"Plot device this, plot device that... I can't believe this... How could we have forgotten? How could I have forgotten?"
A single cheek puffed out in some sort of emotion, perhaps frustration, or maybe just disappointment, Marvelous A! Q! L! finally stopped pacing around the room and settled into a seat, sighing and paying no mind to the usual obligatory bounce that followed the most basic movements from her.
First she found out she was still apparently called AQL in the remake, or at least its translation, making her correcting her name in her last appearance just seem strange, and then, upon looking over one of the previous new Special Stages, she came upon a startling discovery... Or rather, a rediscovery — a re;discovery, even! One that changed everything about the first one!
She hadn't had just that one scene that Cave's flashback derived from at all! She had had a scene directly interacting with Neptune and Noire during their first date, and everyone had completely forgotten about it! She had been partially responsible for "Nep Black" even being a thing in the first place!
"This almost feels worse than just being a plot device. At least that had been memorable enough to be worthy of a scene in the anniversary..." The busty girl sighed, earning another accentuated bounce from her famous assets as she did. Considering this, the shinobi perked up somewhat, a half-hearted sort of smile forming. "If anything, being so forgettable was lucky, huh? Maybe I should learn a memory wiping technique or something like that...? I bet Nisa and RED would love to make their first appearances over and over again."
The redhead shook her head, laughing at her silly attempt at humor. Poor Neptune didn't need any more things interfering with her memory as it was, much less from any of her friends, even if the Neptune she knew in this story was... relatively fine as far as her memory went.
"Still... What if... You know?" The girl kicked her legs in the air absentmindedly, a fresh bouncy bounce coming with each precise, fluid movement of each one of her legs. Paying no mind to such random fiction physics, the the shinobi raised an eyebrow and turned her gaze skyward as she began to think.
It was a crazy idea, she had to admit, especially considering the status of the story as it was now... But wouldn't it be for the best? Think of all the unchanged typos and things that could be elaborated on...! Nothing would change, just... get a little touching up, that was all.
"Maybe we should have a Re;Proposal too?" Marvelous L!Q?A. finally offered to no one in particular, tilting her head and looking just a little bit hopeful, an especially bouncy bounce following the tilt of her head. "Just a few edits here and there, maybe an extra bonus scene for some extra character development... Yeah! Nothing would have to really change, right? It might even be fun to go over old ground! Like training!"
It was at this moment that Neptune entered the scene. Blatantly Obvious Convenience were her middle names, after all, and she had a very good reason for seeking out good old Marvelous !LAQ! anyway. A rather sharp reason at that.
"Heyyyy, Marvy, you ninja types are good with sushi, right? 'Cause I maaaaay have this really big fish I need 'taken care of' if you know what I..." A sheepish look on her face that would put even actual sheep to shame, the ever adorable CPU of Planeptune waltzed through the door to the room Marvylous QQL? was having her solo scene in. Upon glancing at the dialogue and narrative that had been flowing before her entry, however, thoughts of hiring Marvelous AOL to assassinate her new pet shark quickly flew from her mind. "Hold on a second! Stop, stop! What's this about a Re;Proposal I'm seeing in here!?"
Marvelous AAA jumped up in surprise, the following bounces so bold that a lesser person might have been knocked over as though they were in the midst of an earthquake.
"N-Neptune! I didn't know you were coming!" Smiling brightly now that she was over her surprise — it did a person in her profession no good to be taken by surprise for long — the redhead bounded over to the CPU, each step she made creating a bounce like no other. As she made her way over to Neptune, even the happily married CPU couldn't help but be drawn in by the hypnotic effects of the highly advanced physics engine Marvelous DDD used... "Um... Neptune?"
The CPU shook her head and looked back at the shinobi girl's face, unable to quite meet the girl's eyes. She might just be in trouble if Noire ever happened upon the recording for this scene... Or worse... If she actually appeared in it! After all the worrying she had done about her body... Oh, Marvy's bouncing again... Like a pendulum... Look at them go...
"Helloooooo?"
Shaking her head once more, Neptune coughed into her hand and looked at the wall. Video games were really getting advanced, weren't they? Just imagine the next kind of crazy innovation they'd come up with after the miracle of those things!
And speaking of crazy things like miracles...!
"Right! What was that you were saying before!?" Spinning around on her heel, Neptune did her best imitation of one of Blanc's leading characters and pointed dramatically at Marvelous FFF. Sadly, no exciting looking text box followed her amazing finger gesture, much to Neptune's great disappointment. She really figured after that other scene one would have too... "It wasn't about a remake of Part 1... Was it?"
The shinobi blinked. What was with the theatrics? Would it be such a problem if it was?
"It might have been..." She was confused. Wasn't that a good thing? After all of this remake talk, even a little remaking of their own origin here and there couldn't be that bad, could it? "Why? I didn't mean a whole new story like the first remake, though that would be fun, just a touchup like your sister's and Plutia's is all. Doesn't that sound exciting?"
For some reason, from Neptune's expression... She didn't seem to agree with Marvelous .!?'s suggestion.
"Let's think... Go back and make the story everyone knows look nicer, but make them rewatch it all to see every minor new thing... or do actual new stuff and maybe finish the story we're trying to tell now?" Neptune placed a hand on her hip and held out her other hand expectantly, in a "pay up" sort of posture. Given this and the point Neptune was making, even the strong willed shinobi before her had to give in... dropping her head to her chest and her arms to her side, creating a brief bounce in their wake as she did so. "I thought so! I mean, we've still got one more teeny tiny set of these things after this bit almost done before we can start dropping those short stories!"
Hearing that, Marvelous AlwaysQuiteLively perked up — in more ways than one.
"There's more coming? At this rate, we'll have enough Special Stages cleared for you to be Super Neptune in no time!"
Neptune nodded, appreciating the reference, though this time, her sheepish grin from before started to return in place of the more teasing, confident one she had been wearing just a moment prior.
"Uh... Yeah..." Looking rather shifty eyed, Neptune glanced for the door warily, as if she was suddenly worried about something happening. Shrugging it off, the CPU returned her gaze to her ever buoyant friend. "Well, these next ones were actually s'posed to be in the anniversary thing, which was supposed to be part of the main story if you remember, but it was like spinoffception there! It went from one scene to two and before we knew it it got so big it got booted out as an idea for a rainy day that we ended up filming on the side of the short stories that are on the way, and now here we are!"
A bead of sweat ran down Marvelous ?'s neck as she offered Neptune a sheepish looking smile of her own.
"That's... a little confusing, isn't it? Actually, maybe a liiiittle bit more than that. Even my idea to touch up Part 1 is a lot less confusing then all of the stuff you're talking about..." Shaking her head, the rest of her (or at least the rest of her where Neptune was probably looking) shaking along with her, Marvelous ! held up a hand and began counting off what was supposedly on the way with her fingers. "So let's see... There's Part 3... A few more Special Stages... A new story for short stories... And who knows what else down the road! Neptune, I'm getting a little worried here... Are you going to be okay?"
Despite her own similarly concerned expression, Neptune waved a dismissive hand at the busty girl before her. She was the main character, darn it! If she couldn't be confident that everything they were planning was going to work out and be awesome, even if it meant a bajilliontylevenandten thousand years of work to make it all happen, then who would? It was her sacred duty to fulfill, right after gathering the Quadforce of Pudding and all eight Neponium Emeralds in order to stop the evil Dr. Wily Coyote!
"Don't you worry about anything! It's all probably maybe hopefully completely under control!" To prove her point to the shinobi, Neptune offered a thumbs up and a grin that she hoped was actually confident looking now. "Like I said, just a couple more Special Stages, and unless any other awesomesauce things need to get spoofed here, it's all 'real' stuff from here on out! Which means sucky waiting and load times until everything is up and running and raring to go... I think. I mean, you should probably ask MAGES. since she's probably better at telling the future than I am, but-"
Marvelous WEK (Who Even Knows) shook her head, a light bounce accompanying her, as she smiled cheerfully at Neptune. She did certainly feel better... even if she still thought a revisit to certain things about Part 1 might be in order... Someday, at least. Maybe.
Oh well, enough about that. She had gotten a whole scene for herself and Neptune up to this point! She couldn't complain about her idea, great as she thought it was, getting shot down. There was no way she could waste it any longer going over silly meta things like this when she could be having fun with her friend instead.
"So what was it you were coming to see me about anyway? Something about sushi?"
Neptune blinked... then her mouth went wide, followed by another dramatic point as she started hopping up and down.
"Oh yeah! I need you to murder someone for me!"
"W... What!?" This time, the shinobi was really taken off guard. She had been through plenty of strange situations with Neptune before, but this was just... Really out there. It wasn't like she'd never gotten requests like that before, but from Neptune? Maybe she had heard wrong? After all, what did murder after to do with sushi? "Ummmm... Can you try that again, Neptune? I don't think I..."
Neptune shook her head, a sad, overdramatic look sweeping over her features.
"You see Marvy, dear sweet Marvy, there's this shark, y'see, and it's invading Planeptune. Came outta nowhere! First it brainwashed some poor NPCs to build it a fortress outside our Basilicom just for it, and then, wait 'til you get a load of this, the NPCs finished early but had been paid for the day, so it made them make a big pool of pudding just to get Noire mad at me... Can you believe it?! This thing is pure evil! So that's why I need you to come help me so I can..."
... And thus began the epic tale of Nep Ran Kagura Over: Shinobi Versus Shark.
There were no survivors.