Nepgear found herself standing in the same secret hangout spot.
"W-Where am I?" She looked around the place before she heard a very familiar voice she hadn't heard in a long time.
"Ahh, this is so nostalgic, isn't it? Remember when we played right over there when we were itty-bitty?" A girl who's a tad shorter than her. The purple-haired girl turned to her with a kind smile.
Suddenly, she found herself in a very familiar scene. Nepgear felt her stomach drop and twist into a knot.
"No, no... please." She slowly backed away.
"Oh... I see. I guess you were still really little." Neptune tittered.
"Please, stop." She clenched her hair with her hands and slowly shook her head.
"Hehehe, boy, it sure is quiet here."
"Don't."
"Well, um... Don't be shocked, okay?"
"Shut. Up." Nepgear's voice was gradually getting louder.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you now. Okay, this is it. I want you to kill me with your sword."
"I SAID SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" She covered her ears and began screaming her lungs out.
"Yikes! That was an extreme reaction."
"Why? Why are you tormenting me?"
"I know this is hard and stuff but you gotta finish me off. "
"Make it stop! I beg you." Nepgear felt her legs give up before she found herself on her knees, unable to bear the torture any longer.
"You're carrying the sword with you, right?"
"You're not real—none of this is real." Nepgear then saw the curse sword in her hand. She then raised it and stared at her own reflection for a moment. Without a second thought, she pointed the sword towards herself and plunged it deep. She let out a sharp gasp as she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen before she slowly twisted it. Soon, she felt her body flop to the ground as darkness enveloped her vision.
(N)
Nepgear jolted awake and gasped. Her body was drenched with sweat. Her breathing was erratic and she felt her heart hammering against her chest. She quickly glanced around in panic and confusion before her memories began slowly pouring in.
She was back at her lab.
She then quickly ran her hands around her waist and felt nothing, no big wound or pain.
She let out a deep sigh of relief as she leaned back in her chair, feeling as if her soul had left her body momentarily.
"Ugh..." She put her hand against her forehead and wiped the sweat off. She took a few deep breaths to steady her racing heartbeats for a few moments.
She grabbed the Nep-Note from the table before she headed to the bathroom. She headed to the sink and opened the tab and filled her hands with water. She then splashed the cold water on her face. The cold water sent shivers down her body before she wiped her face with a towel.
She then looked down and noticed her right hand shaking. She swiftly grabbed it with her other hand to stop it.
She stared at herself in the mirror. As she leaned closer, she spotted her sister leaning on her shoulder from behind her with the cursed sword sticking out of her stomach. Nepgear gasped and swiftly turned around but found no one.
She took a moment to collect herself as she placed her hand on her chest.
She eyed a bottle of pills on the corner of the sink. She grabbed the bottle and her eyes lingered on it for a moment before she quickly tossed it in the trashcan as she made her way out of the bathroom.
On her way out to her office, she spotted Rei. holding a cup of coffee.
"Oh, good morning, Rei.. You're here early."
Ah, Nepgear. It's actually late afternoon but yeah, I decided to sleep in one of the guest's rooms." The woman then noticed something off. "Are you... okay? You look..."
"Yeah, didn't sleep well." She let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes. "Don't worry."
"Here, I made you some coffee."
"Oh, Thanks." Nepgear accepted the cup from her and gently took a sip out of it, already feeling the caffeine rushing through her veins. "So... what's on the agenda today?"
"Well, for starters, I did the courtesy of doing most of the paperwork, minus the ones that require your signature, of course."
"I see. Thank you." Nepgear nodded. "Where's Histoire?"
She's having a meeting conference with the guild at the moment. Oh, also Ms. Kei called earlier and asked about you."
"Did she? Well, thanks for telling me. I'm going to head to my office now."
"Sure thing. Well, I'm going to head into the city now. Best of luck."
"You too."
The two exchanged words of goodbye before Nepgear headed to her office and settled in front of her computer. She initiated a video chat with the Lastation oracle. After a few moments, a short girl appeared on the screen. The woman was dressed professionally in a black suit and had white hair.
"Ah, you're here, good. Shall we commence our business?"
"Sure. So, you told me something about ASIC's base yesterday, right?"
"Yes, hold on..." Kei picked up a report paper from her desk. "A while back, one of the agents reported that they had discovered what appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse that was converted into a base on the far east of Planeptune. They have sent one of the guild agents to scout the place."
"And that one happens to be IF, right?"
"Correct. I trust that the two of you are capable of handling this task by yourselves." Kei set the piece of paper aside and intertwined her hands on the table.
"Sure. You can count on the two of us."
"Best of luck. I'm sending you the coordinates right now. Report back to me as soon as you're done. Oh, and one more thing..."
"Yes?"
"What did Ziege say to you on that LAN party night yesterday, if you do not mind me asking?"
"Not much." Nepgear scratched her head. "Um... She said that she suspects that ASIC is working with the resistance group by smuggling weapons to them.
"I see. Is this all?"
"She also said that they might be developing a secret weapon as well but we're unsure if it's true or not."
She let out a hum. "Very well then. Thank you for informing me."
"Listen, Kei. You and Ziege need to somehow work it out. You're not one to let your feelings get in your way of work."
"I am aware of that. I will try, however... I cannot help but voice my displeasure working with someone like her. Especially regarding her questionable methods of handling situations. Justifying under, 'The greater good'. Anyhow, I have other business to attend to. Farewell."
And with that, the call was over, and the screen went dark. She then got up from her seat and left the office. On her way out, she came across the flying tome.
"Oh, good afternoon, Histoire."
"Yes, good afternoon. Heading out already?"
"Uh huh, I have a mission right now. I won't be gone for long, hopefully."
"Very well. Be safe out there." Histoire nodded.
"I will."
Nepgear went outside before she then transformed and soared into the sky.
(N)
Once she neared her destination, she changed back into her human form and continued on foot when she got close to the meeting spot.
The sound of crunching grass and leaves continued with each step she took. She spotted her friend lying on the edge of a cliff as she was scouting the place with a pair of binoculars. She was a guild agent at Planeptune and also a professionally trained special agent.
"Hey." Nepgear lay down beside her.
"Hey." The brunette didn't bother looking away from the binoculars. She wore a long black leather jacket and she had a simple black tank top with body armor on top and shorts underneath. She wore black long socks, boots, and gloves. She wore a long belt that had her initials on it. She was strapped with a gun holster and other gadgets on her belt and she also had a knife hidden below her ankle. IF changed her hairstyle as she settled on a half-buzz haircut, with the other side having long hair.
The girl went by the name IF.
'A beautiful gust of wind that blows through Gamindustri.' As she says.
She used to come over to the guild to hang out, but now the two have gone their separate ways, with IF and her childhood friend Compa wanting to focus more on their careers.
Those two stood by her and helped in her journey to save Gamindustri all those years ago.
"So, what are we dealing with right now?"
"So far... it's just some abandoned warehouse that was turned into a base by ASIC remnants, as you already know." IF passed the binoculars over to Nepgear, who began observing the place. "Also boxes—a lotta them are moving in and out. A red truck comes to drop the stuff before it gets unloaded inside."
Hmm... there seem to be a couple of guards watching on the rooftop.
"So, what's the plan?" Nepgear put the binoculars aside and turned to her friend. "How are we doing this?"
"Do what we do best. Bust in and beat the crap outta them." IF shrugged.
"Right. Got a better one?" She crossed her arms.
"Why? Those usually work, right? Well..." IF let out a hum as she pondered for a bit. "Okay, I got one."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
So, I've been playing a lot of Neptunia Victory on PS3. I like the jokes in this game; some are hit-and-miss, and the worst offenders are the overuse of the Sadie jokes. I find the villains to be more interesting than the heroes. Shame it's not fully dubbed in English.
Kinda furious about how they turned Nepgear into a mere punching bag in the game.
Next Chapter: Purple Depravity
Nepgear teams up with her old ally to take down ASIC Remnants and bring their base of operations down.