Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega and whomever else worked on it.
Chapter 31
"YAHOO!" Neptune yelled as she and Rom jumped off the ship and into the ocean below. The group had spent the past few days near a small island, that was only a day away from Lastation, just relaxing and having fun.
Bursting out of the water, Neptune giggled as she helped Rom swim for the beach.
On the top of the ship, Linda shook her head as she watched the group swimming around. "Well, they're having fun."
"And you aren't?" IF asked as she laid on a long chair in the nude. Above her was a large umbrella blocking off the sun so that her skin wouldn't dry out and her skin was shiny from the rub down that she had gotten from Linda almost an hour ago.
Linda shrugged. "Never learned how to swim, I'll just stay up here." She walked over to IF. "How about you? It's been almost an hour now."
IF sighed and rolled slightly. "Got a knot in my back. Can you massage it for me?"
"Sure." Linda smiled and went to work doing just that.
(-)
Down in the water...
"BLUB!" Ram, in a blue one-piece swimsuit, pouted as she tried to swim, only to fail again. "It's too hard!"
"No it's not." Neptune, in a red bikini, smiled at her. "I know we don't have much time to learn to swim, but I'm sure that you can learn."
Ram was about to say something when Gust and Peashy both swam by at stupidly fast speeds, causing her to pout as she saw that Peashy had gotten a handle on swimming right away. "I wanna learn that."
"I got an idea!" Neptune grabbed Ram's midsection and lifted her. "Just start kicking your arms and legs, okay?" Neptune walked with Ram as she started to move through the water. "Okay, I'm gunna let go," she saw Ram's eyes widening in fear and shook her head, "no, no, don't worry, I'll have my hands under you in case you slip under, okay?" She smiled as Ram calmed down almost instantly. "Okay, go." Neptune giggled softly as Ram started moving through the water with no problem. "See? You're getting it."
"I am." Ram's eyes widened as she started to paddle around in the water. While she wasn't zipping around like Peashy and Gust were, she was still moving through the water and feeling free while doing it. "I'm swimming! I'm swimming!"
"Yep." Neptune nodded and smiled as she watch Ram swim forward before turning around and swimming back to her. "And do you know the best part, Ram?" Ram looked confused but curious. "I haven't been next to you for the past three minutes."
Ram's eyes widened and she smiled. "I...I'm swimming!"
Neptune giggled and sank her body into the water so she could swim next to Ram. 'Hee hee, works every time.' She had taught Nepgear and her daughters how to swim by this very method. Neptune thought it was weird how CPUs didn't know how to swim outright but had to learn. 'It's not like we're electronics that aren't waterproof or something, right?'
Not far away, Rom bobbed around in the water as she bounced off the ground while keeping her head above water.
(-)
A couple of hours later...
Chrome looked up as the side of the ship opened up and Neptune came in carrying a sleepy Ram and Rom in her arms while a sleeping Peashy was on her back. "Have fun?"
"Yep." Neptune smiled at her while Gust came in after her. "How come you didn't let Filyn come with?"
"It's not that I didn't," Chrome told her, "but rather Filyn's got Thalassophobia. She's okay in the ship, but the thought of going into the ocean terrifies her..."
"Uh..." Neptune had a confused look on her face. "Fear of the Ocean?" Chrome raised an eyebrow and Neptune giggled softly. "Come on, help me get these three to bed."
"Gust is going to shower out the salt." The short bunny girl said as she walked off to find a shower.
Chrome took Peashy off of Neptune's back and then Ram. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." Neptune smiled at her as she adjusted Rom in her arms while walking up the steps after Chrome. "I'm a little surprised that the water didn't flood the ship with the door on the side. Must be why the door was up so high and there's steps to the door, huh?"
"Yep." Chrome answered her. "But Neptune, that wasn't what I was asking and you know it." Neptune sighed softly. "Tell me the truth."
"I think I'm okay, I'm not feeling down, depressed or anything like that right now."
Chrome nodded as she heard that. "Good." The two stopped in front of a room and Neptune opened it up. They put the little girls to bed and covered them in blankets. "They're going to be feeling gross when they wake up."
"Eh, just let them be that way." Neptune answered as they stepped out of the room and closed the door. "But, Chrome... Are you sure..?"
"Try to limit how many times you transform from here on out." Chrome answered her. "I don't know how fast or slow the transformation from Heart to Void is and I don't want to find out."
Neptune bit her lower lip softly. Images of Blanc, Vert and Plutia, with how they were; Blanc with her anger and terrorizing the citizens, Vert with her perversions and Plutia with her outright... If Neptune had to put a word on it, psychosis would be the closest that she could think of. "...Do you think I'll become like them?"
"...I hope not." Chrome said softly as she looked at the worried Goddess. "But Neptune, if you do..."
She nodded at Chrome. "...If I become a Void, Chrome... I need you to kill me before I go completely evil." Chrome nodded back and the two stood there in silence as they thought about Neptune becoming evil.
It wasn't something either of them wanted.
But both knew it was a possibility if Neptune was infected by Fearicite.
"Hey!" Compa suddenly spoke up as she came around the corner. "Nep Nep! How are you feeling?" She had a worried look on her face. "I know we took a small break because Chromey said you could use some time to relax before we go to the next nation, but I'm worried about you." The girl crossed her arms under breasts, "do you need more time?"
"I think it probably doesn't matter right now." Neptune said as she had her eyes closed in such a way that Compa and Chrome both knew that she wasn't really sure herself. "I don't want to put this off any more."
"Alright." Chrome spoke up as she turned to walk off. "I"ll tell Linda to get us going to Lastation." Seeing as there were no arguments from them, she left.
"Um, Nep Nep," Compa looked at Neptune. "I want you to know, I'm happy you're here."
"Aww," Neptune had an embarrassed smile on her face. "I'm happy I'm here too." Her eyes widened as Compa stepped forward and hugged her. "Compa? I'm still wet from the ocean."
"I know that maybe Linda, Iffy, Gusty and Mister Mouse might not show you what they're feeling, but they appreciate you too." Compa said as she hugged Neptune as best she could. "Iffy and Linda were really sad before you came around. And I'm glad you saved Rom and Ram."
Neptune smiled and hugged Compa back tightly. "You know... In my world, my Compa is my best friend. You're a lot like her." It really felt like that Compa and IF were pretty similar regardless of the dimension. She just wished that she could help this world's Iffy smile or at least not be so angry all the time.
Compa smiled, glad she could help Neptune feel like she was at home. At least a little bit. 'If what Chromey said was true, then Nep Nep needs this.' She didn't really understand much about the hows or whys of Goddesses, but she did know that if Neptune needed kindness and affection, she'd give it to her.
After everything Neptune was doing for them, it was the least she could do.
(-)
The next day...
"So this is Lastation?" Linda asked as they got closer to the landmass. She grimaced as she looked out at the sky. It was almost ashen gray. "The hell is going on?" Reaching over to the ship's communication device, she pushed a button. "Attention everyone, make sure that all windows and doors are shut down tight."
A few moments later, Neptune and Chrome both entered the cockpit and looked out the front windows. "So..." Chrome began, "is this like your Lastation?"
"No way," Neptune stared in disbelief as they got closer. Thanks to her eyes being really good she was able to see details that others would have missed. "It's... This isn't what my Noire would have allowed." The air looked almost toxic and she could see that the very ground was... Desolate. Even though Lastation City back in her dimension had some pollution problems and there was some problems with the factories Noire had across her country, she tried to keep the pollution to a minimum. Heck, the Noire from Plutia's world was even more strict with keeping pollution to a minimum. While the factories and warehouses in that world could be a bit on the disgusting side sometimes, there wasn't any major pollution problems.
This was so not what she was expecting.
As they flew through the air, Chrome realized that seeing much of anything was next to impossible. "...This is..."
Neptune looked through camera feed, since the ship had cameras attached to the outside, and stared silently as they passed over small towns. "...They're abandoned." She whispered softly as she saw the buildings rotting and one even collapsed as she watched. "This is horrible."
The three were silent as they flew further into Lastation.
After nearly five minutes, they came across a shining city that didn't seem to have any pollution near it. The reason they could see it clearly, in fact, was because the pollution seemed to have dissipated.
"...How?" Linda asked, glad that they weren't in that smog anymore.
"Probably some sort of bubble shield that regulates the air and keeps the pollution out." Neptune suggested, causing them to look at her. "Well, I think it was about... Hmm... A couple of years after I became the CPU in my world. There was a really big meteor that hit just outside of Planeptune and really smelled, so I helped whip up a barrier that kept the smell out of Planeptune. I'm betting this is the same thing."
"...Out of curiosity, what happened with the meteor?" Linda asked.
"Oh, I left it alone, the smell covered the other nations and they finally begged me to do something about it." Neptune giggled at their looks. "We weren't friends at the time and I thought it would be funny to make them smell that stuff for awhile."
"And here I thought you were a paragon of goodness." Chrome muttered, though deep down she did find it hilarious as well. "...To be fair, I probably would have done the same thing. I would have used giant fans to blow the smell to the other nations though."
"I WANTED to, but Histy said no because it would have taken too much effort to make fans big enough to blow the smell to Lowee and Leanbox. Lastation was behind us, so..." Neptune shrugged.
As they flew in close to Lastation, they were suddenly surrounded by flying vehicles on all sides.
"Yikes!" Neptune yelled, her eyes going white and blank. "Is this a Zero Mission scenario where we get surrounded by space pirates and shot down?! I don't have a sexy body suit for that kind of situation!"
Chrome gave Neptune a light slap on the back of the head. "Knock it off, there's probably some sort of reason for this."
The speakers of the communication system suddenly crackled to life. "Halt or be shot down."
"YEEP!" Both Linda and Neptune yelled, but Linda did as was told.
"Do you have proper authorization to fly in Lastation airspace?" The voice over the communication device asked.
"Uh..." Neptune looked at the others, who shrugged. "Want to reply to them?"
Linda nodded and pushed the button to communicate with the person contacting them. "Uh, authorization?"
"Insufficient answer, prepare to be eliminated."
"EEEK!" Both Linda and Neptune yelled again.
"Contact them again." Chrome said as Linda pushed the button again. "Please hold your fire! We are unarmed and a simple merchant ship."
"If you do not leave Lastation airspace in the next ten seconds, you shall be eliminated due to insufficient authorization."
"...Is there any way to not be blown up?" Neptune asked.
"Surrender." The voice replied.
"Very well." Chrome nodded at the voice. "We surrender."
"Follow us to the station. Please note that any deviations on your part will be seen as an attempt to escape and you shall be eliminated."
"Very well." Chrome nodded as she handed the communication device to Linda. "You heard the voice, Linda." Linda nodded and followed the instructions that were given to her.
As they followed the brigade, Neptune gave Chrome an amused look. "Est ce que tu est Française?" Linda gave her a startled look, wondering what she was saying.
"Non, Pourquoi?" Chrome asked, surprising Linda that Chrome knew what Neptune said.
"Car tu t'es doucement rendue et tu a embrassé la nature française." Neptune giggled while Chrome twitched in annoyance.
"Rend toi une fois, et personne ne te laissera l'oublier!" Chrome muttered under her breath while Neptune started laughing hysterically.
"Um..." Linda's voice was just as confused as her face. "What language are you two speaking?"
"It's the ancient language of the Goddesses." Chrome told her, getting a nod from Neptune.
"Though some people would call it French!" Neptune laughed before blinking as she heard a crash in the distance. "Gee, you'd think that the fourth wall would have crashed awhile ago, like when I met Chika."
"Uh..." Linda sweat-dropped heavily.
"Ignore her." Chrome muttered and rubbed her forehead. Privately she found it amusing but she knew that if Neptune had any sort of idea that Chrome found it funny she wouldn't stop with it.
"That reminds me, I should teach this to Nep Jr. when I get home."
"I should probably teach it to Filyn as well." Chrome nodded as they followed the flying cars into the city.
"Wow..." Linda stared in amazement at the skyscrapers. "They're so big."
"Bigger isn't always better." Chrome muttered, though she was surprised by what she was seeing. "Neptune, why don't you get everyone ready to go?"
"Sure." Neptune nodded and left the room.
"So what do you think is going to happen?" Linda asked Chrome.
"Probably something annoying, frustrating and just plain stupid." Chrome answered.
(-)
Several minutes later...
Sitting on a chair in a gray office, Chrome and Neptune both groaned as they filled out paperwork. "I thought this would be more... Electronic." Chrome muttered in annoyance.
"It was supposed to be," a young woman smiled at them helpfully, "but with our systems going through mandatory upgrades right now, it would take longer to make you wait for them to be done with the upgrades and then do the work electronically than it is to do it by paperwork."
"...Form 35 B, form 35 B, form 35 B..." Neptune muttered as she flipped through the papers. "Um... This only has form 35 A."
"Oh, and you'll need to fill out form 67 C and form 48 D." The woman happily supplied and Neptune and Chrome both flipped through the stack of papers rapidly, looking for those forms.
"...There's no form 67 C..." Chrome muttered.
"Or form 48 D."
"Nonsense," the woman dismissed them, "you're just not looking hard enough. If you don't fill those out, we can't let you go."
The two CPUs looked at each other and sighed as they went back to filling out paperwork.
"And Histy wonders why I hate this stuff." Neptune grumbled and sighed as she got another note to fill out form 22 E. As she flipped through the papers, she was grateful to note that there was an actual form 22 E to fill out.
"I'm sure she knows why." Chrome muttered and hoped that the others weren't too bored.
(-)
Meanwhile...
"WHEE!" Peashy yelled as she did a flying headbutt into one of the robot men, knocking it over. "Bwahahahahahaha! You're weak!"
"Ah..." Ram stared, her eyes white and blank while Peashy ran and knocked another robot man over while the others were yelling at her to stop. "Peashy, you should stop..."
"Bah!" Filyn muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest. "This is so boring!"
"Come here, you little brat!" Linda yelled and grabbed Peashy from behind. "I'm sorry, but her mother is the only one who can control her."
The man in charge of the station twitched in annoyance and looked at the other officers. "How come no one warned me that there would be a small child with super human strength!?"
"There wasn't any data on any of them."
"Someone make sure that their parents fill out the proper paperwork!" The man yelled and threw his hands in the air. "The last thing we need is Lady Black Void getting pissed at us because someone forgot to give them all of the paperwork!"
The others yelled and ran off.
Linda and Peashy looked at each other in confusion before cables wrapped around both of them and they were lifted up and away from each other while hanging upside down.
"HEY! Let Pea go!" Peashy yelled as she struggled to get free.
"Hey!" The others all yelled and stood up, only to find a bunch of robot people in the room with them and pointing arm cannons at them.
"Just calm down!" The man in charge yelled at the people. "Progbots, stand down." He was grateful when they did just that. "Listen, we can't have a kid with super strength running around and causing problems. So she'll have to be restrained until her mother comes back with all the proper paperwork signed."
"...Pea needs to use the potty."
The station manager just groaned in frustration.
To be continued...
If you were curious as to what Neptune and Chrome were saying in French, I'll spell it out for you. Big thanks to to a friend of a friend of mine (who wished to remain anonymous) who corrected the sequence to be more accurate.
"Are you French?"
"No, why?"
"Because you embraced French nature and quietly surrendered."
"Surrender once and no one ever lets you forget."
This bit is a few references in one. First, well, you all know the trope "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys" (never mind that France has one of the most successful military forces in world history). Secondly, the "embrace French Nature and Quietly Surrender" is from Epic Rap Battles of History (Steve Irwin). And finally, the "French is the ancient language of the Goddesses" is a reference to Purple Lovers by DracoSlayer95.
The "there is no form 48 D" and stuff is a personal gripe I have towards filling out paperwork. You fill it out exactly like they tell you and then they go "oh, wait, you need this, this and this". It's like "WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME THAT THE FIRST TIME?!"