might be the issue with why Neptune left her last night, but it's embarrassing to say it out loud.
"Uhh sorry for? And you're blushing Noire."
"SORRY FOR NOT AS HUGGABLE AS YOUR PLUTIA !" She cried out loud, she's glad she manages to let that out.
"Say what now?" The Purple loli is really confused.
'Just tell her Black Heart! Swallow your pride!'
"That's your reason right? Sleeping with me is not as comfortable as with... that friend of yours." She mentioned Plutia. She admits that she's jealous somehow, she can't stand watching both of them lazing around in their room.
"...Hahaha!" Neptune laughs out loud. but then she takes a look at her friend's serious expression, she stops instantly. She then tells the truth. "Sorry sorry, but no, that's not it..." She exhales. "I don't want to sleep with someone else's girlfriend, since you belong to K-Sha, it's not right ya know?"
'She thinks I'm K-Sha's Girlfriend? Why? I guess the last time we met...Of course!'
"No! She is not my girlfriend! We're just... a close friend... something like that!" A pause. "The last time we met... yeah, it made sense if you thought it that way." She recalls that time when K-Sha was about to kiss Noire. "But no! It's... she pushed me! It was her idea! I don't even know she was there! Anyway, we are just close friends." She wants to tell the fact that K-Sha confessed to Noire before but it might not be the brightest idea.
Neptune's eyes widen, she was under the impression of Noire being K-Sha's girlfriend, and let her getting all comfort-y out of pity.
She turns her head back towards the city and asks: "Wait, it was all... misunderstanding?"
"Always has been..." Says the Black-haired girl behind her.
The taller girl walks to her small friend and suddenly hugs her from behind.
"Noire? Are you - !? I thought you were going to shoot me with a pistol..."
"Geez, how stupid can you be?" She's super embarrassed as her face is as red as boiled octopus. "This is not a meme... I would never hurt you like that... not anymore."
Because of that, both of them remember a moment from a long, long time ago.
Flashback
"So you really came, as expected of the 'I only do anything' leader..." Purple heart mocks Black Heart.
"How do you know it's me?"
"You could've win by stabbing me in the back, but you didn't... your pride won't allow it." She knew Black Heart wanted to face her directly.
"Damn you! I need to prove that I am stronger than you! How else can I prove it if I don't face you head on?!"
"...if you still hold your pride high like that, you can't win... might as well just hug me from behind right?" She said in half joking tone.
"NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!" She sounded agitated but her cheeks blushed a little.
Present
Neptune wants to see how red is Noire face right now, but she decides not to move.
"I really thought you belong to her, I... wanted to say sorry that I can't hold my habits while being around you." She really can't hold herself back these past few days. "I just thought that you just let me getting all clingy out of pity..."
"Don't be. Pretty sure everyone who saw it will think the same." She tightens her grips. "And gosh, you're still an idiot... I'm worried about you. I mean, seeing you like that..." She says with a sad tone. "It hurts me too... I'm worried that you suddenly can't move again there... who knows -" She becomes more sad.
The Planeptune CPU can't control her beating heart, it's rare to hear Noire openly admitting her true feeling, let alone being hugged by her. "Hey hey, now now... I am fine you see? You have taken care of me after all... I'll try to be more careful to not worry you too much."
"You better be Neppy! My heart couldn't - gah! You are making me say embarrassing things! Neppy you're such a dumbass!" The Megane Goddess can't handle her feeling anymore, it's going out of control!
Neptune herself couldn't handle this. "We've been like this for a while..." They then really hug each other for quite some times. "I can hear your heart beating you know?" Neptune is equally embarrassed, though she can't help but to joke about that.
"I can hear yours too, idiot.." The hug tightens to prove a point. "See? If I do really belong to someone else, I wouldn't hug you like this." She's having a hard time letting her hug go. But her heart is going to explode if she keeps this up.
"You're kinda sweaty Noire..." If Noire's defense is denying something, then Neptune decides to joke in the worst time possible.
"Huh?" The Megane girl lets her friend go, and realizes that she is still sweating bullets.
'Noire has become so bold... what is this feeling in my chest? Why do I really want to be in her arms more? I am so glad that she doesn't belong to that girl, but why?' She smiles as she's glad to know she was wrong the whole time, and somehow wants to get closer to her friend.
'Neppy you idiot, I want to hug you longer - wha... what am I thinking?! I just wanted to prove my point, it's not it's not... like that! But somehow... I really want another chance to do it again.'
They both couldn't even face each other, not after what happened.
Suddenly, two person start approaching them. "Ah, there you are..." It's IF and Falcom, but something's off.
"Hey... Lady Neptune... Miss Noire..." Falcom looks like she's trying to hide something. Her expression is not fooling anyone.
"Why do I get the feeling that you two didn't just arrive by now?" Noire, who's still blushing, comments.
"Yeah... you two are supposed to come from the opposite directions, not together like this..." Neptune adds.
"Ahh... should we tell them, Fal?" IF is busted, she did eavesdropping on them.
"Hahahehe..." Instead of answering properly, the Red Adventurer just lets out a nervous laugh.
"No, no, no... so you saw it all!? WHAHAAA-!" Noire begins to panic.
"Hahaha... (*sigh*)" And now both IF and Falcom let out their nervous laughs followed by a massive sigh. They don't want to interrupt their sentimental moment, so they waited, but they got caught up in their sensitive bonding moment.
Later that night...
"Thank you for teaching me how to cook, hehe~" Nepgear thanks both Neptune and Noire after the cooking practice session.
"You should've just thanked Noire, I didn't really do anything." Neptune feels that she didn't do much of a help.
"Oh don't be like that. You've been a big help Nepp-tune..." Noire almost slips the nickname.
"Oh and you two look adorable together! Oops, it is almost bedtime." She looks at the clock as it hits 9 PM. "You two should get some rest, there's something that we need to discuss tomorrow, so please get some rest."
"Gearsy, words of advice... when you want to teach Uni to stir the dough, you hold her hands okay? And if she is about to cut something, just say 'I don't want you to get hurt, let's do it together!' And BAM! She will melt!" The purple CPU offers an advice to Nepgear on how to get closer to Uni.
"Oh goodness! I don't think I can be that bold! But thank you for the advice, I'll try my best then! Please enjoy your night!"
Nepgear walks away and heads to Uni who is still in the kitchen, she wants a moment just for the two of them.
As for Neptune and Noire, they just stand there in the guest rooms hallway. They exchange glances several times but what happened on that cliffside is still fresh on their minds, making them avoid each others' eyes though not want to be apart from each other.
That is until Noire speaks up first. "We should get some sleep."
"Ye-yeah, see ya tomorrow then."
They both walk back to their room while glancing several times at each other. It's become harder to part, but they both smile at each other before going in their room.
Moments after.
"Hmmmgh... Neppy... that dummy..." It's almost an hour passed but she can't get herself to sleep. "I can't believe it... I don't even know why am I so hard to be honest with her to begin with..." She breathes heavily. "She usually sees right through my... Tsun-ness... but recently she sounds like she didn't... but why I wonder."
On the other room, Neptune isn't doing any better. She can't stop thinking about that hug, and how it felt rather familiar. "...her warmth, it reached my chest, it's somehow similar back when I was apart from Nowa." She thinks hard, but can't find the answer. "Maybe she has one of those dolls that Plutie made? Pfft, nah ~ that sounds silly." She quickly discards the idea. and tries her best to sleep.
"I wonder if she's going to feel those pain... ah right, I was the one that inflicted that to her... I still need to make it up somehow." Noire's still unable to sleep. "I wonder if I can use that excuse to... awawa..." She's thinking to use an excuse about 'watching over Neptune, incase the pain comes' so she can sleep together with her. She hides her face to hold back the embarrassing things she was thinking. "I need to sleep already, no need to overthink this..."
"Good Night, Neppy"
"Good Night, Noire"
They both say goodnight to each other, even though they couldn't hear each other. And with that, they drift into their own dreams...
to be frank, this is the mid point-story, the new chapter is almost done.