Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega and whomever else worked on it.

Interlude: Hyperdimension 4

"Hello!" A voice called out into the Basilicom as two people walked in. "Ge Ge! I brought some pudding like you asked!" Compa smiled as she walked in with a large bag full of puddings.

Nepgear poked her head out from another room and smiled at the nurse. "Thanks, Compa, just bring it in here. IF! Hello!"

"Hey, Gear." IF smiled and waved at her. "Still no luck with Nep being gone?" She sighed when Nepgear gave her a sad look. "Ah! Sorry!" She rubbed the back of her head. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, IF." Nepgear smiled at her. "I know you didn't mean any harm by it." She disappeared behind the corner and the other two followed after her.

There was some voices that came from down the hallway as Compa and IF entered the room. "What's going..?" IF asked and stopped to stare, as did Compa when she saw what IF was looking at. "...Why is the other Nep here and what is she doing with all that stuff over her?"

Neptune looked up from her position on the floor and stuck her tongue out at IF. "Well, I was trying to help Nepgear make food for Crostie, but I slipped on some water and made a huge mess with the cake batter."

"Yeah, and it looks lewd." IF deadpanned, noting how the sticky goo that was dripping from Neptune's face, hair and the amount that got onto her chest made for an interesting sight.

"Iffy!" Compa pouted at her. "It's not Big Nep Nep's fault that she slipped and fell on her butt!"

Neptune gave IF an amused look and ran her right finger over her breasts, coating it in the batter before slowly lifting it up and holding it above her mouth as she stuck her tongue out and allowed it to drip down to her mouth while she lowered her finger and licked and slurped at the digit. She mentally giggled as IF's face turned red and the brunette looked away in a huff.

"Hey, what's all the noise? Ah! Ifsy! Compsy!" Uzume smiled as she saw Neptune's friends in the room. "Hey! Nepsy, what are you doing?"

Pulling her finger out of her mouth with a pop, Neptune stood up and giggled. "Just having some fun, Uzume." She sighed as she saw that her parka was covered in goop. "I'm going to need to get cleaned up."

As she walked off, IF shook her head. "Yep, she sure is a Nep alright."

"It's a good thing you called me, Ge Ge." Compa smiled as she walked over to the counter and put the pudding cups on it. "So is this a welcome home gift for Nep Nep?"

Nepgear shook her head. "No, as much as I know she'd love it, it's for Croire." Compa and IF looked at each other in confusion and then back at Nepgear. "See, she's out of power and..."

"No, I get that," Compa smiled at Nepgear, "I wonder why you asked me to make Nep Nep's favorite pudding if it's for Croire."

"...Oh." Nepgear sighed and looked down. "...I know it's only been a few days here, Compa, but every time Neptune calls she sounds so tired and sad and..." Her eyes watered up. "I want to help her, so I figured," Nepgear smiled at them, "that maybe Neptune's favorite pudding would help Croire regain her energy."

"Hmm..." IF tapped her chin. "Where are the other CPUs?"

"Ah!" Nepgear rubbed the back of her head. "Uni's doing some quests that popped up because every time Neptune disappears something weird or bad happens like some sort of crazed CPU showing up and needing to be stopped and she wanted to be prepared in case that happens again. Ram went home because Blanc told her to go home and Vert had some stuff she needed to do back in Leanbox."

They both nodded in understanding when they heard that. That made a lot of sense.

Compa walked over to Nepgear and gave the puprle-haired girl a smile. "I'm sure that Nep Nep's just fine, Ge Ge." Her smile faded as Nepgear had a sad look on her face. "Ge Ge?"

"I... I have a really bad feeling, Compa." Nepgear closed her eyes and put her right hand over her chest. "There's a cold pit in my chest that's telling me that she needs help and Croire won't be recharged enough to travel to the dark side of dimensional space until tomorrow morning at least."

"Hey, Gearsy..." Nepgear turned to look as Uzume walked into the room, yawning. "Got done with the special surprise for Nepsy. Oh, hey Compsy, Ifsy..."

"Special surprise?" Nepgear asked and Uzume gave her a thumbs up.

"If Crosy can open a small portal to where Nepsy is, I'm sure that what I got will be helpful for her."

"I hope so." Nepgear smiled, though privately she was starting to worry. The citizens of Planeptune were starting to ask where Neptune was and Nepgear was a little worried that if they didn't get her home in the next few days that there would be serious problems for everyone.

"Hey, Gear," IF gave Nepgear a confident look, "it's Nep. She'll be fine. She is the main character after all."

"Yeah." Nepgear smiled at IF.

Even though they were saying that and the words did make Nepgear feel better, she couldn't shake a terrible feeling of wrongness whenever she thought about her elder sister. 'Something's happening to her, I can tell.' She mentally shook her head to try and push the feelings away. 'Neptune, what's going on? Hurry home.'

End Interlude: Hyperdimension 4

I just wanted to take a couple of days and relax before getting back to writing.