NEPSTATION
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↳ BGM START;;
"Nepstation" | watch?v=aGjK5vMuSMU
[ From Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (2012) ]
00:01 •— 02:32
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ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: —•
"And hello again, my patient readers! We're back yet again with another chapter, and a Nepstation to boot! You bought one, and now you're getting the other for free! Wheeeee!"
Yup, a two-package deal, with your two hosts – Yours truly (the writer), and Neptune!
Now, before we begin, I'd just like to sprinkle in a little… "advertisement" of sorts, if you would. Don't worry, I'll keep it brief lol.
"Yup! Turns out, the writer's friend wrote a similar story about me! Except, instead of me landing in the world of Honkai Impact and demolishing the gaming ego of a certain Tuna, I crashed the party of the Seven Deadly Sins! Really interesting stuff!"
If you're interested in a similar story that's just as well-written, or at least – I'd like to think my story is of that standard lol, then please check it out! It's called "Hyperdimension Neptunia S: Interdimensional Britannian CPU", by writer Proximatic7956!
"Like he said, please consider checking it out! After all, where else can you see me kick more butt other than my own games? Hehe!"
With that laid out there, let's get onto the review responses. I skipped them last time, so I think this will be a great opportunity to finally respond to the more notable ones, what do ya' say, Nep?
"I'm steady, and ready, Mr. Writer!"
Good, because we would've done it anyway regardless of what you said lol… But anyway! Enough banter, that's for the upcoming chapter! Let's take a look at what we've got since Chapter 7…
KRCustom:
"In the manga, Fu Hua had been show to be slightly obsessed with Honkai Impact. Because of that, Fu Hua knowing about Honkai Gakuen didn't suprise me. If anything, I kinda expect a gag about her bad gacha luck."
I think her whole life is bad luck enough by itself… The gacha is just icing on the cake haha
"Poor Fu Hua, huh? Sometimes you just can't catch a break with that gacha! But hey, at least she's got her fighting skills to fall back on!"
Testarossacain:
"It definitely got the nep vibe accurately. Fu Hua's battle with Nep is lit. Actual good fight and well written."
Thank you so much! I'll admit, that the fight could've been a bit longer, but I'm glad to see that at least I'm writing the action well! There'll be a lot more to see, if I get around to it, so I hope I can satisfy you even more then!
"Thanks for the kind words! It was a blast fighting Fu Hua, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! Just wait till' you see what Mr. Writer is cooking up next!"
SilentHeroX:
"This is very interesting on how you did the fight between Fuka and Nep here. Both are probably on equal grounds (not sure on that) and both are experts in fighting. It makes for who would really win in a fight if they went all out. Either way, thanks for the chapter!"
When looking at canon scaling, Neptune wins – but like I said previously, I'm throwing scaling completely out of the window, and having Neptune sort of relative to the main cast, whilst acknowledging that she would be the strongest if I kept the scaling accurate.
Regardless, no probs! I'm hoping this chapter tickles your fancy as well!
"Aw, thanks! I gotta admit, it was pretty exciting going toe-to-toe with her! But hey, it's all about having fun and pushing our limits, right? Can't wait to see how the next battles turn out! Obviously, the writer is gonna make me win every time, but it's more about the journey and not so much the destination – right? Hehe!"
I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you… I'm still the one pulling the strings… Or is me saying that a little too soon? ;)
"The readers aren't at that point yet! Do the next one, you spoilt spoiler!"
StarWolf3000:
"It's more like her name sounds very similar to "salty fish", a phrase used by chinese players to refer to someone who is very lazy. This "salty fish" turned out to be mistranslated as a tuna. I can't wait for Neptune to be able to turn on HDD and then baffle Himeko xD (tbf, while I play the Nep games with japanese voiceover, I play HI3 with chinese voices, so they obviously sound different)"
Ah, I see! Thanks for the additional context!
And don't you worry about that last part ;)
"Haha, oh man, once a Tuna, always a Tuna! And as for HDD, I can't wait to show myself off at my best! You'll just have to keep the seatbelt on and find out!"
FromBelow:
"Anyway tone wise, Neptunia series is usually fairly silly and light hearted... but that's mostly because of Neptune working hard to keep it that way. When you think about the more serious stuff going on that's played off for laughs, it's usually Nep who starts the comedy train before anything gets serious. Neptune weaponized her protagonist status."
True! Though it's also because she's not really good at dealing with serious or tense situations, at least in her normal base form. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that things will be escalating VERY soon, so Neptune is going to have a lot more of that to deal with when the time comes.
"Hehe, well… What can I say? I just love making people laugh and keeping things light, one smile at a time! But you're right, things are gonna get intense soon. I'll do my best to keep up the good vibes, though!"
BlitzNeutral69 & mega1987:
"I'm just waiting for Neptune to go all HDD! XD"
"HDD when? I think this is the point where that minute share energy from Kiana and Mei might be enough for nep to go HDD…"
Your patience will be rewarded soon, but I will say this – She will be activating HDD when she'll be needing it the most.
Vague, I know – but I gotta keep things interesting!
"Ooooh, I can't wait to finally transform again! Trust me, when the time comes, it's gonna be epic! Just hang about a liiiiiiiitle bit longer, 'kay?"
Fan of Fanfics21:
"Otto flipping tables cause his high score was beaten by one point. He's so petty about it and I find it funny as hell. When HoV ever shows up again, will she actually say Neptune's name correctly when the r time comes? To show how much she (petty girl) hates the CPU because of her own name being too difficult to say and the nickname Nep will give her?"
Thanks!
And I haven't decided about the Sirin stuff yet. I'm a little torn about it, but right now I'm leaning to her also using the name "Nep" instead of Neptune. But probably not for the reason you're thinking of.
It'll make sense once we actually get to that future chapter. So you'll see soon enough! ^^
"Hehe, that smug blondie's reaction must've been priceless! Shame I wasn't there to see it! And as for Herrscher Tuna, well… We'll just have to see what happens! I'm sure it'll be quite the situation to remember!"
Thank you to everyone else who reviewed! I'm glad you're all enjoying it! Now strap in, because we're going to continue from where we last left off! See you all later!
"And see you all there! Cheerio!"
*NEPSTATION END*
Chapter 9 - "Bonds n' Battles"
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↳ BGM START;;
"The Hunter" | watch?v=DwhlGJQhHj4
[ From Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) ]
00:01 •— 13:52
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ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: —•
And so, with Bronya taking the initiative of the first strike, she fires a few rounds from Project Bunny towards Neptune, Kiana, and Mei. The three managed to dodge, with Neptune using her faster speed to quickly grab Wendy before the rounds impacted the spot they were standing at – the aforementioned girl still unconscious. Due to having to hold her, her wooden katana disintegrated into data-like particles automatically.
As Neptune jumped back with Kiana and Mei, with all three of them temporarily retreating behind cover that was falling apart, she quickly and erratically looked towards Wendy in her arms, and at the two girls – who were looking ahead of her with determined expressions on their faces. Wendy was their target, so if they could only get her out of the battlefield…
"Mei! I'm gonna need you to take Wendy, and leg it like a blue hedgehog back to the Pickup Point!" Neptune stated, with a tint of seriousness in her voice.
"N-Neptune! You and Kiana aren't going to be able to fight them alone! You both will need the help!"
"This isn't the time! We've got no other place to keep Wendy safe for now! Just go and drop her off, and if the battle isn't over, come right on back! I'm not going at it alone this time… Okay?!"
Mei hesitates as she thinks this over, with a few more rounds being fired near their location making the three girls tense up, as the walls that protected and kept them hidden crumbling around them. This wasn't the time to think extensively.
"Mei, you need to go!" Neptune plainly stated as she looked at her with a serious expression, which was mirrored by Kiana's determined one.
"… Alright… Just… If you think either of you can't make it… Then retreat back… Okay?"
"I wouldn't dare die on you, Mei! Me and Nep will hold them off!" Kiana stated, readying her pistols as she prepared herself to jump out from the cover they were behind.
Neptune cheerfully grinned at Mei, who smiled back as she took Wendy from Neptune's hands. Right as Mei jumped out from the cover, so did Neptune and Kiana, with laser fire from the mechs and more of Project Bunny's rounds heading right towards them. Kiana dodged the laser fire with ease, as Neptune used the blunt part of her wooden katana, now having returned to her hands, to knock the rounds into the air slightly before they exploded – staggering Neptune a bit.
"Don't let the targets get away!" Bronya's "mother" shouted in frustration, as Neptune and Kiana ran side by side back to the battlefield at a fast speed, with Neptune slowing herself down for Kiana to match up with her movement.
"Sorry, old timer, but your little abduction is about to undergo a Game Over!" Neptune quipped as she charged ahead, weaving in and out of even more laser fire as Bronya focused her cannon on Neptune. Before she could fire, Kiana dropkicked her across the face with a cheeky smile, staggering Bronya as she looked at Kiana with a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"Heh, you have any idea how long I've been waiting to do that to you, Bratnya?" Kiana stated as she smirked, with Bronya not giving her a response.
As Neptune continued to weave in and out of the laser fire, she started hacking away at one of the giant mechs – as two more starting running to her position. Before they could do so, Neptune yelled out to Kiana:
"Nice thinking! You handle Bronya, you're more familiar with her fighting style anyway! I'll quickly thrash these scrapheaps and join back into your party! Good luck, have fun!"
Kiana nodded at this whilst still keeping eye contact towards Bronya, who tried to engage her with melee attacks from Project Bunny, but Kiana was able to use her immense agility to flexibly bend her body slightly to dodge the attacks as she also stepped back and forth with minimal movement, her body moving with such fluidity, like water.
Seeing an opening, Kiana attempted to use her Gun-Kata to rush forward and hit Bronya's head with the edge of her pistol, but Bronya was able to see this coming – going invisible and immediately moving out of the way, causing Kiana to miss.
"Tch, always a pain in the ass, aren't you…?" Kiana muttered, as she erratically looked all around her, trying to find out where she went.
As soon as she heard an uncloaking noise behind her, she smirked and immediately blocked Project Bunny's punch with her arm as she aimed her other pistol at Bronya, ready to fire.
"Always so predictable. Kiana Idiotka." Bronya muttered. As Kiana looked up, her face shifted to horror – seeing that her cannon was charging up the whole time and is ready to launch.
Kiana attempted to get out of the way whilst firing her pistols, but it was too late. The new rounds hit her, sending her body flying, skidding, and rolling across the battlefield. Kiana used the momentum from her hit to immediately recover, but she had a pained look on her face. A forcefield, which Kiana only just noticed, deactivated after she recovered – obviously having protected her against her pistol shots.
"Okay… I guess I need to be more careful…" Kiana stated to herself as she looked at Neptune, who seemed to be handling the mechs fine.
"Please hurry up, Nep…" Kiana mentally said to herself, getting ready to continue her exchange with Bronya.
On Neptune's side, she continued to hack away at the mechs with her wooden katana as they came near her. She kept switching her target, making it deliberately hard for the mechs to track her attack patterns.
Two of the mechs started shorting out, sending out large bursts of electricity as they fell apart and internally imploded – scattering their metallic pieces around as they fell to the ground.
"C'mon, you're all dumb pieces of metal that not even Nepgear would want to touch! You're gonna have to be a tryhard to come close to challenging me!" Neptune announced as she smirked, the voice audible from the mech's speakers being understandably frustrated, as she sighed out loud.
"Okay, now you're just overstaying your welcome. But fine, you'll get what you want. All Units, maximum output!" Bronya's "mother" stated, the machines tensing up, loud engine noises being audible inside all of them as their blue neon lights shifted to red.
As Neptune went back to attacking them and switching her targets, she noticed that the mechs were going for hits, even when they were being attacked. Right before the two that approached behind her could land their extremely heavy smashes with their arms, Neptune was forced to turn around and block the attacks, which sent her feet digging into the ground as she skidded backwards.
"These guys have got Super Armour now?! Aw, fiddlesticks!" Neptune exclaimed in annoyance, having to resort to defensive tactics rather than offensive.
Neptune gritted her teeth. She knew that keeping up her defensive tactics wouldn't hold up forever. She needed to get rid of all these supercharged mechs… And she needed to do it now.
As Neptune jumped back slightly and let the mechs chase her, giving her time to think, she found herself looking at a few of the metallic pieces lying around. She then briefly looked back at her wooden katana, which was falling apart by the second with all of these dents on it, before looking back once more at the metallic pieces – one of them might've been big enough to…
"Hmm… My trusty On-Site-Procurement Senses are tingling!" Neptune stated to herself as the mechs continued to charge at her, picking up a tall and somewhat thick metallic piece that fit somewhat comfortably in her hand – most likely a piece from one of the defeated mechs' arms. They managed to catch up and once again slammed their heavy arms to the ground at an unbelievable speed, the tremors and shockwaves sending Neptune harmlessly flying.
As Neptune landed with a smirk, she looked at the metallic piece before raising her right arm up quickly to access her battlesuit's N-Gear Module.
After a few quick taps, cyan lines started to surround the metallic piece before they faded in a bunch of data-like particles once more.
"Okay, this has never really been my kinda game, but… It's time to batter up!" Neptune announced with a chuckle as she raised the metallic armpiece into a baseball bat stance.
Kiana couldn't help but have this catch her attention, as she briefly looked over to Neptune and smiled with pride, as she once fought and relied on a baseball bat years ago – before a quick missed shot from Bronya brought her attention right back to her fight.
As the Mechs charged at her once again, Neptune planted her feet to the ground and dug them in slightly as she summoned a lot of her strength. Once two of the mechs were in range and ready to dive themselves right at her, Neptune performed a wide swing and hit them, sending them flying. A "Home Run" sound effect playing right as she did so.
As the Mechs were sent flying, they were overloaded with so much force that they exploded in mid-air, causing Neptune to chuckle at the sight.
"W-What the hell…?! How?!" Bronya's "mother" exclaimed from the remaining mechs' speakers, absolutely dumbfounded.
"Improvisation! It's m'jam!" Neptune replied back, charging towards the mechs with a grin on her face, the other mechs following suit – activating their back thrusters to increase their speed.
As Neptune ran towards them as well, she then put all of her strength into her legs and feet, using the metallic armpiece as a sort of javelin to propel herself towards one of the mechs, kicking the head of one and knocking it to the ground.
After whacking away at it with wide swings, she noticed one other mech unit rushing back towards her. Grinning, she finished the one she was standing on with a massive stab towards it's inner circuitry – charging her attack with the Electricity element. She then immediately hopped off as she watched the mech she was standing on explode right next to the one charging right at her, finishing them both off.
There was now one last mech unit left.
"Y-You! I don't care if you're not from this world! This is impossible! This is not how things were supposed to go!" Bronya's "mother" exclaimed, frustrated to no end.
"Hey, you said it yourself, old timer… I'm not from this world. So I get to break the rules!" Neptune boisterously stated, getting ready to finish this last mech unit off with her newfound metallic baseball bat.
"Neptune… I will remember that name… This isn't over…! I, Cocolia, swear it!"
"Eh, it is. No reader wants to be reading this kinda scene for too long. Welp, time to finish this!" Neptune stated as she charged some Share Energy into the metallic bat, giving it an intense inner purple glow.
"Here's an improvised SP skill for ya': Shredder Arm!"
Neptune then unexpectedly threw the metallic armpiece at the last mech, appropriately shredding it as it continued to spin into the mech, cutting it clean in half as both sides of the mech fell to the ground on opposite ends, before exploding.
The metallic armpiece then flung its way back to Neptune, akin to a boomerang.
"Heh, how's that, huh?" Neptune smugly said as she now put her focus on Kiana, who was now downed.
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↳ BGM CHANGE;;
"Decision" | watch?v=ywvSYPF77ig
[ From Megadimension Neptunia VII (2015) ]
00:01 •— 31:44
↺ ll ⋮≡
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: —•
"… Kiana!" Neptune exclaimed in surprise, alertness being highly evident in her voice, as she used her battlesuit's own boosters to rush over to her before Bronya could finish Kiana off with more of her cannon fire.
As Neptune deflected the shots once more, she went into a defensive position as she remained in front of Kiana.
"Hey, you okay?"
Kiana groaned before giving her a weak smile. "Yeah… Just a bit battered. You were amazing back there, Nep… Let's take Bratnya down and bring her back home."
As this was ongoing, Bronya received a transmission from Cocolia, her facing remaining as neutral as ever.
"Bronya… Make your mother happy. Forget about the Herrscher of Wind, and the Herrscher of Thunder. Prioritise and bring back the Kaslana girl. Once you grab her, retreat immediately to the location I've sent you. Forget about Neptune, she's currently too big of a threat for us to handle."
"Da, Matushka." Bronya muttered, throwing a bunch of stun grenades to the ground as Neptune and Kiana quickly covered their eyes as the flashbangs went off. When the two could see again, Bronya was nowhere in sight.
As Kiana and Neptune frantically looked around, a decloaking and charging noise could be heard once more, with Bronya aiming for Kiana.
"Oh no you don't!" Neptune shouted, clashing with Project Bunny's fist, as the two tried to gain control over the scramble. As they were doing this, Kiana seized the chance – jumping up and kicking Bronya across the face a few times, firing some shots into Project Bunny – loud metallic clanging sounds and brief sparks of electricity showing successful hits.
"Follow the party leader, Kiana! Quickly!" Neptune alerted Kiana, rushing over to Bronya – a slightly unprepared and taken-aback Kiana following right after.
As Bronya changed the cannon type to a giant laser, she charged it up and fired with frustration visible on her face, both Neptune and Kiana splitting up to dodge the beam as they continued their chase. Bronya was now vulnerable.
Kiana and Neptune then performed a mixture of Gun-Kata, and Neptune's improvised style respectively, to whack away at Bronya – who grunted in pain with every hit.
"On ten, we hit her with some decent force, okay?!" Neptune notified Kiana, whom nodded with a shared determined look on her face.
"One… Two… TEN!" Neptune shouted, summoning enough strength, once again with the Electricity element, to whack at Bronya with another wide swing, as Kiana summoned a metallic cat paw to perform a similar wide swing on Bronya's opposite side. Bronya was able to use Project Bunny to protect herself just in time, but the damage was done.
The attack lands with a devastating "WHACK!", sending Bronya flying as Project Bunny started emitting large amounts of electrical sparks, leaving a bit of the circuitry to become exposed as Bronya slowly picked herself up from the ground, the frustration in her face becoming even more prominent.
Suddenly, and abruptly, Bronya used a lot of the remaining energy within Project Bunny to charge right at Kiana – neither her or Neptune expecting it, as she used the exposed circuitry against Kiana, flooding her body with electricity as she cried out in pain.
Kiana then collapsed to the ground, leaving a wide-eyed Neptune to look in horror – not expecting this situation in the slightest.
"… Enough! No more!" Neptune shouted, rushing over to Bronya with a charge of her own and knocking her back with a tackle.
Kiana then weakly tried lifting her head off from the ground, trying to establish eye contact with Neptune.
"Hnngh… That hurt like hell… I guess… It's all up to you now, Nep… You gotta knock her out now…" Kiana muttered, weakly looking back and forth between Neptune and Bronya, her eyes half-lidded.
...
Neptune looked at Bronya, with Project Bunny falling apart and with Bronya clearly nearly out of juice, she started… hesitating.
"… Knock her out…? But… I'm already hurting her enough… This is already going a bit too far!"
"The real Bronya will be hurting more if she wins this fight… C'mon, Nep… You gotta bring her back… You gotta save her… I'll just be… taking a quick nap…"
And with that, Kiana's head collapsed onto the grass below, knocked out.
Neptune's facial expression became more serious, as she readied herself yet again.
"I didn't want to hurt you more than I have to, but… Kiana's right. I've got to do this here, or you'll just suffer more… Just you wait, Bronya… I'll show you all what a protag is capable of!" Neptune announced, running towards Bronya.
Bronya tried to activate her cloak once more, but it kept flickering. Project Bunny was far too damaged to allow her to retreat.
Neptune yelled out in a battle cry, charging electricity into her next wide swing, sending Bronya's body skidding across as she let out a yelp of pain. And so, Project Bunny completely fell apart, it's pieces scattering near Bronya's body, as she looked at Neptune with a pained expression. Her eyes shifting from red back to their usual grey as her eyes widened, before becoming unconscious as well.
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↳ BGM CHANGE;;
"Life's End" | watch?v=Hd0MUBJmchc
[ From Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) ]
00:01 •— 30:01
↺ ll ⋮≡
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: —•
Neptune, panting slightly for air, looked around the ruined campus that was transformed into a battlefield. The once chaotic scene was now silent, only the soft breeze of the wind being audible as it blew through the environment, making Neptune's hair flow slightly.
As the adrenaline continued to wear off, she looked at Bronya – unable to help herself think back to the scorn she received from the trio before all the mechs dropped down. She did by their advice, fought alongside them, and put her trust in them… And ultimately succeeded, but seeing her friends with their faces down in the dirt… It still didn't feel right to her.
"…" Neptune could say nothing to herself, but to instead look at Bronya's unconscious body with a pained expression on her face. No matter what pathway she took, her friends would still get hurt. Even as dangerous as the Deity of Sin incident was, nobody ever really got hurt to this extent.
Neptune softly sighed, as something else other than the wind became audible to her – footsteps. Someone was running towards her.
As she turned her head, she could see a concerned Mei, having evidently dropped off Wendy at the Pickup Point and rushed back here.
"Neptune… You did it…" Mei stated with a soft and proud smile.
Ordinarily, this is where Neptune would've smiled proudly and maybe cracked a fourth-breaking quip or two, but… She wasn't in the mood. She turned her gaze back towards Kiana and Bronya's unconscious bodies.
"No, we did it. But… At what cost? More pain?" Neptune muttered out solemnly, causing Mei to have a concerned and caring look on her face as she slowly approached Neptune.
"I don't think pain is something that can be avoided forever… Sometimes, we'll have to undergo it. Whether it's for ourselves, or for others. Pain isn't always a bad thing in some circumstances. Sometimes that's what we need to feel in order to get stronger… Or so, I think that's what Himeko would most likely tell us."
Neptune continued to look at Mei, as her face became even more caring and serious.
"And besides, pain can sometimes become far more potent the longer you avoid it… Perhaps even to the point where, when you finally do accept it… The pain isn't even that notable, or as bad as you thought it would be…"
Neptune looked towards her with a calm, but noticeably solemn, expression.
"I understand why you didn't want us to get involved against Wendy. You were scared of us getting hurt, weren't you?"
Neptune's face became even more noticeably saddened, her eyes becoming slightly watery as those words hit home.
"It's okay, Neptune… But, when you were fighting there alone, by yourself… We all felt just as hurt. And we didn't even take any damage. It hurt us more seeing you take on all of our pain for us, with us standing by the sidelines, than if we had just joined in with you."
A tear escaped from Neptune's eyes, it was becoming increasingly harder to hold them back.
"I just… I felt so awful after you three confronted me like that… I never felt any of this from my friends before… I was so scared… I didn't want to lose my new friends…" Neptune muttered as she sniffled.
"I know, Neptune… But, I'm so happy… Happy that you let us help you… I'm sure that, once Kiana and Bronya wake up, they'll look at you with even bigger smiles on their faces than before…" Mei stated, emanating a smile that could only be described as motherly.
Neptune then walked up to Mei, hugging her as she sniffled a bit more – tears rolling down her face.
"Thank you…!" Neptune muttered out loud, sniffling even louder.
Mei calmly and gently smiled, as she returned it.
"It's okay, Neptune… Thank you so much for letting us stand with you…"
After a while, Neptune wiped the tears from her face, her usual cheerful and bubbly smile returning.
"You know, I bet that when you get older… You're going to look all motherly. You really did feel like that back there!" Neptune said, chuckling – gaining a shared one from Mei as she giggled.
"You think so? Hehe…"
After Mei said that, they both looked at Kiana and Bronya's unconscious bodies.
"Let's take them back home. Our mission is a success – I'm sure Himeko and the others will be proud." Mei stated, grabbing and picking up Kiana's body, as Neptune did the same with Bronya's.
"Oh, what about Bronya's robot thingie?" Neptune enquired.
"Someone else from Schicksal will come down to retrieve all of the parts, so they can get to work on reconstructing it right away." Mei replied back, her gentle smile still visible on her face.
As the two walked together with Kiana and Bronya in Mei and Neptune's arms respectively, they continued their way to the Pickup Point.
"Thank you, Neptune… I don't think Kiana and I would've been able to handle getting ambushed like that without you." Mei stated, her angelic smile becoming even brighter.
Neptune merely chuckled with a proud grin, pleased and proud that this situation has now been resolved with a success.
[BGM END]
A few days later – St. Freya Dorms
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↳ BGM START;;
"Gion (Full ver.)" | watch?v=uqBGyHaQBmQ
[ From Honkai Impact 3rd (2016) ]
00:01 •— 15:00
↺ ll ⋮≡
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: —•
A few days after the battle, it was just Kiana, Mei, and Neptune in the dorms – enjoying some well-earnt time for themselves after the tremendous battles that took place.
Bronya, needing more time to recover, as well as identifying the cause of the control that overtook her, was still in the Sickbay – her body also being examined for any identifiable pieces of technology that could've caused her to turn like that. Project Bunny's pieces were also successfully recovered by Schicksal and was being worked on being reconstructed by the R&D team.
Neptune also pitched in with Project Bunny's development with a few improvements of her own. Whilst she wasn't as up to snuff as Nepgear, she did know her way around a few pieces of tech. And so, she incorporated an N-Gear-like device whilst using the original as a blueprint using one of the unit's apps. Most likely having been implemented by Nepgear to construct duplicates should the need ever arise.
"Well, girls, I dunno about you all… But I could go for some more deliciously mouth-watering caramel milk pudding to celebrate s'more!" Neptune cheerfully stated out loud.
"That reminds me… Nep, I see you eat Pudding pretty frequently… How are you not visibly gaining weight from all that?" Kiana muttered with her eyes narrowed with interest visible in them, curious to hear her secret.
"Oh! That's because I'm a bit of a skanky cheater, hehe…" Neptune replied back, Kiana's face showing the upmost amount of confusion possible.
"… What?"
"No, I mean it. I literally cheat, hehe. I figured out this cool little trick I can do with HDD!"
"HDD…? Oh! Your Hard-Drive-Transformation thing." Kiana said out loud, taking her a little while to remember what Neptune meant by the term.
"Yup! Turns out, if I transform, and then transform back – I lose a good number of calories from all the effort it takes to maintain the form! Then I can just keep eating Pudding without any sort of shame! Cool, huh?"
Kiana's eyes widened as she looked at Neptune with absolute jealousy. "Unfair!" being the only word that escaped her mouth.
"Perhaps, but… Neptune, you still don't have enough Shares to transform right now, right? So, isn't that not possible?" Mei questioned with a concerned look on her face.
…
Neptune's eyes widened. How could she not have realised this sooner?!
"Wh-What? Noooooooo! Pudding has become such a delectable habit that it completely crossed my mind!"
As Neptune continued to squeal and panic, a soft metallic clinging sound could be heard. It was a person on something akin to a wheelchair.
As the person got closer, they stopped next to the three girls on the sofa with a smile on their face.
"Hehe, I take it that Neptune is probably gonna have to watch her consumption from now on?"
As the three girls turned towards the feminine voice, they recognised who it was right away.
"Wendy!" All three girls announced with a smile on their faces.
"Yep, it's me - haha. I was on the line with Major Himeko and Principal Theresa. I've been caught up to speed on everything that's been going on, and they permitted me to stay here with you all. Thanks for having me, and I'll help you get home, Neptune." Wendy said with a brighter smile on her face.
"No probs, Wendy! Here, I'll grab some good ol' Pudding for you!" Neptune said as she jumped off the sofa and started making her way towards the fridge.
As she was doing this, Mei refocused her attention towards Wendy.
"What about the Gem of Desire? Has anything been done with it yet?" Mei asked, gaining Neptune and Kiana's attention as Wendy's face became a bit more serious.
"Nothing has been done about it… But, that's exactly why I am here. In case I do lose control again… Neptune and you all will be able to bring me back to my senses. That was the agreement that let me be transferred from the Oceania Branch to this one."
Wendy slowly clenched her fist as she looked at it.
"Besides… I was thinking… Why not try and turn this negative into a positive? If I can somehow gain control over the Gem… I can end up becoming an even stronger asset when it comes to protecting Humanity from the Honkai. I can't run away from the inevitable forever. I have to overcome that… other personality. No matter the pain involved…"
Kiana's and Mei's eyes widened to the point where they didn't even realise they were doing it. For whatever reason, this resonated with the two.
"Alright, let's lighten the atmosphere once again! Here ya' go, Wendy!" Neptune passed a Pudding cup to Wendy, who accepted it with a bright smile on her face.
All was going well…
[BGM END]
Night Time – St. Freya Dorms
In the middle of the night, Kiana woke up with a massive yawn. Mei was sleeping in her room, Wendy used one of the spare rooms, and Neptune was stretched out on the sofa like usual, snoring very loudly to the point where Kiana had to keep her chuckling in to avoid making noise.
She looked at the glowing circuit-shaped outlines on the Goddess Bangle she wore before sighing.
"Guess I need a bit of air… I don't feel like going back to sleep just yet." Kiana muttered to herself, sneaking out of bed. She did it with such proficiency, that it was obvious that she's done this so many times before.
ılı.lıllılıı.ıllı
↳ BGM START;;
"INSECURE FEELING" | watch?v=y0bIzwGVfUY
[ From Megadimension Neptunia VII (2015) ]
00:01 •— 30:28
↺ ll ⋮≡
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: —•
As Kiana slowly and gently closed the Dorm door behind her, she started making her way around the complex, taking a few random turns until she stumbled across a room with their lights still on… Or, what appeared to be lights anyway – as they were more akin to glows from a dimmer light source.
When Kiana peeked through the door, she saw a massive computer with several red holographic screens glowing in the otherwise dark room, she also saw…
"Aunt Teri…? What's she doing here at this hour…?"
As Kiana kept herself hidden, she eavesdropped on Theresa talking to herself, as well as the computer's Operating System replying back.
"Search for data on "Biochip Brain Implant". I need to know this to help someone recover."
"IN THE SCHICKSAL CORE DATABASE, THERE ARE 713 RELATED RESULTS. 712 OF THESE RESULTS ARE CLASSIFIED AS TOP SECRET DUE TO THEIR IMPLICATIONS WITH THE "CELINE PROJECT" AND ARE RESTRICTED."
"… Ugh, more data hidden away by Grampa… Well, what about that single accessible search result?" Theresa requested, her eyes narrowing.
"RELATED RECORDS WERE FOUND ON FEBRUARY 7TH, 2000, IN THE BABYLON LAB, SIBERIA."
"… Of course it's on that particular day… Please help me export the related records!"
"OF COURSE, PRINCIPAL THERESA."
Theresa's body was then covered in red holographic cubes, before she disappeared from Kiana's sight – alerting her.
"Huh…? What just… happened?" Kiana muttered, stepping into the room with a baffled look on her face. Suddenly, Kiana's body started undergoing the same thing – as she started feeling a falling sensation – her face becoming even more alert and surprised than ever.
"VIRTUAL SPACE CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE. TIME: FEBRUARY 7TH, 2000. LOCATION: BABYLON LAB, SIBERIA."
Suddenly, Kiana dropped to the snowy ground, finding herself standing on a short cliff that showed a huge metallic tower in the distance, with random formations of similar short cliffs, trees, and the entire environment, aside from the tower, being overrun by all the snow. Kiana could even feel every snowflake as they gently glided throughout the environment.
"Where is this place…? Why does it seem… So familiar?"
Author's Notes
And there you all have it! In case the title of the previous chapter didn't make it all that clear, this is where things start becoming a bit different compared to the usual Honkai canon. So stick around, because this is only just the start!
Haven't got much else to say, or things that I need to explain this time, so I'll just leave this section short. ^^
If you have any sort of feedback, be it praise or criticism, please let me know! Your reviews and comments are what makes this story worth doing!
Up next, Chapter 10: "A Test of Loyalty"!
Don't miss it! ;)