Ultradimension Neptunia: Big Nep and Smolgear

Chapter 14: Double the Nep! Part 2

This story arc starts with "Chapter 12: Double the Nep! Part 2."

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Both Neptunes, Uzume, and Umio were starting to feel exhausted as they continued to follow the determined Mercury, who was still marching ahead.

"Hey... Nep-mom..." Hyper Neptune called out. "Are you going to... slow down, anytime soon..."

"Not until my daughter is safe!" Merci shot back.

"Do you even know where you are going?" Umio asked.

"Of course!" Merci turned really quick to show them her phone. "I put a tracker on her!"

"You... put a tracker on my little sister," Ultra Neptune replied while panting. "When!?"

"Well, after the first time she ran off and was taken, I put one under the back flap of her dress. She's just a kid, and she doesn't know any better, and as a parent, of course I'd be paranoid if something would happen to her. Especially when your firstborn disappears for six years!"

"Ooh! Yeah..." Ultra Nep solemnly replied.

"...Actually, that's kind of helpful," Uzume noted. "NO ONE'S been able to find where this stupid bird nests. But if it took Lil' Gearsy there, then at least WE know where it is now."

"See, lady Uzume understands!" Merci replied, before she started running ahead again.

"...It's just Uzume," the redhead groaned.

"Ugh! Can't we just transform, and... she's gone," Neptune started before realizing that Merci was already on the move, and possibly out of a good range of her voice.

"Hey, come on, mini-me!" her counterpart replied, while jogging in place. "A little exercise is good for you."

The tiny Neptune gasped. "Even I betray myself! How could it come to this!"

"Awe, come on, don't be so dramatic, tiny me!"

"Weren't you just catching your breath a moment ago?" Uzume asked.

"I just got my second wind. Come on!" and Ultra Neptune began to chase after her mother.

Hyper Neptune groaned, while Uzume just shrugged. "Eh, I've been through worse," she said, as she and Neptune continued onward.

And Umio was just fine... since he could fly.

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They ended up having to climb halfway up a mountain, which took over two extra hours. Everyone was feeling exhausted. Even Mercury was running low on adrenaline.

"She should... be just... over there..." Merci breathed out.

"Ugh... I don't want to move anymore..." Hyper Nep complained.

"We're... almost there though..." Ultra Nep replied.

Uzume managed to keep going for a bit more, just past her friends. She had to run to the aid the ones she cared about many before, after all. She walked over and looked over a ridge. And she was surprised by what she saw.

"That's a lot of sheep..." she called out.

Umio floated over to join Uzume, and indeed saw a massive bird's nest full of sheep. Most seemed okay, for the most part, but others were... less than lively. The stick barrier of the nest's edge was too high for the sheep to escape, and it was littered with bones, probably from less-than-fortunate sheep.

"If this is the giant bird's nest, then it must use these as a food source," Umio noted.

Once The Neps and their mother managed to catch their breaths, they walked over to see what their friends were looking at, and once they saw it, Hyper Neptune whistled.