Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega, and whoever else worked on it.
BTW, If y'all wondering why I don't use line breaks, it's because I can't for some reason in my old laptop. So sorry about that.
Also goddamn it Grammarly, notified me at the worst timing for corrections. Well, I'm at fault as well for not noticing it.
Whoops, ranted here.
Anyway…
Chapter 5
(-)
Gehaburn, now on her purple human form, had been walking around the living room of the Basilicom waiting for Nepgear to change her clothes after she had notified the girl about her torn attire before. Nepgear told Gehaburn to not enter her room.
*Flashback starts*
"What do you mean I have to wait here for you to change your clothes?" Said Gehaburn with a shocked face.
"Well, you've been ogling at my own bare body right? Especially since you are inside me all the time" Nepgear face was a little bit red when saying that, she was wearing her torn clothes "So for now you take a rest from seeing my body this time and wait here"
"Hah…..fine, I'll wait" Gehaburn was bummed after hearing that. She wanted to see the new body Nepgear has right now, Arfoire's deity powers had changed Nepgear body proportions so she was interested upon seeing the new body.
"Don't let yourself down like that, I'll make it worthwhile. I think of changing my new attire instead of my old one with my sister's hooded parka slinging off on my shoulder" Nepgear spoke while patting Gehaburn's back.
"Ooohhh, interesting. Alright, now you convinced me, now go on and change" After hearing that, Nepgear nodded and went to her room to start changing her clothes.
*Flashback ends*
"I know I said that but come on, why is it taking so long? It's been an hour since she went in" Gehaburn was a bit frustrated from it, but she kept her patience.
'That is if I can take it for another hour' is what she thought in her head.
Luckily, she didn't have to since Nepgear was opened and Nepgear exits the room. "Hey, what took you so….long…..whoa" Gehaburn trailed off after seeing Nepgear's new look.
Nepgear was wearing the same sailor uniform on the inside showing only the sailor's front view because on the outside it was covered by her sister Neptune's hooded parka like a coat, but this time with a few additional changes. The dominant color which was on the sailor and parka clothing had changed from white to black while the purple and yellow part stays the same.
The black hooded parka is now longer than before. Its length has reached Nepgear's knee, indicating that Nepgear had done something to do with it. Her legs now wear a black stocking that went up covering the whole leg with it. Nepgear's medium boots were also had the same color scheme as her sailor uniform and hooded parka.
The accessories were almost the same except for a few things. Nepgear choker on her neck is black and the holster on her right thigh was now colored dark purple. On her head, there was an additional D-pad clip on the right and both of the clips were black.
All of those changes intrigued Gehaburn, but the most compelling part was the seven small leathered sashes tightened on Nepgear's waist to fasten the hooded parka and the sailor uniform together. Each sash bears different colors.
There were Dark blue, Black, White, Light Blue, Light Red, Green, and finally Purple. Gehaburn what they were representing.
"Those colors on each of the sash represent the color of your former CPUs aren't they….." Gehaburn spoke first.
"Yeah, these sashes shall be a reminder of their existence so I won't forget them" Nepgear answered with a small smile "But don't focus on that, what do you think of all this?"
"They are all cool and it fits you well" Gehaburn praised Nepgear's new clothes and then she ask something else "Did you modify all of these?"
"Yeah, I colored it all by myself thanks to my coloring techniques. My sister's hooded parka and my sailor uniform were also tailored by me to make it longer than it was to fit my new body, which is also a courtesy to my tailoring skills" Nepgear answered.
"How do you get to do all that? Oh wait, never mind" Gehaburn realized that Nepgear had learned all that when she governed all of Gamindustri back then.
"Oh and look at this" Nepgear laid all of her hair to her front body and put on the hoodie for her head. "Neat right?"
"What are you, an assassin?" Gehaburn mocked a bit making Nepgear pout at her.
"Hmph" Nepgear huffed at it and began to talk about something else "So did you do all of what I asked when I was changing?"
"I did, all of the monsters had already returned to each of their respective habitats and will bring back some food here later from your order. Some of them also round up supplies from the countries so that we can manage it as well"
"Good. This should make a good feast for all of us before we start re-establish Gamindustri for my monsters to live in, including the four lands that I had destroyed as well" Nepgear said, she already had plans and schematics prepared for it.
"Agreed to that, several monsters had told me they want to live in there because the habitats were a bit cramped"
"Mhmm, I considered that as well. We're so gonna be busy after the party" Nepgear sighed at the thought of it, though it does not mean she doesn't want to do it.
"Don't worry about it, I and some of the monsters will help you. You must not shoulder this by on your own" Gehaburn said while comforting Nepgear.
"Alright, thanks for that" Nepgear was soothed by the comfort, until she realized about a thing "Wait, how come you can understand what the monsters were saying while I don't?"
"The merits of being here in this world for a looooooooooong time" Gehaburn were wearing a smug face when she said that.
"Damn, wish I could understand what they were saying as well" Nepgear was a bit down at her inability to understand the language of the monster.
"You can though, just integrate the information from the dead fairy's book onto your mind"
"Excuse me? Histoire's book?" Nepgear was shocked at the suggestion
"Yeah, the book has all kinds of information. The problem with Histoire is that she is really careful with the contents of the book. Why do you think she needs time like three days or max three years to get it?" Gehaburn expounded.
"Now I have a way to learn their language, but I'll do it later. The party comes first" Said Nepgear, Gehaburn agreed as she nodded.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that I have something for you Gehaburn" Nepgear went back to her room to get something for a few seconds and then come back to Gehaburn.
"Here, an earring for you. Think of it as compensation for making you wait longer than I had calculated" Nepgear handed Gehaburn an N-shaped earring that looked like the Planeptune N logo.
"Thanks, I like it" When Gehaburn put it on she felt a little bit suppressed but not much to affect her "Okay, what's in this?"
"I put a dark energy suppressor gimmick inside it based on your data from my Nepdata in my N-Gear so that you won't affect anyone or anything around you" Nepgear mentioned.
"Huh, neat. Figured that I need this, particularly when I was near the monsters, some of them were acting funny and weird".
"Now then, shall we prepare the celebration? I'll deal with the food and beverages while you set up the place" Said Nepgear with a hand gesture telling Gehaburn to join her.
"Let's go then, I'll need some help from monsters first though. A feast this big is gonna exert a lot of energy"
"Thought so"
The two then walked outside the living room and exit the Neptower to do what they need for the party.
(-)
Meanwhile on the Sharicite chamber.
It was guarded by some smaller version Epsilon and Dragonia on the outside and inside of the chamber. Nepgear had ordered them to keep it safe and report to her if something comes up.
They obeyed to do the order without question. It's part of their programming in executing any order from their registered master plus it's from the queen itself.
Suddenly the Sharicite which was colored dark lilac was vibrating, the mecha guards were confused by the behavior. the vibrations were more intense as time goes by making the guards ready themselves for something hostile from it.
Turns the only thing that happened was that it only spits out a console with a blue swirl on the center which was not hostile according to the guards. They relaxed a bit as there was nothing dangerous from it.
"I. AM. FINALLY. FREE!"
As the guards heard that, they put up their hostile stance once more and everybody saw something coming out from the console.
What they all saw was a low-pigtail blue-haired girl held by a small braided segment of her hair with a single triangle-shaped pin on the left side of her hair. She wears an open white shirt with only one button put together at her chest and a big blue tie that covered her chest and stomach part.
A glimpse of the black tube top on her boobs beneath the tie can be seen from her, it was held together by black suspender straps on her grey pleat shorts covering her hips. Her arms were covered with gloves but her left glove had reached up to her shirt. On her feet, she was wearing a pair of black shoes with leg warmers that went up to her knee. There are also noticeable scars on her stomach, arms, and legs.
"Feels good being free from that wretched place" The blue-haired girl talked to herself before noticing the mecha guards were still in their stance observing the girl.
"Tch, so the people here had anticipated my freedom?" Some of the guards did not understand what the girl meant. "Great, just my luck. No matter, all of you will be a sacrifice for my warm-up!" While she had said that, she extended her right arm as if it was summoning something.
But nothing happened.
"What?" She looked to her right hand with a dismayed look at her face. "Where the fuck is my Megaphone?" Her weapon should've appeared but it didn't which was troubling for the girl. The girl realized something in her.
"Really? Out of energy at a time like this?" Her energy ran out due to her forcefully breaking out of her sealed prison.
Several weapons from the guards were closely pointing at the weaponless girl.
"SURRENDER OR DIE," One of the mech's said with a robotic tone.
"...I surrender….." The girl whimpered with her arms raised to her head. After she had said that, the guards pinned her down to put a shackle on her arms.
'I'll at least see who's the CPU in this era, see if I can manipulate or deceive their leader to buy some time for my energy to full' She thought to herself.
'And if it gets worse, I'll at least kill as much as I can before I die'
As she was being escorted outside of the Sharicite chamber and what she first saw was the color of the sky, which is red.
'Huh, why is the sky different? Guess many things have happened since I was sealed'
She didn't expect what was going to happen next, but she readies herself nonetheless.
(-)
At the center of Gamindustri, specifically east of Planeptune and west of Lastation, there is an area that was surrounded by mountains except for its bottom part where there's a beach and sea instead.
The area mentioned held a big party during the night for Nepgear, Gehaburn, and most of the monsters to relish. The ones who did not attend the party were either still resting or doing something else at the moment. But they all had sent their regards to their queen by the others who were coming to the party.
Nepgear was fine with it since she did state that it wasn't too important. Largely because it hasn't been long since they helped Nepgear in her conquest revenge, so she let those who couldn't come to the party do their own thing.
At the party, different monsters were partying in various ways. Dogs were running around chasing each other or just chilling together, Vaders were doing pixelating stuff with fellow vaders like combining to form some more pixel things. The aquatic brethren were swimming jointly and were competing to determine who was the fastest among them, which led to some accidents.
Fortunately, groups consisting of Machine and Inorganics controlled the condition of the party. It was their duty there while also enjoying the festivity. Dragons, Avians, and Beasts were bombing with each other featuring the Bombers. Ghosts were pulling pranks on some of the monsters quietly, which they were ended up being chased around willy nilly. Data's randomly turned up several background music for the party.
Nepgear, alongside Gehaburn, were enjoying their sustenance on their table which was made by the Plants and Insects as they were responsible for the food and drink section. Both of the girls looked at the surroundings of the celebration.
All in all, it was very chaotic, to say the least. Nevertheless, the atmosphere didn't reek of negativity, instead, it was filled with joy.
"I prefer this chaos rather than the ones I had when I govern the humans" Nepgear mentioned.
"You can say that again, it may be chaotic but I dig this one"
Gehaburn answered.
As they kept on drinking and eating, they were confronted by the guards from the Sharicite Chamber.
"Something happened?" Nepgear asked while raising an eyebrow, she was concerned at their arrival.
"YES MILADY, THERE WAS CONSOLE WITH A BLUE SWIRL ON THE CENTER THAT CAME OUT FROM THE SHARICITE" Explained one of the Dragonia while showing their mistress the console and giving it to her.
"THEN THE CONSOLE SPITTED OUT THIS GIRL" An Epsilon further explained as it presented a shackled blue-haired girl with two low pigtails wearing a black tube top covered by a one-buttoned white shirt, arms wearing unproportionate gloves due to her left glove covered the arm up, short grey skirt covering her lower part and her feet wearing black boots and black leg warmers.
Nepgear observed the console first. From what she can tell, the console was an old model, probably decades or even ages old. The size is a bit thick and the swirl part looked like it was drawn by some random kid with how simple it is. Furthermore, she can feel some sort of restraining power within it. Nepgear then turned to look towards the girl.
Thanks to her senses with certain energies, Nepgear immediately recognizes the girl that she was a CPU. Nepgear gasped as she saw the condition of her body and the feel from her eyes.
There were a lot of old scars and burns around her arms, legs, and stomach. Its dark blue with a streak of marron eyes was filled with emptiness, Nepgear assumed that she went along a similar or worse experience as her. She can understand the girl's pain just from seeing her, even though the girl hasn't explained anything yet.
"Free her from the shackles and go take part in the party with the rest of your comrades, all of you deserve it," Nepgear told the mech guards, both them and the girl were surprised by it.
"REALLY? IS IT WISE TO LET HER GO?" Protest one Epsilon among all of the guards.
"Do not fret about it, I and Gehaburn shall handle her. Now go on and have fun" Said Nepgear.
Every single one of the guards finally heeded her request because Nepgear had assured them to not worry about it. They unlocked the girl's shackles and went on their way.
Gehaburn initiated to start a conversation first with the girl. "How long are you going to stand there? Come on and have a sit here" Gehaburn spoke as she moved her arm to the right and released a long purple aura arm for her to grab a vacant chair from the drink station then put it right beside her.
"Amazing, you can do that with ease" Nepgear commends Gehaburn's ability.
"Well, It is all thanks to you giving me all that juicy energy from them until I can materialize my body, voice, and even new powers here".
"What does she mean by that," The girl asked after she had sat down on her chair. She assumed that these two won't do her any harm, though she was still being cautious.
"Uh, It's a long story. We'll explain to you about it later, so for now let's talk about you first". Nepgear responded to her. She then moved on to another subject. "So what's your name?"
"I'm….Uzume Tennouboshi" A Rafflesia appeared when she said her name to serve her some shiitake mushroom, a pudding, and a blueberry soda with a little blueberry topping on the edge of the glass. Uzume thanked the Rafflesia for the meal, it nodded back and went on its way.
"Well, Uzume, do you have a deep grudge against something or someone?"
Uzume was surprised at that, asking such a blunt question. Even though she doesn't like to talk about it, Uzume felt that she had to go on for two reasons.
One is because the woman with a little bit of dark Lilac hair power is much stronger than her, going against it would be suicide. Not to mention the all-purple lady beside her which was on par with the Lilac one. The second reason was that Uzume perceive that it was reassuring to explain it to the two ladies on an unknown basis.
"Yes I do, It's against those pathetic excuses of humans! They dare enough to betray and attack me as if I was just an expendable thing!" Uzume growled as she answered the question.
"Wait, how come your body didn't refresh itself like CPUs usually do when they received some damage?" Asked Gehaburn, then she munched her fried food.
"The humans attacked me with weapons made from Anti-Crystal and some essence from a Delphinus. It took all I got to destroy them all, except that console" Uzume points her left hand's index finger towards the swirl console held by Nepgear. "They saved this one as their last resort in dealing with me, once they had sealed me in it they put it inside the Sharicite as my second seal".
"I see, so how did you get out from it if you had to use all of your strength just from dealing with the other ones," Nepgear asked next.
"Thanks to some kind of dark energy seeping from the outside, I manage to harness it and used it for my own. Then I punched the seal repeatedly when I got enough energy to do so" Uzume continued to explain.
"And so you finally freed yourself from the seal, confronted by my guards, tried to fight back but couldn't do so, eventually shackled and finally you're brought here to me. Is that correct?"
"That is correct, miss…." Uzume trailed off, she didn't know her name.
"Nepgear, my name is Nepgear, and the purple woman there is-"
"Gehaburn, nice to meet ya" She cut off Nepgear from telling her name.
"Uhuh…" Uzume was a bit weirded at that. "Where are all the humans though? I haven't met a single one ever since I freed myself".
"They are all gone after they were obliterated by Nepgear because they had betrayed her from the back, similar to what you had experienced"
"So all of that dark energy that I had received? Uzume asked with an astonished look on her face after hearing that.
"Probably came from Nepgear and me as we fought together with the monsters for revenge"
"Hehehe, those humans finally got what they deserved. Good riddance" Uzume sighed in relief. She did not need to take vengeance for herself because the girl called Nepgear had done it for her, mainly for revenge like her.
"Since your revenge is out of the picture, what will you do now?" Nepgear questioned Uzume.
"I got nothing that I had in mind, so I'll stick around with you lot"
"Great, we need all the help we can get to rebuild this world"
Uzume raised her eyebrow at that. "What, how can you restore this world without humans here?"
"Think about why the Sharicite is still up even after there are no humans for it to get share energy" Nepgear left a hint to her.
Uzume put up a thinker pose for a while to answer her. "Is it the monsters?"
"Correct. I plan to remake Gamindustri into something for monsters to live and grow comfortably, in turn, the world won't collapse and we can have fun".
"Sounds like a good plan. I bet it'll take a while to do all that" Uzume points out.
"I'm sure it won't be too long to at least make the basis of it, especially with how loyal and cooperative the monsters are. Plus, with you on board, it'll work out" Nepgear then extends her right arm to start a handshake. "So what do you say? Wanna join?"
Uzume then extends her right arm so she can also handshake together with Nepgear as a sign of agreement "With pleasure. It's at least I could do to repay you for breaking me out of that seal and taking revenge against those traitors for me, Miss Nepgear"
"We share the same sentiment, you would have done the same thing if you and I switched places. And don't call me Miss, just call me a bit more casually"
"Certainly. But on one condition" Nepgear raised her eyebrow at that notion "Refer to me as Kurome from now on, Kurome Akumanuboshi"
"Wanna left behind your old name, huh? I can live with that. But your clothes don't match the Kuro part. I'll get you a new modification with the clothes you wear now while also inventing something for your scars, sounds good?" Kurome nodded once at that.
"Fine by me, Gearsy"
'So that'll be my nickname to her? Cool'
"With all that out of the way, let's enjoy the party before tomorrow's work. Oh, we could talk about our past adventures to pass the time while we eat" Gehaburn then turned her head to the left and began to shout to one of the Frozen Flowers wondering around giving drinks "Hey! Can I get a refill here?"
"Heh," Kurome said "Burnsy's drinker eh"
"Uh nice, a nickname for me" Gehaburn sounded happy when she got her nickname.
"It is what it is" Nepgear spoke as she shrugged it off.
"Well, no shit" Kurome put up a poker face. "Anyhow, shall I tell my adventures first while we eat and drink".
Kurome then retells her old adventures before they went grim in the past while the other two reacted differently at it. Then they take turns in their storytelling talk, which goes on for a long while, until most of the monsters were tired and go back to their homes.
Nepgear, Gehaburn, Kurome, and the rest of the monster crew cleaned out the area and prepared to work on the next day as their first step in Gamindustri recovery.
To Be Continued
(-)
Yes, Nepgear's new outfit is inspired by Assassin's attire in Assassin's Creed franchise but I added a few kinds of stuff. If any of you can draw it, It'll be a blessing for me.
Also, Uzume white shirt but with blue hair? why not? It's a different dimension after all. Though next chapter she'll wear her black outfit. As for her name, I alter it a bit for future settings.
I used Gehaburn's burn part on her name, simply because if I use Geha part It'll be like Gehsy or Gehasy. Both were not a good idea for me.
See ya next chap.