A very odd group of people found themselves gathered in a very odd place this afternoon. People, of course, meaning children, and very odd place, of course, meaning just about anywhere a scene possibly could take place in Gamindustri in general — though the setting here today is simply Planeptune's Basilicom. That odd part about this, of course, is that it is the Planeptune in the other dimension ("For realsies this time!" -Neptune) that this group has found themselves in.

So here, in the Basilicom of the other Planeptune, sitting around a table much too low to the ground for the average person, were none other than the ever lovable trio of Rom, Ram, and Peashy.

In other words... The kids.

"I can't believe we got stuck at the kiddy table... Can you believe it, Rom? We've done all kinds of grown up stuff before, but we still have to stick around here? This is so stupid!"

Naturally, none of the three were particularly thrilled that they only had the obligatory "kids do the darnedest things" scene to themselves, and apparently it wasn't even supposed to be that long judging by how much airtime the anniversary special had left. Even Peashy, who had managed to sneak into an early scene with Anonydeath after some rewrites that turned out especially lucky for her, found herself in welcome company with the twins, who had been stuck to just this scene from the get go.

"I-It's not so bad, Ram..." Rom, at least, was trying to look on the bright side of things somewhat. From her perspective, things were going pretty decently, all things considered. Blanc was paying more attention to her and Ram lately, they were getting to play with Peashy right now, and who knew what the future had in store for them? Maybe she was simply being too forgiving about these things, but as far as she could see, things weren't that bad at all. So what if they didn't get any crazy scenes in this chapter? Did they need them when they had each other? Did they even want them? Off screen, poor Uni had ended up needing to borrow her computer for something after apparently going through something very bad and breaking three of her own...

"I wish I could've had a scene with Neptuna..." The smallest member of the group blew a raspberry at no one in particular at the thought that she might have missed her only chance for who knew how long to see Neptune. Not that she couldn't just go over and visit whenever she wanted normally, but when would it ever work in the main story? Neptune was always so busy now, and she and Ploot had things to do here anyway... Probably. It wasn't super important right now, so she didn't wanna think about it! She just missed Neptuna!

The twins exchanged a look as they watched the annoyed little blonde. At least they had gotten to be with Blanc pretty regularly up to this point. Peashy hadn't gotten to see Neptune since that one little scene in Part 1. That was... That was so unfair!

"Rom, what's that thing where we don't do stuff anymore?" Ram looked to her sister, a sort of childish desperation in her voice that would only be appropriate coming from one of the people meant to be sitting at this table. "I think we should do that thing. The one with the signs and banners and stuff!"

Ram's twin tilted her head, pressing a finger to her chin as she tried to think of what Ram could possibly be wanting from her. This should have been an easy riddle, but it took Rom a little while to reach the conclusion that Ram was looking for.

"'Protest'?" She finally offered. "You want to 'protest'...?"

"That's it! I wanna protest!" Ram smiled brightly, before she realized that such an expression was not at all appropriate for the drastic, big girl move that she wanted to make here. Slapping her cheeks to quickly ready herself for her great, grownup battle, Ram shook her head furiously and crossed her arms. "I'm protesting! If we don't get any more scenes, and if Peashy can't see neptune, then I won't be in the story any more! Not in the special and not in the regular one! Can't make me do it!"

Rom simply frowned. Maybe there was some logic to it, but she didn't think this could end well... More importantly, that wouldn't be fair to Blanc if Ram disappeared, would it...? What should she do? Should she say something? Should she let Ram realize it on her own? W-What if Ram disappeared from this scene before she even got the chance...?

That idea scared her, and with that in mind, Rom knew this was something that just couldn't wait.

"Um, R-Ram..."

"Uoooooh!" Before Rom could raise her concerns, Peashy had jumped into the air in excitement, a broad smile on her own face — this all sounded like such fun after all! And she wasn't appearing all that much anyway, so it'd be super easy for her to do this "protest" thing to get what she wanted! "I'm doing it too! Me too, me too!"

Rom began looking frantically back and forth between the two girls — one looked like she was going to bounce off into space at the idea, the other looked like she felt like that but was instead choosing to keep it all bottled up so she could look "serious" or something. If this was their one scene, they shouldn't be wasting it doing silly things like this...!

No wonder they were stuck at the kiddy table...

"Now now, everyone... I made you all an extra special treat that's sure to make you feel alllllll better..." Three pairs of ears perked up as three heads turned towards the source of the new voice — it was coming from the doorway and it was a very, very familiar voice. Of course, it wouldn't be surprising for the CPU of Planeptune to be present in a scene that was taking place in her own Basilicom, and sure enough, there was Plutia in the flesh, controlled by nothing but her own desires and pushing one of those fancy food carts along and looking like she could fall asleep at any moment. "I think you're really gonna liiike iiiiit..."

"Whoooooa! What did you make, what did you make?!" Apparently having completely forgotten the previous issue of the protest at the idea of a special treat, Peashy returned to her sitting position to look from the cart to Plutia excitedly as the older CPU finished pushing the cart over. There was only one tray on the cart and it had one of those fancy round covers over it, encasing the entire thing and making it so the girls had absolutely no idea what kind of wonders were within.

"I'm not going to tell you that, silly." Plutia giggled and took a few steps back now that she had rolled the cart right up next to the three girls. The trio gathered around it, eyes wide with wonder, curiosity... and of course, hunger. "Why don't you open it up and see for yourself? I know you'll be surprised."

"No fair, I wanna know!" Pouting now, Peashy turned to Rom and Ram, her eyes pleading. She wanted to open it, but she couldn't very well plow through the two of them to do it... They had to help! If this was their only scene, she had to be a big girl and make it a team effort! "Come on, come on, don't you want to know too?"

"Y-Yeah, of course I do!" Ram stepped forward, clenching her fists and giving Peashy a sharp look, as if to tell her that she was just as ready as the little CPU was — maybe even more ready! After all, she had existed waaaaay before Peashy had. She had been ready before Peashy had even been concept art! "Rom, you're ready too, right?"

"U-Um... Go ahead..." As she watched the other two girls approach the food cart, Plutia glowing in the background, Rom bit her lip. She felt like this was all leading up to something, something that should have been obvious or familiar to her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Just what was it...? Why would Plutia choose this way to give them their snack...?

"Upsy daisy...!"

"Let's see what it is...!"

And off came the top of the lid, just like that. Nothing exploded or went wrong or anything. Rom might have thought that she had been worring for nothing... If not for the fact that something was definitely off with their "treat." For rather than a plate of delicious food, there was simply a large hole in the cart where the rest of the tray should have been — and sticking out of that hole...?

"You guys were expecting some delicious food? Too bad! It's just me, NepgeaBWAH!"

[LOADING... LOADING... LOADING... Did you know Neptune's favorite food is pudding? LOADING... LOADING... LOADING... Blanc's fanbooks are a hit in certain circles, but don't let her friends ever find out about them! LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...]

[PRESS START TO RESUME SCENE, PRESS SELECT TO REPLAY PREVIOUS CUTSCENE AND WATCH PEASHY PUNCH NEPGEAR IN THE FACE AGAIN]

"W-What the goodness?! Why is that even an option!?"

[PRESS START TO RESUME SCENE, PRESS SELECT TO REPLAY PREVIOUS CUTSCENE AND WATCH PEASHY PUNCH NEPGEAR IN THE FACE AGAIN]

"O-Oh, right... Um, start-! I push 'start'!"

[RESUMING SCENE...]

Nepgear rolled out of the side of the food cart and rolled out through the cloth covered side, clutching her nose as she tried to blink back the tears. Surprising the kids had been the plan, yes, and that had certainly happened... just to a much larger extent than she and Plutia had originally anticipated.

"Neppy Jr...? You okay? I got these but I don't think you need them after all..."

Now on the floor next to the cart, Nepgear could see that a concerned Plutia was sitting next to her, bandages and tissues in her hands — no doubt prepared for blood considering where she had been punched and by whom she had been punched by. In the back of her mind, Nepgear wondered why Plutia had been able to get those things so quickly (had she expected this...? a heads up would have been nice!) but at the moment, as she looked at a hand that was not covered with any blood, she was just grateful that it did indeed look like she wouldn't need them.

"C-Can I have a hand, Plutia...?" The CPU Candidate still felt a little woozy all the same and hesitantly reached out for the CPU, who was her partner-in-crime for this scene. The light haired girl tilted her head, as if she wasn't sure if she should take Nepgear's hand, before she smiled and nodded, helping Nepgear to her feet...

... only for her to be tackled back to the ground by the person who had brought her there in the first place.

"Are you okay?! I'm sorry I hit you...! I thought Ploot had cut off your head! I didn't want you to just be a head! Um, um... If I had known you weren't a head I wouldn't have, promise!" Peashy's words were rushed and flew out of her faster than she had tackled Nepgear, but they were clearly sincere, which was all the older girl needed to hear. Though the fact Peashy had actually thought Plutia beheading her was a realisitc possibility might be worrying... "How come you're here? What's going on?"

"G-Goodness Peashy, it's fine, I'm sorry we scared you- A-And if you let me get back up, I'll be happy to tell you..." Torn between letting the small little blonde cling to her (Nepgear was more than happy to accept and any all forms of attention and affection right now, considering how long it had been since she'd gotten to talk to anyone) and gently pushing her off so she could straighten herself, Nepgear finally managed to use the wall behind her to stand up while Peashy was still clinging to her like some kind of humanoid koala creature. "There we go...! Now let's..."

Peashy tilted her head, waiting for the explanation that still wasn't coming. She had gotten super surprised! Maybe even scared! So why wasn't anyone saying anything?

From her vantage point, she couldn't see how Nepgear had just caught the expressions on the faces of the twins. Tears were running down Rom's face, while Ram was doing her damnedest to hold back hers. It was almost funny to think that just a moment ago, the two had been screaming at the sight of the other Candidate's head sticking out of the food cart. Looking at the two of them, Nepgear smiled wrly — trying not to cry herself — and held up an arm, the one on the side that Peashy wasn't attached to, as if to call them over.

And that was all it took for the two of them to start running over to her as they began to wail.

Watching this scene unfold, Plutia smiled, because she was truly happy for the friends who were finally able to be reunited... and she also smiled because Neppy Jr. was probably about to be really glad that she had a wall to lean on considering she had the twins barreling straight for her like that.

"I'll get some pillows." Plutia offered helpfully as the twins made impact — and to no one in particular, as the cheerful reunion was one that was clearly not meant for her to be a part of. That was okay. She had Nepgear had "reunited" off screen when they had come up with this little plan to make up for their lack of presence in the anniversary despite their increased relevance in future parts of the story anyway... "Tee hee hee... "

As Plutia made her way out of the room to find the pillows, Nepgear sent a grateful look in the direction of her retreating form — the twins had her pressed right up against the wall on one side, and with Peashy still clinging to her on her other side, it would be a miracle if she was still upright by the time Plutia got back...

"... W-Wait..."

Assuming she didn't take one look at the pillows and decide to take a nap herself, that is.

Nepgear quickly realized that, knowing Plutia, that was exactly what the upcoming punchline was — but that was okay. Blinking away the tears, she managed to return all three hugs with the biggest hug of all, her smile growing wider and wider with each passing moment. Right now, all she felt like doing was smiling.

She was finally home again.