Hi gamers. I'm back, yet again... it's been a good bit since my last Neptunia story.
This one I happened to find back in the archives of my unfinished stories (this was originally started way before Sisters vs. Sisters was released). I didn't want to abandon this one, so I decided to finish it up and fix up some grammatical errors and typos and all the like from what I wrote initially. And here's the finished result, yay!
I don't think I need to say much else aside from me just wanting to quickly mention that I'll start to update my profile every few days on how much I'm writing in the current period of time, as I know I'm a pretty slow writer at times (along with other life things that keep me away from writing).
Happy reading!
"Wowie, what a beautiful day!"
It had been six months since the final battle against Kurome Ankokuboshi. Things had finally died down in the world and it couldn't have been any better. Neptune, Nepgear and the other CPUs of the Hyper Dimension's Gamindustri returned to their normal routines after taking a much needed rest after the battle. Neptune, although still lazy at times, had become more motivated in her work and began doing things more often in the community for Planeptune; Noire began to break out of her shell when it came to cosplay and explored it more, even going to conventions with Neptune every once in a while; Blanc began spending her time writing a novel and even developed a little cooking hobby in the process; and Vert… well, Vert went back to her usual hobbies, as she tried to catch up on the games she had missed in the months of peril Gamindustri was in.
Gold Third had pretty much disbanded and each of its members went on to aid the CPUs in their Basilicoms, only willing to fight again on the battlefield if necessary. On the side of helping the CPUs, B-Sha still helped out Chuko with her games shop in Planeptune; K-Sha, with Uni's help, opened up a playground with laser guns in Lastation for the children to goof off and hang out if they desired to; C-Sha had found true love in Blanc, which Rom and Ram saw it as having another older sister to be around them, which made them extremely happy; and S-Sha continued to try to find ways to split herself from E-Sha, in less threatening and dangerous ways, with Vert offering to help her with her knowledge on websites and forums such as Neppit.
As for Uzume, Umio and the bigger Neptune, both Uzume and Umio went back to the Zero Dimension, as Uzume was satisfied from having toured all over Hyper Dimension and she felt like giving herself another chance as a CPU in the Zero Dimension. She had a goal to rebuild her Planeptune and get it as beautiful as it could be so it could even rival Neptune's; and Umio, her companion and partner for so many years, went along with her to help her rebuild her Planeptune to the way she dreamed of. The bigger Neptune, even though eager to keep on going with her bug hunting adventures decided to finally head to her own home which was, surprisingly enough, the Ultra Dimension, after she finally remembered the CPU of the dimension she originally came from. She thought it would be a good time to head back home after years of running around, catching all of the bugs of her dreams.
And that's where she was, home at last in the Ultra Dimension.
"I can't believe how nice it is today, don't you agree?" she said ecstatically, appearing to talk to no one.
"Well, don't you think it'd be better for me to experience the outdoors if you simply just let me out of this damn book?" a voice shouted, coming from one of Neptune's pockets.
Neptune sighed and grabbed a small, purple book from her left pocket and opened it up, a small fairy-like creature popping out of it like a pop-up book. "You've been a pretty good girl recently, but I still have my doubts about letting you completely out of my sight though, Crostie," she said in a serious tone, staring down at the fairy-like creature in front of her.
Crostie, or Croire shook her head, grumbling softly under her breath. "That's not fair! Ever since we came back here, I've been away from recording interesting history! And I vowed that I wouldn't come back here either…" she muttered. "I'm supposed to be doing that shit, y'know!"
"I've heard you were siding with a whack-job here from Tiny Me and Nepgear several years ago… do you still regret that?" Neptune asked, directly confronting her and semi-ignoring her previous question.
"In the moment, hell no… I wanted to see all of that juicy history happen before my eyes, to write down that incredibly rich, incredibly rare history for my records, but honestly after everything that happened… I felt dumb for doing crazy shit like that, both that whack-job and Kurome nearly got me killed, after all…" Croire replied, her voice surprisingly soft after the explanation.
Neptune gave her a soft smile. "I knew you were a good girl somewhere deep inside of you… sure, you still try to escape my grasp every once in a while but I can tell you're changing for the better. I'm really proud of you, Crostie," she stated. "One of these days, I'll let you out the book for real, but I would hate for you to leave me behind, because I genuinely care about you… could you promise me you won't do that?"
Croire took a moment to think about it but nodded, giving Neptune a confident grin. "I promise, even though you drive me crazy sometimes, I've grown to care about you too, Neps," she said.
"Aww, you're too kind, Crostie. Okay, let's go see a movie!" Neptune squealed with joy.
"A movie? You got money?" Croire asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I do! I got Mom to give me 10,000 credits today!" Neptune responded, laughing joyfully. "So we can see the movie and go out for lunch too! Who knows, maybe I'll finally get to meet the CPU today, even though this is where I've always lived, I've never ever seen her…"
Croire shivered lightly at the thought of seeing the Ultra Dimension's CPU again, especially if she was in HDD. "Who knows? Hopefully she won't traumatize you if you get to know her personally…" she murmured.
"What'd you say about it, Crostie?" Neptune wondered.
"Ah, nothing! Just talking to myself," Croire answered quickly, visibly sweating a little.
"Well, okay then… let's go see that movie!" Neptune shouted in excitement. "I can't wait!"
The pair walked up and down streets of the Planeptune cities and suburbs as they tried to find their way towards the movie theater. They walked for hours upon hours, as the sun started to set in Planeptune for the day. Neptune and Croire ended up wandering in the forest, as the sun had completely gone down and the dark night sky was starting to loom over.
"Aw, crud… it's been so freaking long since I've seen a movie… I've forgotten where the movie theater was…" Neptune pouted.
"You know, you could've asked me to warp us to where the movie theater is," Croire mentioned.
Neptune quickly raised an eyebrow. "Do you even have enough energy to do that?" she wondered.
"…No…" Croire replied, frowning.
"Then there would've been no point in me asking you anyway… I guess we should find our way back to my place and we try again tomorrow, hopefully you'll have enough energy to warp us in case this happens to us again," Neptune noted.
"Got it, I can't wait for your mom's dinner, it's freezing now," Croire stated, shivering from the cold as the wind began to start blowing.
"Yeah, me too…" Neptune said softly, rubbing her hands together in an effort to stay warm. "Let's head back home, I don't think it's too far from here."
"Unfortunately, I don't think I'll let you do that," an eerie voice echoed from afar.
Neptune and Croire stopped dead in their tracks, visibly startled by the eerie voice. The two looked around their surroundings and tried to locate the origin of where the voice was coming from.
"You did hear that, right Neps…?" Croire whispered.
"Yep… I heard that loud and clear," Neptune whispered back. She cleared her throat and raised her voice as she took out her handgun from her holster, drawing it around her dark surroundings. "Hey! Who's there?!"
"You're so funny… you think your silly gun can save you, little girl? Please… you're just a scaredy-cat weakling," the eerie voice teased menacingly.
Neptune felt herself get a little angry as she gripped her handgun tighter. "I am not a little girl and I am not a scaredy-cat, I am anything but those words… now show yourself!" she yelled, getting into a battle-ready position.
"Sure… after I do this, of course…" the voice stated, its soft chuckles laced with malicious intent.
All of a sudden, Neptune and Croire heard the sound of many snapping trees, the sound that made them seem like branches were completely breaking off. The noises quickly became louder and louder as the seconds passed by.
"Is… is this forest falling apart…?" Neptune panicked.
"No, Neps… under you, move out of the way of what's under you!" Croire exclaimed.
"Out of the way…? I don't know what you mean by—KYAAAAAH!" Neptune shrieked as she was quickly trapped in a large fishing net and lifted up by the trees over them.
"Neptune!" Croire cried out in fear, as she was knocked back from the net closing.
The eerie voice began to chuckle once more and finally showed themselves to the two girls. They appeared to be a young woman slightly older than Neptune's age, with dark pink hair put together in twintails and dark pink eyes that looked fierce and very sharp, fair-toned skin, a quite revealing outfit that had a mini skirt and extremely short crop top that barely covered her voluptuous breasts. She wore ripped gloves and ripped stockings along with boots with spikes that could be considered lethal if messed with. She slowly walked up towards the trapped Neptune and terrified Croire, smirking evilly.
"Well, well… looks like I've got myself a nice little catch today, don't I?" she noted, licking her lips. "Today's really my lucky day, I'm so lucky to have caught you."
"Who the hell are you?" Croire asked, as she began to lose her temper.
"Me? The name's Magic, and it appears that I've got myself a little hostage trapped here… isn't that adorable…?" Magic replied, as she tugged on the fishing net that held Neptune captive.
"Magic… where have I heard that damn name before…?" Croire muttered to herself.
"Let me go! I haven't done anything wrong!" Neptune shouted, panicking as she tried to free herself.
"Yes, you're right, you haven't done anything wrong, but you remember what I just said, yes? You're my hostage now, and I can do whatever I see fit to you," Magic cooed, a wide and evil grin on her face.
"What are you gonna do to me…?" Neptune squeaked softly.
"Hmmm, I'm not so sure yet… I'm honestly quite satisfied with just capturing you as a whole, but I feel like you could be much more useful than that…" Magic answered, licking her lips again as an evil thought popped up in her mind. "Yes… I could definitely use you for more… let's get going, Neptune. You're my neat little hostage."
"What the…? How the heck do you know my name…?" Neptune asked, her tone of voice sounding simultaneously surprised and scared.
"Hmm, it's complicated, but you're still mine now. I hope you'll enjoy your stay with me," Magic said, a dark pink aura glowing around her as a beam of light surrounded her and Neptune.
"H-Hey! Let her go, you freak!" Croire yelled.
"As if I'd listen to a puny book fairy like you… well, it's not like you'd be able to do anything about it either…!" Magic chuckled. "If you're such a fool and you really want to try to stop me, I'll be on the top peak of Planeptune. I'm sure someone like you would know where that is… either way, my work here is done. Later, loser!" She laughed evilly as the light beam fully enveloped her and Neptune, the two disappearing into nothingness.
Croire watched helplessly as Neptune was kidnapped before her very eyes. She stood there in silence for several moments, trying to process what had just happened. She then suddenly became very angry, her free hands becoming balled fists and her face becoming red. She hadn't experienced such an angry feeling in quite some time, but it was a feeling that she would rather not feel at all.
"I'm so sorry, Neptune… all I could do was just watch helplessly… I'm a small book fairy like she says I am, and she's a big woman… if I tried to confront her any more, I would've been flattened or closed up, and then I truly would've been useless to you…" she whispered, anger and irritation flaring up in her voice. "But now this means that I can get some help about it… and I'm going to get some help for you… I'll make it up to you, I promise… I'm probably going to regret where I try to get some help, but I don't know where else to turn… goddammit, this is going to somehow turn out horrible because of what I need to do."
"Hiiiisty! I'm gonna go to sleep now…!" a calm and carefree voice said slowly.
It was nearing 10pm in the Ultra Dimension and in Planeptune, as the Basilicom was wrapping up for the day after a long day of work. Histy, or Histoire was tidying up what she could of the kitchen with her tiny body, only turning around to see the origin of the voice she had heard.
"Oh, Plutia… yes, you may go to sleep now, you did great things with your community today, I'm very proud of you, let's try to keep it up for tomorrow as well, hmm?" she said graciously.
"Okaaaay… I'm just happy that I could make some of the little kids at the orphanage happy with my stuffed dolls… they really liked the ones of Peashy, especially…!" Plutia said with a happy grin on her face.
"I'm glad to hear that… are you planning on going back tomorrow?" Histoire asked her.
"Maybe for a little bit… but I was gonna hang out with Noire tomorrow… I think I told you that, Histy…" Plutia stated.
"Ah, okay… then I'll let you go for the—!"
"Help me, help me, help me!" a raspy voice shouted, panic filled in their voice.
"Huuuh?" Plutia said, jumping up in surprise.
"Why do I feel like I recognize that voice…?" Histoire muttered. "It sounds familiar for some odd reason…"
"Open the window, please! This is urgent!" the voice yelled out.
"The window? Plutia, go open the window," Histoire told her. "Someone may be out there."
Plutia ran over to the windows and opened them wide, the cool air blowing inside, sending shivers down her and Histoire's spines. She glanced outside of the window and tried to find the origin of the voice. She frowned when she was unable to find anything.
"Awww, Histy… I don't even see anything… I dunno where the voice even—!"
Plutia would never get to finish her sentence as a dark-looking book flew through the open windows and smacked her directly in the face. She tumbled to the ground backwards, and plopped down flat on the floor, landing hard on her back.
"Holy mackerel! Plutia, are you alright?!" Histoire yelled in concern.
Plutia slowly got off of the ground and took off the book that had ungraciously smacked her in the face. Her face was creased a little from the sheer impact but aside from that, she was perfectly fine.
"Owww… the book hit me really hard in the face… and there was something squishy in the middle of it too…" she complained as she slowly opened up the book.
"Ow, ow, ow… I couldn't see where I was going…" Croire muttered, rubbing her head as she was opened up again.
"Croire?!" Histoire shrieked.
"Darksty…? Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you left sometime ago to find a world where us CPUs didn't exist, hmm…?" Plutia wondered, quickly interrogating her.
"Well, yeah, that was the original plan… but I accidentally came back to this dimension, got captured by a weird bug hunter, went on this other crazy ass adventure where three other dimensions nearly got destroyed, blah blah blah…" Croire started explaining.
"H-Huuuh?" Plutia and Histoire gawked.
"Huh? Oh, sorry… I was rambling. I really need your help with something, Plutia! Something really bad happened!" Croire pleaded.
"H-Help you…? With what…?" Plutia asked.
Histoire glared down at Croire. "You're not planning on doing anything else chaotic, are you?" she wondered, skeptical of Croire's actions.
"N-No, not at all, I promise! After that second adventure, I assure you that I'm not plotting out or participating in that kind of shit again, please believe me, both of you!" Croire shouted desperately. "I really really need your help!"
"Need my help…? Why…? What's going on, Darksty…?" Plutia said slowly, expressing her genuine concern.
"It's my partner… she's been kidnapped, I couldn't do anything about it, I could tell the woman who captured her was really strong, if I tried to do anything else about it, I probably wouldn't even be here to tell you the story!" Croire explained frantically.
"Woah… calm down, Darksty…!" Plutia said in surprise.
Histoire glared down at Croire once again. "When you say 'partner', you don't mean either version of Rei Ryghts, yes?" she asked aggressively.
"O-Of course not! Frankly my new partner is the one that captured me after all that shit happened and even though she kinda held me hostage, she expressed genuine care about me and I care about her too, I'd feel so bad if something happened to her…" Croire replied, sighing.
"Is that so…? Well then, tell us her name at least," Histoire stated.
"Yeah, yeah, tell us…!" Plutia added.
"Woah, woah, calm down… you might not even believe me if I tell you her name… it's still odd, even to me…" Croire admitted, as she scratched her head.
"Well because of what you've assisted in doing in the past, I have no reason to believe you at all, but I'm willing to listen," Histoire said. "So just tell us her name already."
"Yeah, please… the anticipation is killing me, you know…!" Plutia whined.
"…Neptune…" Croire said softly.
Both Histoire and Plutia had confused looks on their faces, which then turned into unsure looks, which turned into sharp looks of shock, both of their eyes blank and white with thin black circles around them.
"Wh-Whaaaaaat?" the two shouted at the same time.
"Hey, hey! Quiet down a little, please! I went through a lot just trying to get here, my ears are ringing horribly…" Croire complained.
"Oh, sorry! But does that mean your partner is Neppy…?" Plutia asked.
"Yes, but it's this dimension's Neptune… not the one you already know," Croire answered.
"How can you be so certain about that?" Histoire said.
"What do you mean 'how can I be so certain?' I've been around both of them at the same time, and many times for that matter!" Croire huffed in slight annoyance. "But seriously, I really need your help, Plutia… I beg you please! I would've asked for help from the Hyper Dimension but I can't even warp myself over there right now, all because of that damn notebook…"
"Note… book…?" both Histoire and Plutia said simultaneously.
"Yeah, the damn book… this dimension's Neptune kept me in it a majority of the time and for some strange reason, it took away most of my energy, it kept me from warping around dimensions as often as I used to… but she helped me become a better person at the same time so I don't even hate her for it anymore… but still, I can't go to retrieve any other help right now, I won't regain enough energy for another three days or so, and I don't have that kinda time… I'm begging you two, please help me search for my partner…" Croire pleaded, as she began to cry.
"Okay, okay, calm down Croire… goodness, I don't remember you being so sensitive like this… or at all even, you were never like this at all, I don't think you've ever cried either…" Histoire stated, sweating a little as she placed her tiny hands onto Croire's equally tiny shoulders.
"I know it's super uncharacteristic of me, but I really do care about her and I really don't want anything to happen to her… I never got a definite answer though, will you please help me get her back?" Croire begged one last time.
"Sure… I'll help you, Darksty…!" Plutia agreed, smiling warmly.
Croire's eyes lit up in happiness as she heard the response she was desperately hoping to hear. "Th-Thank you so much!" she said enthusiastically.
"Before you two do anything else, Croire… you mentioned that you wanted assistance from Hyper Dimension as well, yes?" Histoire wondered.
"Ah, yeah… do you think you could connect to the other Histoire?" Croire said.
"Well after the Hyper Dimension's version of Rei Ryghts was defeated, the flow of time between that dimension and this dimension had completely stabilized… you remember how one year here would only be one day in the Hyper Dimension, yes? Now it flows at the same rate, one day here is one day there and because of that, us two Histoires don't need to connect to each other anymore… we contact each other over the phone now, and we can still head over to Hyper Dimension on a free whim, that dimensional portal in one of the forests never closed, y'know?" Histoire explained thoroughly.
"You can still make a video call, yes?" Croire said unsurely.
"Of course, I'm contacting the other Histoire right now, please wait a few moments for her to answer," Histoire told her. "Plutia, sit right next to me."
"Okaaaay…" Plutia said as she sat on the right side of Histoire.
A few moments passed before the Histoire in the Hyper Dimension finally picked up the phone, the Oracle of Planeptune in Hyper Dimension appearing sleepy and drained.
"Hello…? My, it's my other self… it's unusual for you to wish to speak to me at this hour… is something the matter…? Hyper Histoire said, yawning and slurring her words mid-sentence.
"Yes, something is very, very wrong, Histoire! It's me, Croire!" Croire exclaimed.
"Croire?! What is she doing there with you and Plutia in your Basilicom?" Hyper Histoire asked, appearing to be shocked.
"My Neptune's gotten kidnapped and there was nothing I could've done to prevent it from happening… could you please get Neptune and Nepgear on the line? I need to ask them both for their help…" Croire said softly.
"By the way you're looking at me, I can tell that you're being serious about what you're saying… very well then. Neptune, Nepgear! Come by over here quickly, there's someone who needs to speak to you," Hyper Histoire mentioned.
"Histy… why are you ordering us around so late…? I'm sleepy…" a feminine voice on the other line complained, yawning.
"We're coming, Histoire, give us a moment!" another feminine voice stated.
"Hehe, that's typical Neppy and Neppy Jr. for ya…" Plutia giggled.
A few more moments passed before Neptune and Nepgear came to the video phone, both girls appearing extremely tired.
"What's going on, Plutia and other Histoire, and wait… what the goodness, is that Croire?!" Nepgear said in shock.
"Holy crap, you're right, Nep Jr.! Croire, what are you doing over there in Plutie's Basilicom, and is the bigger me with you?" Neptune wondered.
"No she isn't, and that's exactly why I'm asking for your help along with Plutia's… she's been kidnapped, and she's being held at the top peak in Planeptune! I couldn't do anything but watch it happen… I'm way too small, if I tried to do anything to the girl who kidnapped her, I probably wouldn't even be here to say what happened to her!" Croire explained frantically.
"What?! How dare someone kidnap me, even if it is the bigger me, no one kidnaps any version of the protagonist and gets away with it!" Neptune grumbled, her face appearing visibly angry. "Who's the dummy that kidnapped her, Crostie?!"
"Do you happen to know their name, Croire?" Ultra Histoire questioned.
"Yeah… their name is Magic," Croire replied softly.
"Did you just say Magic?!" Neptune, Nepgear and Hyper Histoire all shrieked simultaneously.
"Neppy and Neppy Jr., do you know who that is…?" Plutia wondered, frowning.
"Well, based on the one we knew dealing with the Four Felons… did they have dark pink hair and eyes and were really tall and developed and have some weird shade of pink for skin, Croire?" Nepgear said.
"Well aside from the skin which looked normal to me, that description is accurate as hell… she's probably Ultra Dimension's version of her, that only makes sense to me," Croire answered, nodding.
"Did she mention anything about having a group of people, Croire?" Hyper Histoire asked.
"Nah, I'm sure she's a solo act," Croire said bluntly.
"Well, whatever the heck the case may be, we gotta go and give her a piece of our minds!" Neptune exclaimed, clenching a fist.
"It appears that you're not sleepy anymore, Neptune," Nepgear noticed, smiling lightly and sweating a little.
"No way, I still am, and frankly I'm pissed off that I'm probably going to lose a night of sleep because of that stupid Magic, even if it's another version of her!" Neptune shouted. "She kidnapped the bigger me, and she is NOT going to get away with it, 'Neptune's Mercy' is completely OFF today, I wanna go beat her sorry butt up and make sure that she never does this kind of thing ever again!"
"Wow, Neppy… you sound so motivated… and I wanna meet the bigger you as well…!" Plutia said, her eyes sparkling.
"Oh, speaking of meeting, I guess this is a good time for you to meet a friend of ours, don't worry though, she's super reliable in battle and she's super cool as well," Nepgear mentioned.
"I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about…" Croire quickly murmured to herself.
"So I assume that is a yes for your help, if I am not mistaken?" Ultra Histoire said, wanting clarification.
"Of course! Neptune and I, along with our friend, will be at the dimensional pathway in an hour!" Nepgear vowed. "Plutia and Croire, please meet us there!"
"You got it, Neppy Jr.!" Plutia said as the call ended.
"Why is it so noisy out here…? I'm trying to sleep…" a small, young voice whined softly.
Histoire, Croire and Plutia turned around to see a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes walk up to them, tugging a yellow blanket behind her.
"Oh no, Peashy…" Plutia sighed as she knelt down to her. "We're sorry for waking you up, please go back to sleep…"
"Ploot… what's going on? I heard someone got kidnapped…" Peashy noted, yawning.
"That's exactly what happened… and I'm gonna go find out who that citizen is and teach them a lesson for doing so," Plutia stated.
"Ploot, can I come with you?" Peashy asked. "I wanna fight those meanies for kidnapping innocent people…!"
Plutia and Histoire both sighed at the same time, while Croire quietly looked at the little girl that stood in front of them.
That's right, this girl's a CPU… that freaking whack-job fed her a CPU Memory… she thought. Man, those dumb memories with that whack-job really bother me now, ugh…
"Peashy, you should rest tonight, this might be a long mission… plus I'm sure that Iffy and Compa wanted to take you to the amusement park tomorrow… you should get plenty of rest tonight so that you can use all of your energy tomorrow having fun… okay?" Plutia told her, kneeling down to see her eye to eye.
"You sure, Ploot…?" Peashy said, sulking.
"I'm positive, Peashy… now go back to sleep and rest well, okay…?" Plutia said, patting her head.
Peashy smiled a little and gave Plutia a hug, to which Plutia happily embraced her back. "Okay, Ploot… good night," she said as she turned around and went back to her room.
"Good night, Peashy," Plutia said as she got back off of the ground and yawned herself, her eyes beginning to droop. "Awww, I'm really sleepy now… but I gotta stay awake, it's for the other Neppy's sake…!"
"Plutia, you remember where the pathway is, correct?" Histoire wondered.
"Mhm, that's the one place I'll never forget… let's go get the others and save your friend, Darksty…!" Plutia vowed.
"Thank you!" Croire sighed in relief. "Let's get going."
Just a little over an hour later, Croire and Plutia had made it to the dimensional portal, where it was glowing as bright as it ever was, even after so many years. As the two got closer, they were finally able to see Neptune and Nepgear along with a red-headed girl with them.
"Oh, there they are, and I think that's their friend they mentioned…!" Plutia said happily, waving towards them. "Heeey Neppy, Neppy Jr., and the new friiiiend, heeey!"
Yep, that's exactly who I thought they would bring, I'm not surprised… but the more, the merrier, I suppose… Croire thought to herself.
"Oh goodness, there you two are! You took a little longer than expected," Nepgear said.
"Mhm… I still walk really slow though… I can't help it…" Plutia said, sweating a little. "Is this the girl you two mentioned to us earlier?"
"Mhm! Uzume, this is Plutia… Plutia, this is Uzume!" Neptune said excitedly.
"Wowie…!" Plutia said slowly, staring at the new girl with excitement.
"Hey there, the name's Uzume Tennouboshi, former CPU of Planeptune in Hyper Dimension and uh… current CPU of Planeptune in Zero Dimension!" Uzume happily greeted, smiling widely.
"Hi there…! My name is Plutia, the CPU of Planeptune in this dimension!" Plutia greeted back. "I didn't realize that there was another dimension with a Planeptune CPU too…!"
"Mhm, there's a bunch of dimensions around, I've not been to many myself in comparison to the vast amount there are, heh…" Croire said.
"Anyway, introductions aside, tell us what we need to know about the situation, Croire," Nepgear told her.
"It's pretty much what I told you all on the call, my Neptune got kidnapped by that girl named Magic… and she's on the highest peak in Planeptune from what I know!" Croire explained.
"Plutie, do you know where that is exactly?" Neptune asked.
"Hmm, I don't know… I know that Planeptune has a lot of mountains in the west… but I'm not too sure how many mountains there are exactly…" Plutia sighed.
"I could try to use my N-Gear and look up the highest point in this Planeptune, then graph up an exact GPS location… then we'll get a good idea of where Neptune and her kidnapper are hiding!" Nepgear suggested as she immediately went into action, looking up the information on the internet.
"Goodness, Gearsy… always right on the case, you've not changed a bit," Uzume said, chuckling lightly.
"She's my intelligent little sis, after all, and I wouldn't have it any other way!" Neptune stated, patting Nepgear's head. "Anyway, did you locate where they are yet, Nep Jr.?"
"Yes! Right up here, on the most northwest mountain, that's the highest point!" Nepgear announced, marking the map for the four CPUs.
"Great work, Gearsy!" Uzume said happily. A beam of white light enveloped her and she became her CPU form, Orange Heart. "Now we know exactly where that meanie is holding Big Nepsy captive, let's go get her!"
"Okay—wait a darn minute! Uzume, how are you able to transform here?!" Nepgear exclaimed, her eyes filled with surprise and shock.
"Gearsy, I'm a CPU, of course I would be able to transform…" Orange Heart said slowly, obviously and visibly confused.
"Nonono, you don't understand… when both Neptune and I originally came to this dimension, we couldn't transform at all, we had to get this really weird thing called a CPU Memory and—!"
"Nep Jr., I'm pretty sure that this is yet another case of plot convenience, no way we would be searching for one of those silly CPU Mammories or whatever they're called for Uzume, that'd make this short story drastically longer than it needs to be, plus we gotta search for the bigger me too, it'd just take too much time if we followed the silly rules again," Neptune explained, patting her sister on the shoulder.
"Well that… and I think I just found one of those thingies right by the bush over there," Orange Heart added, pointing to the bush by the dimensional pathway.
"Oh okay, so you—wait, what?!" Nepgear shrieked once again.
"Owww, Gearsy… your shrieking is really hurting my ears…" Orange Heart whined.
"You just… found one over there?!" Nepgear asked in surprise.
"Mhm! It looked like a small fruit, so I tried to eat it… it definitely wasn't fruit though, that's for sure," Orange Heart said, scratching her head.
"Okay, I'm not one to break the silly convos at all typically, but I still wanna save the bigger me and beat the living crap outta that Magic dummy who kidnapped her!" Neptune yelled, her voice surprisingly sounding motivated. A beam of light also enveloped her and she had transformed into Purple Heart. "I'm not in the mood for dealing with someone like her… she's messed with a friend of mine and my bedtime, she will not get away with it! Nep Jr., let's get moving, we don't have all night!"
"R-Right!" Nepgear stammered as another white beam of light enveloped her as she finally transformed into Purple Sister. "You're quite pushy tonight, Neptune…"
"Awww, it's been a long time since I've seen Neppy and Neppy Jr. transform… and and… seeing Uzume's transformation makes me wanna do the same…!" Plutia said with glee and happiness.
"Plutie, no!" Purple Heart and Purple Sister shouted simultaneously.
"Aww, poo…" Plutia sulked. "I guess I'll ride on Neppy then…"
"Huh? Nepsy and Gearsy, why don't you want Plutsy to transform?" Orange Heart asked, her eyes filled with genuine curiosity.
"If you value your life and body in any way, I would suggest that you don't try to convince Plutie about transforming unless the situation makes it absolutely necessary for her to do so," Purple Heart huffed at her. "Is that clear, Uzume?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Orange Heart squeaked.
Purple Heart sighed as she grabbed Plutia and lifted her on her back. "We're wasting time, we need to head to the mountains and go save my bigger self, who knows what that Magic girl is doing to her," she stated firmly.
"Croire, come into my hands, I'll hold onto you tight," Purple Sister told her.
"Thanks for the lift," Croire said gratefully and placed herself down on Purple Sister's hands.
"Looks like we can finally get going," Purple Heart muttered to herself. "Nepgear, show us the way."
"Right…! So, if we keep flying in that direction opposite of where we're currently standing, we'll find where those mountains are quick," Purple Sister told her.
"Good enough for me, let's move out, ladies," Purple Heart ordered as the four CPUs took off to the skies to find their friend.
Meanwhile on the highest peak in Planeptune, also known as the Flingaway Mountains, was where Neptune was being held, as she was completely unconscious. Her black parka outfit was dirtied up along with her hair and she had several cuts and bruises on her body. It took only a few more moments for her to wake up, unfortunately finding herself trapped in a small cell.
"H-Huh…? Where am I…?" she mumbled to herself, dragging herself to sit up and rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, looks like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up, hmm?" Magic snickered, walking towards the injured Neptune.
"I… why am I here? Why do you want me? What do you want from me?" Neptune asked sleepily but showed some signs of anger in her face.
"I've been watching you and your little book friend for quite a while, and I quickly figured out that you're friends with those CPUs… I don't like them, they're annoying little brats, and I want them gone," Magic explained, tapping on the bars of Neptune's cell with her long nails.
"Why do you sound so… familiar with the CPUs? Do you know them?" Neptune asked again.
"Heh, it's a bit hard to explain how in this body, but yes, I'm very well-acquainted with them," Magic cooed, malice in her voice.
"Wh-What do you mean by that…?!" Neptune cried out.
"I can't tell you that unfortunately… too bad, so sad," Magic replied.
Neptune could feel herself getting angry at the woman standing in front of her. She angrily grabbed the cell bars in front of her and shook them violently. "I hope you know that they'll come to save me and beat your butt real good!" she shouted.
"Who's 'they'? The only thing I saw with you when I kidnapped you was the small book fairy and I highly doubt she'll be able to do anything to save your sorry ass," Magic scoffed, laughing.
"I may be small, but you're completely wrong by saying that I wouldn't be able to do anything to save my friend," a raspy voice stated.
"What the hell?!" Magic yelled, turning herself around to face where the voice came from.
Neptune's eyes lit up as she saw the people who were standing at the entrance of the mountain cave. "It's Crostie!" she exclaimed happily.
"…And the CPUs…" Magic finished, grinning as she clenched a fist.
Purple Heart placed Plutia down next to her and Purple Sister let go of Croire, letting her float freely. The four CPUs stood their ground by glaring intensely at Magic.
"Oh dear, Big Nepsy!" Orange Heart squeaked, noticing her injured friend.
"Hey gals, I'm okay, I think… I'm not too sure, I've been… completely beaten by this chick, so annoying…" Neptune said slowly, trying to muster up a smile.
"We'll get you outta there soon, we promise!" Orange Heart vowed.
"Well, well… I didn't think I'd get treated to four CPUs today, but it goes to show how well all of your connections really are," Magic said, shrugging. "But you won't get out of here alive, I will destroy you all and your friend will be here to see you all get murdered!"
"What makes you so confident that you're going to beat us?" Purple Heart wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Because I've already done it once before… do you not remember, Neptune and Nepgear?" Magic simply replied, smirking evilly.
"Wait… what?" Purple Sister shrieked.
Purple Heart shook her head angrily. "You're bluffing… what the hell does that mean?" she grumbled.
"Like I said, I've beaten you two once before, do you not remember what happened in the Hyper Dimension with the Deity of Sin? I'm quite surprised that you don't remember me at all, ladies…" Magic said, fake-pouting.
"No, that's impossible… you should be dead, we killed you and the other Four Felons…" Purple Heart said, hanging her head down.
"Yes, you're right, I should be dead… but I suppose fate said I wasn't done with life yet, and thus I've been reborn as a human here in the Ultra Dimension," Magic explained.
"No way… no freaking way…" Purple Sister whimpered.
"Nepsy, Gearsy, don't get soft, either of you! We came here to save Big Nepsy and that's that! Who cares if you've lost to her once, we can defeat her now!" Orange Heart exclaimed. "Whatever those bad memories are doing to bother you and make you weak, throw them away! They don't matter! What matters now is now, nothing else!"
"Uzume…" Purple Sister whispered.
"She's right, Nepgear… old memories had clouded me for a moment there… but she's right, we need to defeat her and get back my bigger self…" Purple Heart told her group as she drew out her sword. "Plutie, I can't believe I'm already saying this but transform, I think it's fair that this woman gets her comeuppance."
"Oh wooow, I got the okay from Neppy to transform, yaaay…!" Plutia squealed happily as a white beam of light enveloped her and she became the fearsome Iris Heart. "She has to be a really bad girl if Neppy told me it was okay to be in this form…!"
Everyone had stopped for a brief moment as cold shivers went down the spines of Magic, Orange Heart and Neptune, who hadn't said a word in a while, still trapped in her cell.
"Nepsy… why did I feel cold shivers go down my spine when Plutsy transformed?" Orange Heart asked, still shivering a little.
"For once, I agree with a CPU, what gives, man…?" Magic added, also shivering.
"You'll see soon enough… you'll see once I get to torment you for kidnapping their friend!" Iris Heart shouted.
"Good grief…" Purple Heart sighed in annoyance. "Just fast forward to the end of the fight, I would rather not deal with this at all."
After what felt like hours and lots of punching, kicking, slicing with swords, blasting with megaphones, SP skills and EXE drives later, the four CPUs were able to defeat Magic by the skin of their hairs. The girl named Magic did prove to be quite the challenge for them as they seemed to possess a similar amount of power as they did back in the Hyper Dimension. Sadly for her, her power alone wasn't enough to be able to overcome four CPUs. She laid on the corner of the wall, bruised, sore and most importantly, defeated.
"Goodness, that was a really hard fight…" Purple Sister huffed, sighing in relief.
"Man, I'm so dizzy…" Orange Heart whined, her eyes appearing swirly.
"She fought the exact same way the Magic in Hyper Dimension fought… granted, she did mention that she was reborn here as human, but still… to think her strength translated over too…" Purple Heart sighed, trying to catch her breath.
"I don't know what you girls are talking about because I had a blast, hahaha!" Iris Heart exclaimed, laughing maniacally.
"And of course, Plutie's barely been affected by any of this…" Purple Heart muttered.
"I've had so much backed up stress building up, I've never felt so refreshed…!" Iris Heart said gleefully. "Though, I think there's one more thing that I have to do…!"
"Plutie, whatever frustrations you have left on your back, please direct them to Magic and not us, I'm too beat to deal with anything else right now…" Purple Heart told her.
"Huuuh…?! Plutsy does that kinda thing…?" Orange Heart asked in genuine surprise.
"She's… a sadist, Uzume…" Purple Heart said bluntly.
"Wowie… that's why she had so much energy going through that and was laughing like a maniac… Plutsy's really scary, you guys…" Orange Heart squeaked softly.
"That's Sadie for you," Purple Heart stated. "Now you understand why we don't let her transform unless we tell her to."
"Yep! Completely understandable!" Orange Heart said quickly.
"Are you girls okay?" Neptune wondered as she was freed from her cell after the battle, walking up towards the less than energetic CPUs.
"Yep… just worn out a little," Purple Sister answered, yawning. "What time is it? I'm too exhausted to move anymore…"
Neptune checked her watch on her left wrist. "It's almost 3am," she said, also yawning.
"Woah, almost 3am?! We've been fighting for three hours?!" Purple Sister complained.
"I'm so exhausted you guys, but thanks for coming all this way to rescue me," Neptune said gratefully. She turned her head to see Croire in the corner fast asleep. She walked towards the sleeping Croire and carefully picked her up. "And thank you too, Croire… thank you for getting them here to save me."
"It seems like Croire has really changed for the better, Big Nepsy was right…" Orange Heart noticed, smiling.
"I'm all better now… yaaaaay…!" Plutia said happily, lightly clapping her hands.
"Oh goodness, Plutia… you scared me, that's bad for my heart…" Purple Sister whined.
"Sorry, Neppy Jr., I didn't mean to… anyway, I taught Miss Magic a lesson and I made her promise that she wouldn't pull a stunt like that one ever again…!" Plutia explained.
"And what did you say if she didn't, Plutsy?" Orange Heart asked.
"Then she'll get a punishment even worse than what I gave her today…!" Plutia said, her eyes glowing. "So she knows what not to do now…!"
Shivers went down the spines of the three other CPUs and the bigger Neptune as they looked at their sleepy-headed friend who was beaming like no tomorrow.
"I now understand the wrath of Plutsy…" Orange Heart whispered to herself.
"Anyway, we should get going, we have a girl to place into police custody and three of us who need to head back to their home dimensions, it's extremely late," Purple Heart said sleepily.
"Awww, but… you guys are free to sleep at my place if you want to… it's already super-duper late and using all your energy to get back to your dimensions now would be a waste… rest up at my Basilicom for the night, I don't mind at all…!" Plutia offered graciously.
"Yeah, I'm way too tired to get back to Zero Dimension tonight…" Orange Heart said, yawning loudly.
"I got kidnapped trying to find my way back home and I am not risking the same thing to happen again in the middle of the night, sorry about that," Neptune said, a blank and tired look on her face.
"I think that's a good idea, big sis… it'd be good for all of us," Purple Sister mentioned, looking up at her older sister.
"Alright then. Thanks a lot Plutie, we'll stay the night," Purple Heart said, accepting her offer with a nod. "Now we should probably get out of here and get some much-needed sleep."
"Ditto," everyone else said simultaneously, exhaustion in their voices. Neptune sleepily climbed onto Orange Heart's back, Plutia sleepily climbed onto and fell asleep on Purple Heart's back, and Purple Sister grudgingly held onto the knocked-out Magic in one arm and Croire in the other, the lone CPU Candidate not loving the situation she was in.
"Is everyone accounted for?" Purple Heart asked, Plutia sleeping soundly on her back, sucking her thumb like a baby.
"Looks like it, Nepsy," Orange Heart replied.
"Great, then let's get going," Purple Heart said as the three CPUs along with their load of 'luggage' took off, finally heading off to the Basilicom for a well-earned night's rest. As the group headed out on the route back home, the bigger Neptune could only look on at her tiny companion with a smile on her face, the small Croire sleeping soundly in Nepgear's arms.
You did such a brave thing for me, Crostie… you did everything in your power to get the others here and you combined all of your efforts to save my life… I couldn't be more grateful that I have you.
Thank you so much for everything, Crostie… I always knew you were a good girl.
