One last idea before the year ends!

This is a mixing of Victory and Megadimension. More so with the characters, though, there will quite a few shifts happening too. Also, Kurome, if the title is telling of anything.

Definitely gonna do more editing after posting this since I am rushing to have this out before midnight. But please tell me what you all think? I'm trying to motivate myself to write more and I'd really appreciate any comments and critisicm you have for me with what's going on in my life.

Any comment helps push me to get more out for you all. Oh! And any ideas you have is nice too, someone already suggested a marriage one.

Talking with others is always a fun experience.

Happy holidays and have a happy new year!

Posted: 12/31/19

Edited: 7/4/20

Failure after failure could drive anyone mad.

It left a bitter taste on her tongue, a heavy weight on her shoulders and made the echoing emptiness of their missing piece all the more apparent. She hated it.

Noire hated that no matter what she did and what route she tried to exploit it ended in nothing but a waste of effort and time. There were people counting on her. The nation of Planeptune, her friends, Uni, Blanc and Vert… how could she not create a solution?

The frustration had engulfed her, fueling her hopeless body forward. How many days were spent under her Basilicom toiling away with ideas and concepts to get the idiot they all loved back?

She couldn't even remember. Couldn't barely even think straight or breathe without the lavender-haired fool's constant, aggravating presence lingering behind her mind. Distance didn't make her heart fonder, it drove her insane.

A bond that tied the reigning immortals of Gamindustri together was tearing her apart.

(Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. JustMakeitallstop.)

Neptune was supposed to be here by now. Nepgear was supposed to be with Uni. And she couldn't even make her own little sister happy?

Her temper raged without contest now that the weight, the blanket of calm and contentedness fading from her senses.

Thank the Goddess that Blanc and Vert came for her.

Even if they had to witness one of her lesser moments, they still came for her. Vert didn't hesitate with a hug upon arriving at the trashed laboratory. A pathetic sight, really. The great Black Heart, the ruler of Lastation, half-stretched across her table, papers and stray machinery scattered along the floor and disheveled.

Blanc said nothing of her state, of the chaos that ran amuck without their spirited ball of violet sunshine. Her hair was tussled, the delicate brown bob without its puffy white cap and livid blue eyes dulled with exhaustion.

They all needed the embrace that followed. A sliver of warmth rarely shared between them, a moment of time that was both infinite and ephemeral; it was still lacking their one.

She wasn't one for physical contact, actually, but this was a salve Noire desperately needed after what had to be a dozen or more sleepless nights and the hole that ate at her heart the further time ticked away. There were no words needed. Not when the light tremble of Vert's body and the thinness of Blanc's frame was a good enough statement.

The four goddesses were four for a reason, one that held them all together and kept the Console continent from drowning in a foolish war.

Each one of them were bound together, a string of fate cradled them all.

That was their harmony. Their peace of mind and rambunctious friendship given form.

But it wasn't the same when one of them were gone, missing from the very dimension they were birthed in. Three was indeed a special number, but that didn't make Neptune, Purple Heart, any less needed.

What was a stalwart flame, a twisting gale and unbreaking bedrock to do without their endless sea? Noire had burned herself out, Vert defined the word restless and Blanc was crumbling.

In a mess of limbs, the trio — a broken trio, not their beloved quartet — managed to make it to a habitable corner of the room.

And really, an untouched Planeptune standard bed was heaven after what had to be weeks upon weeks of sleeping on tables and chairs. Even if Noire had been slated as a makeshift teddy bear by a very insistent blonde idiot.

"..I've failed to make any progress so far," she confessed.

"As have I and Blanc. There's no need to blame yourself for this, Noire, not when you're juggling Planeptune and Lastation's workload." Vert hummed from her right, the arm of that side practically engulfed in what had to be heated pillows.

A grunt sounded from her left. "Those Citizen group fuckers haven't made shit easier. Not even the crazy bitch leading them has calmed her tits."

"I would truly hate to have to execute a mortal these days, but you are honestly right, dear Blanc. To become this big of a thorn in our side is worrying; that Rei Ryghts isn't an ordinary woman, if necessary we will have to extend our hand once more."

Crimson eyes peered into the high ceiling, a part of herself toying with the idea of actually killing someone. These days weren't like back then. No continent versus continent warfare and reveling in what was the brutality of survival wasn't something everyone wanted.

Black Heart knew her limits there.

(Noire cursed, swinging the mechanical cube into the wall and watching the parts spatter against cold iron. Magic boiled underneath her skin as she screamed and howled into a downpour of rageragerage.)

She took a supporting and management role for that purpose.

But… Rei Ryghts was feeding an uprising that distracted the CPUs from their real goal — she was an annoyance, a trifle, a squirming maggot that would eventually need a heel… to grant mercy on her.. well, given how steadily her hatred had grown, Noire didn't see a point in playing nice.

Was it cold of her to dismiss someone else's life? The thought rang empty in her mind, there was no discord, no argument of morals or of public standing. She closed her eyes and sighed. No. It didn't matter, not when they were in the way.

"Then we make plans to get rid of her." Funny, how effortless it was to decide on whether or not to commit murder.

The three of them were of the divine in the end. They weren't human, regardless of how much they could act as each. This was a logical answer too, it had positives and minimal negatives. Unless that group was a hydra in disguise, which was not a thought that would be entertained.

So were they able to cut off its head, then most of their issues would be dealt with along with any untoward feelings towards the rebellious populace. Though, Noire certainly wasn't going to hide her disdain of those who decided to side with their newest foe. What was the point in hiding her opinion and playing complacent now that this had happened?

She couldn't bother with it now that Neptune was gone.

Goddess, had she become so apathetic without her functional half by her side?

A finger tentatively poked her cheek, a brief second of contact was all it took for goosebumps to form as she jolted away from the limb. Why the hell was Blanc so cold?

"You were startin' to get that creepy look in your eye again." The smaller of the trio said, the listless blue gaze refusing to part from her own.

To look away would be to run. "I'm angry." That was a proper start, no? "Furious and yet, I can't react to it the right way; I can't even find a way to bring Neptune back–"

Vert tightened her grip on her arm, eagerly breaking the sentence before its full conception. "–And we don't expect you to run yourself into the ground in order to find her, Noire, it has been weeks of work and no progress. You can't do this to yourself."

"Just because you've hit a dead end doesn't mean were fucking done. That blue bitch doesn't have shit on us."

She didn't. From what Noire had gathered, that woman was filled with power, but she had yet to show any finesse on them nor any abilities that were of note. Well, besides the ability to transport someone to an alternate dimension given Neptune's own accounts

Nevertheless, Rei Ryghts would be a pain in her ass either way. With her sort of following, there could be casualties among the people if this were done wrong.

Black didn't believe it would, but… things always had a tendency of going to hell when it came to incidents.

"Do you think the other dimension will end up joining in? If I end up making the way that is." Her confidence had been shot with her failures, you see. Which hurt a lot seeing as Noire was the one who invented things the most in the four.

Blanc rolled her eyes, "We know you, Fluffy. You're a stubborn son of a bitch and we love ya for it. Losing isn't in our dictionary either, plus you have us to pick up the slack now. You ain't alone and we aren't gonna leave you here with you losin' your shit because of Neptune's absence. We're hit hard by this too."

Just not as viciously as you, neither of them dared to say — because her bond was primarily bound to the idiot herself and the backlash was an utter bitch to deal with.

The void in her chest constricted with that as she whispers out, "I just want Neptune back."

And that alone was enough to silence the pair.

Productivity was what kept her sane, a slavish way to drown out the sensations of incompleteness. "What else can I do? I'm failing and that idiot of ours is still far from our sight." If Noire didn't have the support system she had, chances were she'd have snapped much sooner. "The emptiness of it all is driving me insane, I just can't go on without that idiot."

The string that kept her afloat was threatening to drown her and to sink her underneath the treacherous waves was too tempting for her current sense of self.

Black was nothing without Purple and she hated that fact all the more now. The required codependency was biting her in the ass even harder and there was no way she was getting out of this unshaken, which was great.

(Why wasn't Neptune here yet? Why did she keep. on. failing?! She couldn't take it, she couldn't take Uni's tears and her own regrets.)

"Do you regret having the string that binds us then?" Vert asked, her voice an unsteady murmur.

And that made her want to swallow her tongue.

No. Of course, she didn't regret it. The constant presence of Purple Heart, of Neptune was what kept her balanced on her worst days. Days where her own rival chose to lighten her burden and shared the feeling of strain that Noire felt damn near daily.

Now the idiot was gone and her burden — the weight of living and that infernal inheritance Lastation's CPU was the sole possessor of — threatened to swallow her whole without her crutch around.

She had become soft, needy and this was the consequence of that. And now Blanc and Vert were even here to help her.

Noire felt useless. Like a child unable to do the simplest tasks. That was not how a goddess was supposed to be, how a deity that guarded and protected the realm was supposed to be. This wasn't supposed to be this kind of partner for Neptune. Goddess, Neptune has been gone for over a month now.

She should've been done with the roadblock a month ago.

Instead, everything Black had built for that expressed purpose did jackshit in return and the piling amount of failures is causing what was her pride and joy in herself to burn.

Making things was what she was good at. Lastation was a producer and the highest Share holder not just because of how talented and determined the workforce was. That was the framework of her nation, it's nearly everything she built. Sure, she'd inherited the place and it's people, but the fact that it stood so highly among the many nations of Gamindustri held weight to it.

Being unable to do this task… what did it mean for her? Had she reached her limit? Was this how her decline started?

Blanc nudged her side, again cool skin startled her out of the downward spiral that was her thoughts. "Call it a day and sleep, Red. Your head will finally be able to shut its trap then and we'll even wake you if ya have a night terror."

Haaah, she had zoned out then. Vert said nothing in response to the brunette's words, which was in itself odd. Green preferred having her opinion known for better or for worse

And a glance to her right told her why.

It was a cute sight, strands of gold caressed the lavender shades of the bed and a pair of fair arms were wrapped around her own as if Noire were her teddy bear. There were no lines of stress that marred Leanbox's patron's face, no shadows haunting her and no revived immortal to ruin her night sleep. Nothing but happy dreams.

Some things never changed, it seemed. And maybe that was all she needed to move forward from this hopelessness. Crumbling under the pressure now would hurt her friends too, wouldn't it? That was no good.

"Go to sleep, we'll be here in the mornin'." Blanc mumbled into her arm, helping tug herself from her chaotic thoughts and onto the people who were with her. "We'll.. get the idiot, no time flat. I miss 'er too." The brunette whispered, livid blue eyes finally shutting.

The soft noises around her numbed the worst of herself. Vert and Blanc were curled around her and so warm. That's why it wasn't a surprise that Noire followed them to dreamland soon after.

(Why isn't it working? Why wasn't the machine working?!)

White and Green remained mostly with her in Lastation, pitching in when they could and doing her the favor of helping with two nations. She actually slept a full eight hours with them around. It helped a great deal that they were substituting for Purple.

Black was still definitely off her kilter, though. She wasn't going to lie to herself there.

So anything that kept her from jumping on the edge was a wanted respite. It had nothing to do with pride — that had been dashed aaide ever since the pair began helping her — but rather exhaustion.

Which hurt a lot more than it should have in her opinion. Funny how quickly to fall apart she was. She couldn't even stand without feeling the tempting pull of lying down again; Noire hated it more now that she lacked her pillar.

Negative feelings were a constant without Neptune poking her head and rendering whatever whispers silent. And unsurprisingly without the pudding maniac, she found herself agreeing with what they said. Neptune was her sunshine and with her gone.. it was a lot easier to fall back onto her bad habits.

Not so much with White and Green around, but still.

Fighting voices was pretty damn impossible. Working, however, shoved them aside and if that was the best she could do for herself, so be it then. There were more important things at hand.

(She had to get them back. She had to. Even with them here and supporting her, even with her Universe being strong and brave and crying and breaking and sobbing, Noire had to do it. Time was running out, her heart couldn't take it.)

The dimensional device and bringing Neptune and Nepgear back home was her task. She had to make some progress with the damnable thing soon. White and Green took it upon themselves to help her, so there was a chance she could finally do it with them there.

As cheesy as that sounded, it acted as a pretty good moral boost for her. Them refusing to let her fall apart only helped encourage her.

Who knew that all she needed some company for once? Instead of the chaotic mesh of torn papers, physics books and wrecked machinery coating the floor into a literal hazard, the lab actually looked manageable for her. Black was certain that White had a hand there; Green had a tendency to be an utter slob when it came to her gaming marathons, you see.

With a clean workplace, she threw herself back to work, gradually putting things back in place.

Noire still failed to make the damn thing, yeah. But she wasn't self-destructing every single time an attempt ended in a failure.

Vert instead smacked some sense into her, gave her a hug or two and promptly shooed Noire out of her own lab to spend the rest of the day in the light of a colder sun.

Uni appreciated her approach a lot more than she did, it made things a lot easier for the candidate. Not having to worry about her sister made Uni a lot happier, regardless of Nepgear being lost to another dimension.

She really needed a better coping method if her own little sister got by without her partner. Then again, Uni hadn't been created with Nepgear and spent several millennia together…

Ughh, just comparing it had her feeling bad. Goddess above, it was hard being positive.

.

.

.

"This is impossible." Noire groaned, head in her hand. "I can pinpoint other dimensions but I can't seem to do it to that ONE." She slammed her free hand on the table, the other jumping at the sudden bang. "There has to be some sort of interference getting in the way of being able to get to her!"

Vert smoothed out the ruffles of her dress, taking a deep breath for what had to be a long conversation. "You believe something or something is rendering your device useless? Rei Ryghts, then?" It was unsurprisingly easy to blame her.

"Maybe? I try not to see her at all if possible, so I don't know if it's her energy signature that's passively doing it or if it's another entity. Either way, I can't get to Neptune with that thing in the way and that is a whole other level of frustration."

"See, this is why I suggested murder."

(She wanted her dead. She wanted the one who took Neptune deadgoneburied.)

A sigh escaped Noire as she shook her head. "I would have, but that only makes her into a martyr for her cause, Blanc."

Really, the concept was tempting for her. Ryghts wasn't a worm after all, she couldn't survive after her head was cut, right? Hopefully. Noire didn't want to be proven wrong there out of everything else.

Martyrs only made things difficult in the grand scheme of things; the most she knew of were humans, there were less than a handful that had been goddesses. A mildly horrifying discovery after taking a dive into the history archives, some of which were.. eerily lacking in details and possessing an off-putting amount of gaps between certain years.

Granted, she did get off topic and end up looking up past CPUs just in case anyone else decided to make an impromptu return. But doing so was an informative process!

With all four of the nations' archives, getting a bigger picture was easy. It was the events that took place and the missing years that caught her eye.

A huge one took place in Planeptune, spanning for about a century or two.

Not even Histoire knew what happened.

That rang alarm bells, but seeing as it didn't really apply to their current situation… Noire had to put it aside. Unfortunately.

"Creating her a martyr would only increase our chances of having a repeat incident. And as much as I adore our populace raising their arms, I do not desire a returned performance. This is a drag at our time," Vert frowned.

Blanc let out a yawn, leaning back in her chair. "You're preachin' to the choir here. All of us wanted this over and done with a month ago."

She flinched, "Sorry about that." It was her fault that they didn't have Neptune here with them.

(None of the machines worked. Nothing she did fixed anything!)

Two sets of blue eyes snapped to Black's side of the table, quick to apologize for bringing up that topic. Even the impervious brunette folded to the guilt, "Shit, shit. I wasn't blamin' you for that, just Ryghts. She's the whole cause of this going down to begin with, not you."

"Yes, I don't wish to burden you with the blame, all of this remains firmly on our adversary's shoulders; she is the one interfering with our lives along with preventing Purple Heart's belated return."

Uni pat her on the arm, "You should listen to them, sister."

She gave the candidate a smile, knowing that her little sister would try to pull Noire out of her self-loathing. Even with the absence of Planeptune's pair, the banter between Blanc and Vert with the occasional additions from Uni, Rom and Ram made her feel a tad bit better. Light hearted talks were Neptune's specialty, however…

"Blanc? Will we be joining you then?" The quieter of the twins asked after a couple minutes.

The goddess in question stared at the twins, a nameless emotion crossing her face as she glanced at Vert and herself. "Do you think I should have 'em tag along?"

Vert looked at the hopeful faces of the three candidates — yes, even Uni had added her two cents, as rebellious as it was — and chuckled. "They would only follow us should we leave them behind. You'll have our backs, yes?"

""Yes!""

"Thank you, Vert." Uni said with a slight bow as the twins cheered around her.

Livid blue burned a hole in her portion of the table, "Doesn't mean I wanna get them into our sorta danger, though.."

Noire smiled sadly, patting the brunette on the back. "I know what you mean," Her eyes firmly on red-faced Uni being tugged back and forth by the twins.

(I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Im sorry. Imsorry. Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry.)

BOOM!

Noire immediately ducked and covered herself as soon as the machine began to malfunction. She let out a curse as an all too well known smoke filled the room, stumbling over to the edge of the room to active the vents.

"Another failure. Damn it, I thought I made some progress this time." She growled, smashing her hand against a wall; a wave of self-hatred already rising within her.

An unfamiliar voice rang out in the room causing Noire to freeze in place as she noted the figure standing amidst the smoke. "I wouldn't call this a failure on your part, perhaps you simply have high standards." Faint footsteps moved closer to her position. "This is your… what, seventieth attempt?"

"Seventy-seventh," she corrected, form tense as she finally caught sight of the person she had unintentionally brought forth. "And you're not the one I was after. Hence the word: failure. How do you even know how many times I've tried?"

Seventy-seven tries, seventy-seven attempts that only resulted in destruction.

It was a wonder she wasn't insane yet.

The blue-haired girl raised her hands in surrender, "You've been hitting the dimension I reside in rather than the one you want to get to. It's tough not noticing the portals and explosions."

It took everything in Noire not to put her head in her hands and scream. So she had succeeded in getting a dimension, just not the dimension that contained Neptune.

She punched the wall again, uncaring of the crunch that resounds and does it again.

Noire would have repeated the process a good fifty more times, but then a hand intercepted her fist. The sensation was an unusual one. As if she were being held by something here and yet not, a physical contradiction that had similarities to…

"You're going to hurt yourself worse by doing that." The girl said, an emotion she couldn't name bleeding into her dark gaze.

"This is nothing to what I've been feeling." Black grunted, now forced to look at the one she had summoned from another realm. Her throat dried the longer she observed her.

They looked like Neptune.

At least, initially when focused on her hair style; it even ended with a pair of twin tails, though that only vaguely resembled Purple Heart. Her eyes were pretty to look at. A peculiar, but no less beautiful, shade of dark blue transitioning into orange. Then there was her outfit, a black uniform of some sort given a punk twist.

The style was nothing like Neptune, but it was nice on the eyes. It gave the unknown in front of her an almost dangerous aura.

A feeling she couldn't actually reciprocate. Which sounded foolish when thinking about, but Noire just couldn't help it now. Not when some form of success showed herself to her. She was exhausted and finally something happened for her.

They spent a moment thinking. Both sides took in what had occurred and made plans to further their own agenda. This could be beneficial for both of them.

(Well, in actuality, one of them. But the other didn't need to think that yet, yes?)

The girl inwardly smiled at the tables turning her favor for once. "Tell me," Black looks up. "Who is it you're looking for?"

She swallowed, dimly noting they hadn't even introduced themselves to each other and yet the immortal was actually debating to tell her. "I'm trying to find my partner. Neptune, err, Purple Heart."

There was a pause in the conversation again.

Another nameless look gleamed in her guest's dual-colored eyes, one that easily sent shivers down her spine

The bond that tied Neptune and herself together — the one which had taken to what felt like clawing at her insides — crumpled from the girl's sheer aura. And the ability to breathe without the ache was a blessing.

"You're fraying at the ends. Your thread," the grip on Noire's hand tightened, "Is bordering on snapping, little goddess." She flinched at the nickname, too close to the one Purple had given her all those years ago. "The longer you go about finding her and fail, the less time you have left. Are you aware of what will become of you when the snapping of that string finally happens?"

Noire knew. She was aware of the consequences to their separation and has been since Neptune vanished.

Blanc and Vert couldn't comprehend it, not when she's the one who held the idiot most dear. Not when Black bore the burden the others never dared to touch.

(It's not as if they could understand the feeling. The loneliness that dissolved the heart and mind, left only anger and pain; a volcano of negativity ready to erupt, covering their world in an infinite smokescreen of smog and lifeless darkness.)

It was hard to think and even harder to refuse what had to be the wrong choice.

This was a trap. Black might be exhausted and damn near insane, but could feel it the long she stared at this girl– this woman.

What could she do, though? Now, after weeks and weeks of trying, failing (breaking down, getting up, cracking a bit more) and failing again, the darker deity couldn't stand it any longer. Alarms rang in her mind as a part of herself struggled with the concept of pulling away from this solace of emptiness. But she did not move.

"I can help you." The woman was practically sinister with her proposition, the air of (false, false) calm aiding in keeping Noire afloat for this talk. "A trade of sorts, actually — you're looking for someone beyond your reach and I am capable of giving your machine the boost it needs."

Black closed her eyes, knowing of what came next without a doubt. How had she found someone like this? This was unreal.

The gentle caress of fingers against her hand forced the immortal to look up, back into smug dual-colored eyes. "All you have to do is simple. One goddess for another. You will give me your hand in my endeavours and I shall do the same for yours."

She let out a sob, already knowing what choice she's decided on. It was a no brainer. Outside of her little Universe, no one was valued by Black Heart; no one but her own partner. The chance was upon her now.

The chance to get Neptune and Nepgear back.

"I'll do it." For Uni, for Planeptune, for herself. Noire was a selfish being after all, a ruthless and unrelenting deity that wouldn't let this yearning swallow her whole very easily. "But you're not allowed to harm her, you're not allowed to either Neptune or her little sister."

That was the sole catch to this arrangement. Should this woman do anything to either Neptune or Nepgear, this deal, this oath would shatter and backlash on her. At the same time, Black was expected to obey her, aid her in whatever schemes she had in mind; by doing this she traded her life in exchange for the sisters' safe return and continued protection. And the stranger nodded, happily tying herself to this pact. A geas for them both.

Victory burned in the space between them. A tainted corrupt thing, really. Divine power chaotically strowned through the pair as their agreement was branded into reality. Heavier than a mere promise, heavier than the essence that made them almighty — an unbreakable chain sealed by their words clicked shut, never to break, never to be torn apart by either party.

It was only a moment. Barely even a breath before it ended. A calamitous and opportunistic bargain that both of them would come to regret somehow.

The woman allowed a faint hum to escape her, staring at her free hand with wonder. "This isn't your first rodeo with this, is it?"

She shook her head. "I've made oaths with mortals before, not fellow divinities." Noire added, just barely glaring at the second unknown goddess she's met this year.

Celestia, has she screwed herself over by doing something like this with a future enemy.

No taking it back now, however, Black inwardly sighed, at least her side of the bargain got those two out of the soon-to-be incoming fire. That was the least she could do. "Can I know the name of the being I sold my soul to, please?"

"Uzume Tennouboshi. Former ruler of Planeptune and Orange Heart; do keep in mind, however, I don't intend for this information to come out anytime soon." Which made sense.

If she was to oppose the heroes, keeping her background a secret helped in protecting herself.

Especially so when this was Neptune's predecessor.

She was going to tear her hair out by the end of this. "Noire, ruler of Lastation and Black Heart. And, as you can see, a half-baked inventor and scientist to boot." And that wound would be aching for years if she had a choice.

Dusk-colored — and yes, Black had been looking at her long enough that she titled the transition from blue to orange dusk of all things, don't judge her on this, okay? — eyes glanced around the room, never once letting go of her hand. "I can't say that title suits you. After all, you have succeeded in an area many others before you failed to even grasp."

"Bringing me forth from Heart Dimension is in itself a feat, exceedingly improbable task completed by a remarkable immortal." Uzume said with a simple shrug and another emotion burning in her gaze. "Get up and give yourself some credit, dear."

Black returned to staring at the floor and, you know, not getting flushed at the praise that was obviously done to lower her guard. "I can't even tell if you want to help me or not."

"Ahh, apologies for misconstruing things then."

All it took was a light tug and she found herself upright again. Neither found themselves breaking the connection between them. They eyed one another, searching for a crack in the armor.

Uzume smiled. It's a cold yet warm thing, serrated with teeth and comforts she doesn't know are true or not; it filled her chest with ice and chilled her core.

But she didn't let go of her hand, not when she could barely breathe without Uzume's help.

It would be a lie to say she didn't appreciate it. She knew the lifeline that was given to her wouldn't come without a price, the possibility of being hung by it was all the more real, but that didn't matter. Noire would gladly bare her throat to this new threat if it meant righting what never should have been wronged.

(A sip of poison is all it takes for someone to fall. Get a goddess to drink her fill and what would become of her? Would she fall? Would she break from taint that coursed through her? Uzume didn't know, but she had a feeling that she was going to be very fond of such an obedient girl.)

.

..

….

…

….

..

.

APPROXIMATELY TWO YEARS LATER

Neptune woke up in a field in the middle of nowhere. The grassy plains around her rustled and shook with the wind and as she stood, there were no other CPUs with her.

She was alone.

Her bonds were still there. The ties that bound her to her friends pulsed with life, a sharp contrast with her time in Ultra Dimension and Zero Dimension — that sense of nothingness failed to reach her here. But, the three of them were gone.

They had been with her before the light had blinded them all, before they had triumphed over the Gold Third that challenged them.

But she woke up alone. A feeling of dread and fear sat in her chest beside the ever constant, ever kind warmth that Neptune knew was from Nore. There's no response from her, though. Not even tugging on the bond got a reply or reaction from the other side. Noire was here somewhere and yet was not there at all. Something was wrong.

And then she found out someone else ruled the Basilicoms, ruled Planeptune and the other nations. The four goddesses were forgotten and no sight of them has been made.

Neptune was alone with the Candidates and a handful of allies and she just couldn't stand it.

She couldn't do it without them.

"Neppy? What's wrong? You're not smiling.." She closed her eyes, inwardly sighing as the other side of the screen looked on in confusion and worry.

Doing this went against Histoire, but Neptune didn't care. She couldn't think about that now. Not when she's stuck between a rock and a head place. "Do you mind coming over? We… we have a problem."

Noire took over. Or rather, the other Noire did. The Noire that wasn't hers. "What's wrong this time? I thought we aren't allowed to come over during that Shift Period of yours or whatever."

They weren't, but Neptune had to do something. With the progress they were making in each nation, some things had to give. The Candidates and the few allies wasn't enough to take back four separate nations. Neptune couldn't push them with the others gone.

Plutia would enjoy a break from having to listen to little Histy all day too. They could do this.

"Change of plans. This protagonist can't seem to win without a good party after all." The lavender-haired girl laughed, bitterness boiling in her chest. "Someone did something to my Gamindustri." The other dimension stilled. "None of the CPUs are ruling their nations and.. and my Noire, Blanc and Vert have gone missing."

She would get them back. This was just the work of another run of the mill bad guy just begging for Nep to come and ruin their day.

Everything was going to be fine, Neptune helped beat a giant Dark CPU and there shouldn't be much that could best that, right? That was boss level stuff.

Vert sighed, hiding away the panic with her words. "Well, it would be a shame if my alternate self were to remain missing. I'd hate to lose a goddess that's capable of comprehending, unlike some people."

As agreements rang out between the Ultra Dimension deities, Neptune felt a real smile spread across her face as a blossom of hope finally began to bloom in earnest. Everything had spiraled out of control when she woke up to only Nepgear and the Candidates, but this? This could work, she could actually do this — there was no way Nep could fail now.

She couldn't fail. She really couldn't.

Enduring was the least Neptune could do in this altered Gamindustri. A redesigned game board didn't stand a chance against her, the Candidates and the others' combined forces; all she needed to do was find out where the others were and everything was set.

So as the sun began to set, the lone deity planned.

It was the least Neptune could do to banish the dread building in her stomach.

And in a realm under the darkness of the stars, a trio of divinties fell deeper into the delusions of a goddess who had long since lost herself. The new game plus route was already underway.

Eins: Glad you liked it! And Ultra Noire is a mixed bag for me, she's not bad but inexperienced and harsh? She fired that one member of her Basilicom because of the bad news he told, so, yeah. The girl has some work for her before she can best OG Noire.

Shiena: Hearing that is really warms my heart and don't worry, I have a second part for Impact in the works too! Confused amnesiac Black and guilty Purple is a go! Though, that reveal does take a bit to happen in story.

Zenir: I shall do my best to continue! Please tell me whatcha think about this one-shot?