The Crash.
A singular name given to an event that had happened over a decade ago.
More games being made, less quality games being made, and online only. Those were the hallmarks that would describe the 'Crash'.
It was something that had been building up over the years as Gamindustri had been existing, and it finally came to a head in an instant one day.
Shares plummeted, mass hysteria filled the streets as citizens wondered how they would keep on living, and in the last hour of it all, talks about a certain 'Chaos Energy' floated around Chirper.
It was an event that sent Gamindustri into turmoil, turned Goddesses into Humans, and sent Neptune into a downward spiral...
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"Ugh… w-wha- happen…?" Neptune groggily asked herself as she slowly came to. Her memory was fuzzy, but last she remembered was that she passed out before finishing off the group of Dogoo.
"...huh?" her vision cleared up and then realised, "Wait this isn't my house! This is-" she sat up, but then a massive headache hit her the moment she did. She laid back down and sighed.
"This is IF and Compa's house…" she muttered to herself in distaste.
At that moment, a figure entered the room. A wave of nostalgia bursted from within her, as a girl with flowing congo pink hair and matching eyes entered her field of vision. Instead of her usual tan-white wool sweater top, she now wore a simple t-shirt, skirt, and stockings. Something that Neptune wasn’t used to seeing.
"Ah, Nep-Nep! You're awake! How are you?" Compa asked, setting down whatever she was carrying on the bedside desk..
"I tried to stand, but couldn't get past sitting up." Neptune bemoaned, "Got a massive headache and had to lay back down…"
"That's better than the shape we found you in at least."
"Wait what do you mea-"
Another figure came through the door, a figure she was all too familiar with. That familiar figure still had her brown hair and green eyes, along with the oversized blue jacket she always wore before. She used to have so many cell phone holsters, but now they’ve been reduced to a couple.
"We found you lying on the grass, naked, in Virtua Forest." IF explained, "So we brought you here. Now sit still would you, Nep? We brought you some pain killers."
Compa gently raised Neptune. Her experienced hands allowed Neptune to sit up without the headache she experienced earlier. She then gave her a pill, and a glass of water, to which Neptune initially refused, but after some pushing, eventually obliged and drank.
“Obviously it won’t work right away, but it’s better than nothing.” IF said.
Neptune flashed a sad smile at IF, "Yeah." then another thought popped into her mind. "Ah, shit! Ow… I-I have to open my store and check up on Nepgear. See if she's doing alright. She's never had to- Ow! Fuck. What's…"
She tried to get out of bed. But this time, a searing pain coursed through her body. IF and Compa, seeing the pained face of their friend, immediately forced her back onto the bed.
Neptune sighed in frustration as she was forced back onto the bed, her arm over her head in a vain attempt to cover up the pain, "What day is it?" Neptune asked.
"It's Tuesday." IF responded simply
"Fuck me…" Neptune cursed, closing her eyes and resigning herself to her fate.
Silence quickly befell the room afterward. Neptune wasn't one to curse, IF and Compa knew that. But… clearly she had changed. Something within her had changed
But what exactly?
In the twenty years since The Crash, clearly something had happened between now and then.
Before then they were all best friends. Neptune had raised both Compa and IF as kids, and supported them ever since. She might not have been the best role model as an adult, but as a person she was the best role model they could've ever had.
But ever since then? Neptune hadn't responded to any of their texts. Not online on her Chirper, nor any other social media accounts. Quickly, the pair found themselves yearning for the days where they'd absentmindedly talk about nonsensical things, or even the most mundane things. Before, they talked about everything, from the random thoughts in their minds, their private doubts and public assertions, to their hopes and dreams inside their hearts. Everything and anything, without any barriers, they laid themselves bare.
But as the seconds passed, the deafening silence overtook the room.
It felt stuffy, as if Compa and IF were being choked to death by an atmosphere created by Neptune being intentionally unwilling to create a dialogue of interaction between the three of them.
IF and Compa wore uneasy looks in their eyes. Staring at Neptune with equally uneasy smiles as they waited for her to start the conversation like she had in the past.
They had been so close back then! Surely she would want to catch up with old friends right?
Right…?
Yet, the lilo never comes.
“So uh, Nep, how’ve you been doing lately?” IF would ask after a while, trying to break the deafening silence.
But it seemed that Neptune wasn't having any of it. “What brought this on?”
“What brought- No, nothing like that Nep. We haven’t spoken to each other in over, what? 20 years.” IF was taken aback at how passive aggressive Neptune could be...
Only to mellow out as she said, “It’s been that long huh?”
“Yeah. It’s been that long.”
"..."
“How’re you and Gear?”
“We’re doing alright, and you two?”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“We’re doing okay, I guess…"
Compa didn't want to speak up. She could feel the tension between them. Palpable enough that she didn't want to know what would happen if she speaks up.
IF, realising this, sighed and put a hand to her head, "Look. Nep. Just rest up alright? That's the least you can do first before you bolt off to your home."
"Fine." Neptune stated bluntly, turning her back towards them and closing her eyes. She didn't want to stare at Compa and IF's concerned faces.
She didn't want their sympathy.
IF huffed in slight annoyance and left, motioning for Compa to follow her as well. To which Compa nodded, but…
Before she left, however, Compa turned to Neptune and said, "We don't hate you, Nep-Nep. If that's what you think. If anything, we want to be able to talk to you again like we used to…"
Compa wouldn't be able to see it as she left, but Neptune was having doubts inside of her head already. The seeds of doubt showed on her face that she was seriously reconsidering her stance.
Maybe they were being genuine? Perhaps she could make it up to them? But Neptune even doubted that, and she was toiling away in her thoughts before the sweet grace of sleep took over.
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Neptune woke up for the second time that day. She sat up, stretched, and rubbed her eyes. The room, the usual nostalgic room where she used to hangout with them, was silent. She strained her ears, listening for signs that they would come back and check up on her.
After a few moments drenched in the quietness of the room, Neptune let out a sigh of relief.
Glancing over to the nightstand, A yellow gelatine-like structure sits on a plate, with a small spoon right beside it. She reached out, but her hand stopped short just as she was about to pick up the plate.
“No.” she told herself. And her hand retreats.
Thinking that it’s the best time for her to get out, she pulled herself from the covers of the bed, and stood up. The instant she did so, her stomach growled.
"I'll have to order some takeout…" Neptune mumbled to herself in disdain, "But the takeout here fucking suuuucks…"
She shook her, "Yeah, I feel better now… Still, these clothes..."
Neptune glanced around the room until she found a full body mirror. She walked up to it, and saw that the reflection on it was that of a foreigner in her old clothes.
It was her old parka sweater, a bit too form fitting now for the foreigner’s aged up body, but still not uncomfortable nonetheless. She knows what the foreigner has gone through with those clothes. How that person raised their best friends, how they reacted when that person introduced their little sister to them, or when they saved the world from an evil witch that never seems to retire.
The foreigner looks back at her, almost mocking her.
Neptune clicked her tongue, "Did they grab this from the Planeptower? How do they even have this…" she noticed something peeking out from the bottom of the mirror behind where she stood. She looked behind her, and found purple shoes and blue and white striped stockings neatly tucked in. "Even my stockings and shoes?! What the fuck…"
Knowing that she had no choice in the matter, she begrudgingly put on what remained of her old outfit and sighed, "Well… I guess this is a blast from the past…"
It took a little more time than she'd like,but Neptune eventually found her way out of IF and Compa's house to find…
It was next to the Guild hall.
"At least I know my way home from here, I suppose. But still… of course their house would be near here. IF is the fabled 'Legendary Guild Hero' after all." she said mockingly
Did she even want to enter the Guild hall? People were already giving her stares in contempt as if she were a cosplayer who was cosplaying a very unpopular character.
"I can come back tomorrow when I'm not in my old clothes." she told herself, beginning her walk back home.
On her way home she can feel the various passersby taking a double take on her. As though they’ve seen a relic of the old casually strutting along. Like a rumor that everybody knows about.
“Hey...”
“Yeah...”
"Isn't that…?"
"Yo! She's that-"
"She’s from that-...”
She covers her ears, and runs through the crowd of people as fast as her legs could take her. Their piercing stares, those mouths that just don’t stop moving. She drowns the world with each step she makes, slamming her foot down onto the pavement.
‘I hate you!
I hate every single last one of you!’
Neptune panted, stopping to catch her breath as she found herself on a familiar busy street, in front of a store where almost no one comes to visit.
She entered the store, the bell ringing as soon as she did so. The store was left as she remembered it. With familiar steps, she headed toward the counter at the far back, and noticed a small white piece of paper pinned by several small nuts.
Some people came by actually. Bought a game or two. So now we have 300 more credits that we didn't have before. Also, there's food in your bedroom for when you read this note.
Neptune let out a sigh of relief, "So you do know how to open the store, Junior…"
She pulled out her N-Gear out of her inventory and checked her bank account… Yep. 300 more credits were in there that she didn't have yesterday.
Feeling a bit light hearted that they at least have some sort of money, she walked on further back towards her room.
But before she could open the door to her room, she looked next door, with a sign that said ‘Do not disturb’.
Neptune let out a sad sigh and shook her head, "Junior…"
Inside her room, she found a WcDonalds bag laid on her nightstand, along with a drink. Feeling thirsty, she grabbed the drink.
“It’s warm,” she commented. “Means the fries are useless now. Whatever, I’ll just have the burger.”
But as she opened the bag and started to sit down…
*KABOOM!*
A large explosion was heard right behind her, and Neptune quickly rushed out of her room to try and unlock Nepgear's door.
"Junior? Junior?! Junior! Hey! Are you still-"
“Aaaargh! Dammit! Why won’t this thing work!”
“Junior! Hey! Can you hear me!?”
“Do I really have to do all this work again! Gawd!”
“Hey…! Junior!”
“Stupid.. little… capacitor…!”
“...”
“Every single…! Rrrrrg!”
What was she expecting?
Was she expecting that her little sister would come out and tell her that the explosion was nothing?
Was she expecting that she’ll be her old self?
Was she expecting that she’ll say those sweet words that she always took for granted?
No. Of course not.
Because, ever since she holed herself up in her room. She's been very serious about her engineering work. And they’ve never met eye to eye ever since.
‘She’ll come around’ she always thought. But when though?
She could just break down the door and confront her. Drag her along and force her to listen. But… she’s not her old self anymore. Nepgear surely wasn't how she used to be.
She’s so far away, so very far away. It was as if Celestia itself didn't approve of them. So far away, that even the voice of her own sister, her only family, did not reach her ears.
And yet, they’re just separated by a single wooden door.
Neptune sighed and shook her head, "Whatever… probably doesn't want to speak with me anyway." she said dismissively, walking back to her room to eat her burger.
Maybe another time.
Whenever that was...