Welcome to part three of this trilogy that was never supposed to be. Due to my apparent masochism and some well formulated threats/requests from readers (haha) I present to you this final Neptunia story.

As always, in the timeline it takes place after Megadimension Neptunia VII. It might be possible to read this without knowing the two prequel stories, but I wouldn't recommend it.

PS: The title is supposed to be "Best Spouses Forever!?", but formatting forbade me from doing that lol

Episode 0: Prologue

"Alrighty, let's address the pink elephant in the room gals. The author officially ran out of relationship terms to use for the title."

"Neptune?! The 4th wall was just rebuilt!" Noire chopped Neptune's forehead with one hand.

"Ow! We gotta say it how it is Nowa. We can't pretend that we aren't living in a world of lies anymore!"

"If you wouldn't jump ahead in the script so much we could get there soon enough!" Another hit on the head made Neptune back down.

"Are you two quite done now?" Histoire looked at the pair with a grim expression on her tiny face. "This is a very serious crisis. Please focus." She floated across the round table anxiously.

"Leave it to Neptune to abandon all worry for the future." Vert smiled lightly. She glanced towards Blanc and winked.

"Hmph." But the small CPU didn't reciprocate that jovial gesture. Her eyes were focused on the red-haired girl at the opposite end of the table.

Uzume was looking rather nervous. There was a hint of fear in her body language. It was very unlike her to act this way, which more than anything else drove home the direness of their situation.

"U-uhm, could you repeat what you wanted to say one more time Histy?" Nepgear asked her for the sake of loosening the tension between the Oracle and her carefree protégé.

The CPU candidates were all sitting on one side of the table, separate from their sisters. Uni sat close to Nepgear and was tapping her fingers on the table to cope with her uneasy feelings. The Lowee twins on the other hand didn't seem to understand what was really going on.

"Yes." Histoire sighed and floated back next to Uzume. "As you are all aware ladies, we have reached a new low in global Shares in the recent weeks." She put on tiny glasses and pointed with a small stick at a projected screen. "And I am not talking about distribution to a new faction or anything like it." This wasn't like what happened with ASIC.

"Yeah it's been kinda poopy lately. Not even a dance video could get our Shares back to space!" Neptune gave them the ducklips.

"It didn't take much to get your Shares to that low percentage." Noire said with dull eyes. "But for Lastation to lose this much… it's impossible!" Noire slammed the table with her hands.

"We worked so hard too…" Uni bit her lip. Clearly she was putting the blame on herself as well. She suddenly felt the warm touch of another hand on hers. As she looked up she saw Nepgear's supportive smile. That managed to calm her down immensely.

"I always considered myself quite capable at holding a certain Share balance, but this is unprecedented." Vert sipped on her glass of soda with a neutral expression.

"It's her fault, isn't it?" Blanc glared at Uzume.

"I'm sorry!" Uzume apologized with a bowed head. Blanc's words were harsh, but she was going to take all the blame.

"That is not exactly true." Histoire looked at Uzume with sympathetic eyes.

"Then why is she overflowing with all this Share energy?" Blanc crossed her arms.

It was almost palpable in the air. The awesome power that surged through Uzume's body was like a cloud of Shares. She seemed to exude faith from every pore. The only time they had ever seen something similar was when Nepgear defeated the Deity of Sin with the faith of all people in Gamindustri.

"Let me explain my theory." Histoire pointed at the screen again to distract from the apologetic Uzume. "It all began with the collapse of the Heart Dimension about a year ago." The screen displayed a rough recreation of the Heart dimension's layout. "After it had been completely destroyed with Kurome Ankokuboshi's demise the space between the Zero and Hyper dimensions has become unstable." Now two more graphics for the other dimensions were placed left and right of the Heart dimension.

"So you're saying we are experiencing the effects of that only this much later?" Noire looked doubtful.

"Yes, it appears that the dark energy from the Heart subspace has been spreading across the multiverse for the longest time since its destruction. That is why we haven't noticed any effects until now. It was still dispersing."

"Is that why those Dark CPUs appeared in Gamarket and other dimensions?" Vert asked perceptively.

"The other Neptune is currently investigating things with Croire, but we can assume that this has been the case." Histoire nodded gravely. "Those are only simple side-effects though. The reality we are facing now is what happened after the darkness had been dispersed completely."

"I don't get it Histy. If the bad stuff got washed away, why are we getting our asses kicked by Share deficiency? I thought if you spill the bad stuff out you recover them vitamins faster." Neptune was wobbling on her chair with a blank face.

"Er…. That phrasing aside." Histoire lowered her head in exhaustion. "What I surmised by analyzing the data for the last three days is that the void between dimensions is causing instability between realities. This phenomenon is responsible for the irregular Share flow. The energy of this dimension is seeping into the Zero dimension without anything to stop it."

"Could you repeat all that gibberish, but replace it with gibberish that makes sense, so that I can understand?" Nep said with a raised hand.

"Histoire is saying that all our Shares go to the Zero dimension." Noire summarized for her slow girlfriend. "And the reason is that we destroyed the Heart dimension." Her eyes shifted away as she seemed to recollect those events.

"A final present from Kurome." Vert said with a frown.

"Woah, so we're gonna lose all Shares and they go to Uzume's place forever!?" Nep finally realized how serious the situation was.

"I didn't want this." Uzume gritted her teeth and balled her fist.

"We know it's not your fault Uzume." Nepgear tried to ease her worries.

"Because of that she is bursting with all our people's faith right now." Blanc wasn't as forgiving it seemed.

"That is correct. Uzume as the only recognized CPU of the Zero dimension receives the entire Shares that flow over there."

"I'm sorry guys!" Uzume apologized again. She had been doing so for the entire time now. Clearly this weighed heavy on her conscience.

"We went and blew up that bad place with our own hands, so who's gonna blame you?" Neptune shrugged.

"There was absolutely no alternative. Kurome's delusional monsters would have destroyed Gamindustri. She had to be stopped at all costs." Noire closed her eyes. The true price was only becoming clear now, but she would never regret her decision from back then.

"And if she disappeared?" Blanc's emotionless words reverberated through the room that fell deaf silent. Her eyes were still focused on Uzume.

Everyone looked at her in shock.

"W-what are you saying?" Nepgear tightened her hand on Uni's in confusion.

"Nepgear… calm down." Uni felt the stinging of Nepgear's nails burying into her flesh, but instead of reprimanding her, she put her other hand over the shivering girl's. The shivering stopped as they came closer for comfort.

"Time out! Blanc, take 5 on the bench and think about what you've done wrong." Nep made a 'T' sign with her hands and blew into a non-existent whistle. "What did we say about conquest routes and crushing our friends for personal gain?" She raised one finger in scolding.

"…I'm just saying what everyone was thinking." Blanc clicked her tongue and backed off.

"That would not change the situation for the better." Histoire stayed objective. Whether Banc's comment disturbed her or not was impossible to tell. "If Uzume were to leave, the Shares would need a new host. If there is no suitable one, they will simply form a Sharicite. An ever-growing crystal with the power to warp space. The consequences might be much more fatal and nothing would be accomplished in Gamindustri."

There really was no way out of this.

Everyone was silent. They all had experienced their powers weakening each passing day. Whether they would admit it or not, they could already not transform anymore. The drain of Shares was affecting the CPUs more than anyone else.

Blanc's bad mood and harsh suggestions were not entirely unexpected. She was also thinking of her little sisters here. If this situation continued…

"Sooo, we're running out of magic fuel and are going to fall into comas and stuff? Doesn't that sound familiar?" Neptune's eyes turned into lines.

"That is not true Neptune." Histoire suddenly interjected into the gloomy atmosphere. "If you run out of Shares the most likely scenario is that you will turn human." She explained matter of factly.

"Are you serious?" Noire was out of it.

"I see… I heard of worse fates before, but this is not exactly acceptable either." Vert folded her hands.

"We're going to be like the kids in town?" Ram looked confused.

"Is that… bad?" Rom didn't seem to get it either.

"We can't stay as CPUs?" Blanc made a poker face.

"Even if you keep acting as CPUs of your nations and the citizens kept believing in you, all the faith of the people will go straight to Uzume." The tome girl said seriously.

This bombshell was putting the girls into a stupor.

"If only I had thought about it more." Uzume's fist was shaking. "There's gotta be a way out of this!"

"I will not stop searching for that solution!" Histy nodded determinedly. "But until then we need to get you into shape to be this world's ruling CPU." She added towards Uzume.

"Eh?" The red-head was sweating.

"If the CPUs lose their power the citizens will eventually notice. We can't counter threats efficiently either. I know that you are already incredibly busy with rebuilding the Zero dimension, but I beg you Uzume, please watch over the Hyper dimension from now on too." The Oracle flew to her old friend and grabbed one of her hands with her own tiny ones. They barely managed to cover it properly.

"But everyone is still here. I can't just-" Uzume shook her head.

"This is seriously bad. I can't leave Lastation to a total beginner." Noire put a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"I never imagined to be usurped by accident. How ironic. These things usually only happen to Lowee." Vert joked.

"Oh shut it!" Blanc cracked her fingers in displeasure.

"Well, if it's Uzume then it's fine I guess. We Planeptune folk need to stick together." Neptune gave her friend a thumbs up.

"A-are you taking this seriously, guys?!" Uzume rose from her chair and got louder.

"Absolutely." Noire glared at her. "I do not like this any more than you do. If there is even a slight hope of reversing the effects I will take it without question." She adjusted her twintails. "But until we find that solution, we can't just stay stagnant. The world keeps moving whether we want it or not." The pragmatist in her had awakened.

"Y'all don't have to stop ruling your homes! I can't do this job by myself anyway. So let's work together!" Uzume spoke hopefully.

"We could act as governors of the nations for the ruling CPU." Vert said with a distant voice.

The others stayed silent for an agonizingly long time.

"I would rather not." Noire finally said with a clouded face.

"Big sis?" Uni was surprised to hear that.

"I agree. No offense, but I don't wanna be anyone's glorified secretary." Blanc said dryly.

"I'll help if you really want me to, but I wasn't good at the whole paperwork stuff anyway. I'm better at punching evil in the face and attracting people with my main character charme." Neptune laughed with an apologetic face.

"This is a precarious situation indeed." Vert sighed. "Give us some time to get familiar with this new human existence." Her words were tinged with subtle regret.

Uzume looked lost. Everyone was turning away from her with more or less pity. They had their reasons, but she felt like some outcast now…

"I will help you Uzume!" Nepgear shouted into the uneasy room.

"N-Nepgear?!" Uni couldn't hold her from moving around the table.

"Gearsy...?" Uzume looked at her with a mix of surprise and infinite thankfulness.

"I don't know how much help I can be, but you are not alone. Even if I'm human, I won't give up on helping a friend." Her eyes were fiery with determination. She would cover for the rest of them as long as they needed.

"Thanks a bunch!" Uzume grabbed Nepgear's shoulders and bowed her head.

"N-no, you don't need thank me, y-you would have done the same for us!" Nepgear stammered in embarrassment. Uni looked at the scene with a weird glint in her eyes.

"I agree that everyone should get some time off to get used to their new situation." Histy suddenly regained the group's attention with a clap. "And of course we can't let the nations run themselves during that time either. Uzume will need to go through intensive training as well, so we can't let her do the job on her own."

"Then what do you suggest?" Noire was not entirely cold towards the red-head of course. She didn't want her to be lonely either. They still needed to figure a lot of stuff out for themselves. This was a life-changing moment.

"I called for reinforcements before this meeting." Histoire said with a smile. "They should arrive by tomorrow, so leave the governing to us until everything has been sorted out!" Her words were reassuring, but who did she mean by 'us'?

"So where are you going to stay Uzume? Wanna hang out in Planeptune's Basilicom? It's not our home anymore I guess, so you can make yourself comfy." Neptune tried to keep the spirits up as always.

"'bout that…" Uzume looked at Histy.

"Due to the current circumstances it seems that a Share Bridge between the Zero dimension and here has been established." Histoire showed a picture of a glowing portal in the west of Gamindustri.

"Woah! So we can now skedaddle over there without using mega-me's notebook or MAGES.' magic science devices?" Neptune whistled.

"Just like the Ultra dimension portal." Nepgear was happy to hear that as well.

"That reminds me." Histy's eyes started to glow with lines of numbers. "The Ultra portal had to be sealed for the time being."

"Whaaaaat?!" For the first time Neptune seemed devastated.

"If we hadn't done that, the Share drain could affect even their dimension." The blonde Oracle explained.

"B-but I was gonna have a nap session with Plutie next week. And P-ko wanted to show me that super neptastic drawing she made!"

"Hopefully this will only be a temporary measure. I will explain the details to that dimension's version of me." Histoire could connect to mini-Histy any time after all.

"If we could have gone there we might have been able to stay CPUs actually. We both ate the CPU memories, so we are technically official goddesses of the Ultra dimension." Nepgear pointed out.

"I am on the floor right now and you are kicking me. It's true!" Nep said from below the table. She hadn't even thought of that possibility until Nepgear had brought it up. But now they couldn't go there anymore anyway.

Noire crossed her arms and pretended not to care. Neptune noticed immediately.

"Meh, I wouldn't just run off to be a perfect goddess over there anyway. I couldn't leave my lonely GF behind, right?" She laid an arm around Noire's cold shoulder.

"I-I don't care a-anyway. I'm used to you running off to other dimensions already." She huffed.

"It's more like the plot literally drags me there, but you don't need to worry no more! I will now hold your hand, so we both get dragged around~"

"Let's stay here for once!"

The atmosphere got a little lighter and the chattering continued for a while. Everyone was making plans on how to act next. Histoire was leaving for a while to contact some people and work out the logistics of the operation to make Uzume a good ruler. The tomboyish CPU came along. She looked more than overwhelmed.

After some heated discussion they were all more or less set on what to do next. But there was one more point that Histoire didn't mention, probably because it was not exactly relevant to the crisis.

But Noire had to address it sooner or later and she didn't like pushing it off.

"This is probably a terrible time to remind you, but…" She gulped. "W-w-we will have to… to… we need to." She was fidgeting around and playing with her dress's ribbons.

"Did ya short-circuit? I knew too much thinking would break you eventually!" Neptune tapped Noire's head as if it was a defective TV.

"Remind us of what?" Blanc raised a brow.

"Something more important than our current predicament?" Vert's ears perked up.

"RAAGH! Stop mocking me! Fine, I'll remind you then!" She lost her cool. "We need to propose to someone now!" She exclaimed.

"Wut?"

"The heck…"

"Oh my."

The CPUs reacted in a variety of confused expressions. So did the little sisters. Except Uni.

"You really remembered that?" The raven haired girl mumbled.

"Are you cereal?" Nep poked Noire's cheek.

"Try to remember that line!" Noire subtly pushed the finger away.

Remember….

"We aren't going to rip off more popular fanfics… yet."

Yet… yet… yet…

"So the time has come." Neptune squinted her eyes as the camera zoomed in on her and dramatic music played.

"NOT THAT LINE!" Noire smacked the back of Neptune's head. "Out of all the dumb lines we had in that story you needed to bring this one back up?!" Her eyes turned white.

"Ouchies… But it totally applied here."

"Do you want us to get sued? I was talking about the bet we made during the Peace Festival play!" Noire pulled Nep's ear for punishment and started another flashback.

Noire: "Then let's make this bet official. Whoever loses the Share race… has to propose to the other!"

Neptune: "You better prepare some crazy cool snacks for the wedding! I want a triple quadruple layered cake that you can jump out of!"

Noire: "Heh. In your dreams. It's not like I or Lastation could ever lose."

Vert(?): "I agree to the bet."

The flashback faded gently like a ripple in a puddle.

"Waaaaaait a minute! I feel like that was a really abridged version of what actually happened. Like, we're missing ALL the details?" Neptune was sweating nervously.

"How odd. I don't remember such a bet or agreeing to it." Vert put a hand to her cheek and looked distraught.

"T-that happened during the time you had memory loss." Noire said while squirming out of Vert's analyzing gaze.

"Is that so? In that case I have no way to object." She said slowly. Every syllable made the rest feel more afraid. It was better if Vert never found out what they had done behind her back.

"And I'm not even in that flashback! So how can ya claim I agreed?" Blanc said coldly.

"You definitely did, it's just that you didn't say it out loud. Like a silent agreement… You didn't say you disagree." Neptune stumbled into really bad territory.

"Silence doesn't mean yes!"

"Simply accept your fate, would you? Sometimes we are forced into situations we didn't account for." Vert was clearly not going to let Blanc get out of this if she had to go along despite memory loss.

That remark actually made Blanc shut up. The two were strangely far apart and didn't look at each other. But nobody had time to question that.

"When we made that bet, I kinda thought it wouldn't happen so soon." Nep smiled wryly.

"If it wasn't for this shitty situation Lowee would never have lost." Blanc was apparently giving in now.

"We swore in front of all people in Gamindustri that we would do it. So this is nothing we can change anymore. Well now I said it, so see you." Noire felt awkward and wanted to escape as soon as possible.

"Proposing…" Nep looked somewhat thoughtful. She stared after her girlfriend and smiled. Perhaps this wasn't so bad after all.

"Sis, are you fine with it?" Nepgear and the other candidates had been watching the argument in silence until now.

"I dunno. Getting tied up was like the worst idea ever until recently… but if it's with Noire."

Nepgear nodded. Her sister had changed a lot in the last year and a half. Even if it was unthinkable before, now they could actually imagine a future together. And because they had become humans now there was no duty stopping them anymore.

While the candidates were not part of the bet, they too were concerned about their sisters' future, so they ran over to them for support.

"Noire, wait for me!" Uni ran after her sister who was trying to escape the room as fast as possible. "Do you really want to propose?" She asked with a mix of concern and embarrassment.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" She said curtly and opened the door. If she had to propose it would obviously be to Neptune. The thought made her… feel very fuzzy. Too fuzzy! She needed to run a few laps around the building to vent off this steam building in her chest!

"Ah, sorry!" IF apologized as she bumped into Noire who was leaving through the now open door.

"It's fine." The Lastation sisters left.

"Nep, where's Histy? I contacted the people on the list and they all agreed to help you out." IF walked over to the Planeptune sisters with a raised brow.

"You just missty'd her." Nep snorted.

"Gear, what's going on? Nep is acting like always, but the rest seems pretty bad for wear."

"Uhm… We just heard that we will become human soon." Nepgear purposely avoided talking about the whole proposal deal.

"Yeah, but that's just temporary, right?" IF tilted her head.

"…" There was no certain answer right now.

"Miss Nepgear, what is a proposal?" Rom asked the purple haired girl.

"It's uhm… w-when two people that love each other… m-make an even stronger bond. A-and then their families get tied together by that bond." Nepgear tried to explain as easily as possible. Talking about marriage was kind of exciting, but also embarrassing.

"Families get bigger? That's so cool!" Ram was excited too.

"Are we getting a new sister now?" Rom and Ram asked in sync.

"Like I would know." Blanc said quietly and moved towards the door. She didn't have the patience to talk this through with the twins.

"Who're you gonna propose to then Vertipoo?" Nep snapped out of her fantasies and asked the remaining goddess curiously.

"Hmhm~ I wonder?" Vert crossed her arms below her bosom and hummed. "Perhaps I should ask for my cute Nepgear's hand? We can still stay sisters of course." The blonde smiled alluringly.

"E-eeeeeh?!" Nepgear's head went up in a poof of smoke.

Tap tap tap

Before Blanc could even open the door, it was already thrown open and Uni crashed into the room. Her eyes were fierce and locked on to that new enemy!

"Just kidding. I would never wish to bring the wrath of little Uni upon myself. You're such a cute couple." Bait successful.

Uni and Nepgear both blushed in response and tapped their index fingers together embarrassedly. They were standing back to back, unable to face the other. It was a sight for sore eyes.

"Now would be a good time for you to consider your options as well. Nobody would notice if you too slipped a proposal in there." She winked towards the lovers.

"Pfff, you got got." Nep snickered.

In front of Vert, Blanc was now back to leaving the room.

IF looked after her with a twitchy face. She was clearly holding something in. Then she looked at Vert with very worried eyes.

"You… don't seem to get along since… back then… Lady Vert." She said with a hoarse voice.

"…"

"It's not my place to question your decisions, but…" IF wasn't cut out for this kind of advice. "M-maybe you should talk to Lady Blanc one more time?"

"I agree." Vert twisted her eyebrows for a moment and then moved after the smaller CPU.

"The nep is this about?" Neptune wondered.

"Don't you have other things to worry about Nep?" IF said with squinted eyes.

"Now that you mention it!" Neptune acted as if it had just occurred to her. "If Nep Jr. will stay with Uzume for now I'm like totally on my lonesome!"

"Sis, I am sorry, but Uzume needs all the support she can get."

IF and Neptune looked at her fondly. Nepgear had matured. She could now leave Neptune alone when she felt it was necessary. The clingy girl from some time ago was no more. Yet she was still kind enough to worry.

"No worries, I'll manage on my own. You and Noire Jr. should just focus on what you want to do for now. But let me visit you up in your fancy palace after becoming royal advisor or somethin', okay?" Neptune laughed.

"We will see each other again soon!" Nepgear insisted and then hugged Neptune.

"Hehe… you big baby sister of mine." Nep patted her back and nodded.

"I… I will look out for Nepgear, so don't worry Miss Neptune." Uni said bashfully.

"Oh will you ever? At this rate you're really gonna propose before me or Noire!"

"Stop teasing them Nep." IF smiled as well though.

Things would get a whole lot more turbulent soon. Each and every person in this group had to face their own unique problems. The future of Gamindustri was just as uncertain as theirs.

Whether everything would turn out well in the end, only time could tell.

(To be continued)