HDN (Prelude): Part 2 [Iris Heart x Reader Arc]

So, here we are again, part 2! This one may actually be a bit longer than the previous part, and I hope I don’t run out of ideas too quickly.
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‘’You can’t fool me. I know exactly when someone’s enjoying himself’’, she says.
To be honest, you knew she was right about it, denying wouldn’t help any longer. Still, you refused to just give in like that.
I have to do something, you think, but what could one do in a situation like this?
‘’I can tell what you’re thinking, but I’m afraid you have no choice but to endure this~’’
She lets go of you and stands up, pulling out a genuine whip.
‘’Let us start the real fun now, shall we?’’, she says, a vicious smile on her face and ready to proceed. However, it shouldn’t come down to it just yet. Before the dominatrix could lay hand on you once more, an intense explosion was to be heard from the distance.


What in the world was that?, you think as you look around and then back towards the dominatrix.
‘’Oh my, it appears someone is in big trouble.’’
She knew what that was? How does she still remain so calm and composed after that brutal sound? You keep contemplating, yet a moment later, she interrupts you.
‘’It seems I’ll have to go now. I would have loved to play with you some more, but I currently have more important matters to attend.’’
‘’Hm, then-‘’
You don’t get to pose a question to her anymore. Instead, she shortly waves at you as she’s about to make her leave.

‘’Playtime is over for now. Still, I have the feeling that we will be meeting each other again...very soon. Until then, I hope my pet doesn’t get in trouble~’’
‘’Yeah, sure…whatever…’’



And off she goes. After she got out of sight, you decide to stand up and think about what has happened so far since you are now by yourself again. First off, you have been seemingly teleported into the world of Hyperdimension Neptunia. You discovered how your body has changed after waking up. The changes are not half-bad to say the least, but what is the cause of this weird and sudden occurrence? Is it an anomaly of time and space involved into it or maybe something even more enigmatic?

Whatever it was, you needed to figure it out as soon as possible since this isn’t the world you belonged in. It strikes you though that you could have asked that woman about more details to the situation, perhaps she knew. Unfortunate for you, forgetting about the most important while she was having her way with you.

It goes to the point where it upsets so much that you let yourself get carried away by something like this. You try to calm yourself, but just the mere thought of it angers you anew.
In a fit of rage, you punch against a tree, hoping you could relieve some stress through it.
…
The tree caved in upon making contact with your fist, it drives further into it and eventually causes the tree to fall over. Due to the strength behind the punch it didn’t fall over normally, rather, it was flung several meters further than normal. It truly is a big surprise as you see it happen.

‘’Was that…my own force? Sure, I became more muscular, but it should not be such a tremendous difference…’’ You carefully examine your hand, yet there are no severe injuries or scratches to discover. Likely, it may be part of that anomaly, too, that you have become stronger, but you don’t waste any time with bringing that up again.

Now I’m curious whether I solely received a tremendous amount of power or whether there are still some interesting abilities that I can harness to my advantage, you think, as you sit down and begin to cross your legs. ‘’Maybe I might try to meditate a little in order to release them. I read somewhere that meditation is applied to channel your body’s energy which can be the key to new unknown powers your body holds.’’

Without further hesitation, you close your eyes and calm your spirit as best as possible. You focus your entire attention on the meditation, so that you may unlock what’s inside you.



About an hour passes due to your meditation. With some problems in the beginning, you eventually managed to achieve a certain state of nothingness within your mind. You keep your concentration up high, though it became visible from the outside that you’re struggling now.

The pressure gets stronger, you start trembling a little bit and also squeeze your eyelids tighter. Suddenly, with a clear look of resolve on your face, you open up your eyes and in the same time a metal blade emerged from each of your arms.

You stand up, carefully examining the blades. In the next moment, the blades begin glowing brightly, covered in a white-yellow aura, but not only the blades, also your arms.

‘’What is this? Is that part of the ability as well?’’, you wonder. The glowing disappears from your arms a second after that. ‘’Hm, looks like I can control that, too.’’ The glowing aura then appears on your fingertips as well as your feet. ‘’Yes, I can actually control it! That’s a good thing, but I also need to find out how both of these work. Maybe I should try something out.’’
With that being said, you approach a nearby tree since you want to try out the arm blades first. With one blade ready, you dash towards the tree and slice it.

Not only one cut, but a small tempest of cuts slices the tree’s trunk into many pieces.
You take a satisfying look at the pieces and then proceed to the river. You carefully put your hand onto the surface of the water and concentrate the glowing aura in your palm. The aura flows into the water and merges with it, creating what seems to be a much stronger surface. You initially exert force with your hand, then, after being assured that it is strong enough, you step onto it. Seeing that it carries your body’s weight with ease, you smile happily.


‘’This truly is amazing. I’d never imagined to have this kind of power. It might come in handy if I want to find my desired answers.’’ Your determination seems to have risen ever since you unlocked your new abilities. ‘’I think, the best I could do is to find that woman again and pose her my questions. After all, she is literally the only real clue I got here. Finding her has priority now!’’

Your decision was clear. You start walking, in order to leave the forest first. While keeping a steady pace, a not unfamiliar thought is paving its way through your mind. The thought of something that happened before makes you stop.

Flashback start [ ''My, my, aren't you quite a naughty boy.'' Her silken voice makes you shiver a bit, unexpectedly.
''M-me? Why?!''
''Oh, don't play dumb. I've heard everything you were mumbling to yourself just a minute ago and that made me pretty upset. Therefore, I must punish you accordingly. And besides, you actually seem to be my type of person I like to play with~'' ] Flashback end

‘’She mentioned that she heard what I was ‘mumbling’ before she came…wait, was she implying that she was there already? While…I was with that young girl? After all, that woman definitely is a CPU and I know that they CAN have very young-seeming bodies in their human form, Neptune or Blanc, for example. But wouldn’t it still be a bit random that that girl of all people is said CPU that wanted to toy with me? Hints exist to it, but I mustn’t jump to conclusions yet.’’ You resume, but then stop again for a moment. ‘’Also, didn’t she say we would meet again soon? Well then, I’ll gladly oblige and show her!’’

Filled with determination, you pick up a faster pace and run out of the woods, heading towards the place where the explosion might had come from.
If I’m lucky, she is still around there somewhere, that would be great, you think.



The way to the place was longer than you had anticipated, still, you finally find the mysterious woman who just so happens to step out of a nearly destroyed factory. Yet, she doesn’t seem very surprised upon seeing you.

‘’Oh, you’ve come to meet me again, huh? Did you miss me~?’’, she asks in a soft, but sarcastic tone.
‘’Don’t give me that! That’s not why I’m here. No, I’m here because I have some important questions to ask!’’
‘’Hm, is that so?’’
‘’Yeah! First off, who are you exactly? Are you the girl that asked me for help before you showed up?’’
She strokes through her hair, still maintaining the same facial expression. ‘’I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about~’’
‘’What?! Hurry up and admit it!’’
A mischievous grin suddenly forms on her lips. Whether she might be up to something or not, you don’t know.
‘’Very well then’’, she begins, ‘’I have a proposal to make to you: Fight against me! In case you’re victorious, I’ll let you have all the answers you desire.’’
‘’Do you really think I’d agree to this?!’’
‘’Your choice~’’, she bluntly responds.
‘’Hmph, alright then, but before we commence, I must know your name.’’ Knowing her name might be important if I ever need to look for her again. I can’t afford to make mistakes now, you think.
‘’Only if you give yours first~’’, she says.
‘’Fine. My name is (First Name/Last Name).’’
‘’Interesting.’’
‘’And…your name?’’
‘’You may call me Iris Heart. But there is no need for you to struggle remembering it…’’
She suddenly dashes forward, catching you off guard.
‘’…because I will gladly carve it into your body for you!!’’ She uses her whip-sword and slams it against you which launches you backwards with an immense force.



‘’…grrrgh’’, you growl upon getting back onto your feet, ‘’If you want to fight that badly, then you better brace yourself!!’’ You activate your blades, prepared to launch a counter attack. However, she casually blocks your attack with her sword.
‘’Not bad. It’s far more tempting to fight and torture pets who can defend themselves at least a little~’’ It’s not hard to notice that she is taunting you right now.
‘’Silence! You think, this is all I’ve got? Far from it!’’
You jump back a few meters in order to prepare a next attack.
‘’Take this! (Insert Name of Special Attack)!!’’
A tempest of cuts hits her which seems to cause significant damage. I might not take her down immediately with this, but I’m certain it weakens her, you think.
…
Although you can’t trust your eyes, this actually happened. Iris Heart swayed a bit at first, but then stands straight again, turns towards you, and gives you a laugh.
‘’An adorable attempt, but unfortunately this doesn’t work on me! I know you can probably do better. Come on, show me your bark, you dog!’’
She dashes towards you again, using now a supposedly stronger attack. All CPU’s have their signature attacks, so maybe she has one, too?
‘’Try this! Fighting Viper!!’’, she yells, her sword covered in lightning.
The impact of her attack is pretty strong, but you still manage to block it somehow, ending up being paralyzed as a side effect.
‘’You’re doing quite well, but I suppose it’s time to put an end to this’’, she says. ‘’As a reward for your effort, I shall show you my ultimate attack~’’
‘’What-?’’ You even have trouble speaking due to the paralysis.
Iris Heart flies up into the air, where you can see how thunder clouds are gathering. ‘’T. Blade Kick!!’’ She concentrates all the energy with her sword and then kicks a big sphere into your direction.  Since you were still paralyzed, you were unable to dodge it and the attack lands a straight hit on you.
‘’I’ll make sure to give you a little extra service! Mwah~’’ With a kiss gesture, a laser beam fires at you. Finally snapping out of the paralysis, severely injured from the energy sphere however, you react quickly and pull your blades up, enhanced with the light aura. You deflect the laser beam which hits Iris Heart with all its power, resulting in a dangerous explosion.



‘’That was a very close one…’’, you gasp. Blood is running down your face and also your arms. ‘’If her own attacks are that incredibly strong, then I assume deflecting it would do the trick. Considering how strong the explosion must have been…she shouldn’t be able to fight anymore…’’ You wait until the chaos of the explosion has settled down, curious to see in what condition she is…but wait…she isn’t there?!

W-where did she go?!, you think. Impossible!
About to panic, you don’t notice how someone is approaching you from behind. A heavily injured and bloody Iris Heart with a sinister look on her face is getting closer to you. Now extremely close to you, she leans forward and playfully licks your ear. Frightened and shocked at the same time, you rapidly turn around and jump back instantly, almost as if the all the wounds hadn’t done any damage.
‘’H-h-h-how?!’’, you stutter. ‘’And w-why did you lick my ear?!’’
‘’Fufufufu~. You actually got me, (Your Name). To think that the tables would turn so quickly…how unexpected~’’ Despite her calm display, you could hear that she’s trembling from the injuries as well.

You grind your teeth together, ready your blade, and start rushing towards her once more. Iris Heart does the same. Even though the both of you have your power almost completely drained, neither of you was ready to give up, so you just kept attacking each other.

In a clash of your blades and her sword, the two of you aggressively exchange multiple hits, but none of you seem to actually deal damage. It goes to the point where you two decide to jump back in order to prepare another rush attack. You accelerate and dash past each other.



The delayed effect of the mutual slashes kicks in, though it seems you took a stronger blow than she did. You collapse and fall to the ground, while Iris Heart is still standing. She turns around to face you.

‘’*giggles weakly* This is the end for you…You couldn’t defeat me, so I suspect you will have to say goodbye to your desired answers...buargh!’’ She coughs up some blood and holds one of her arms. ‘’And now…I can finally toy with you as I please…hahaha…’’

As she slowly walks towards you, you turn around and get on your back, remaining silent. Since you can’t muster any more power to crawl away or something, you just keep lying there, waiting for Iris Heart to reach you.
When she finally stands before you, it takes only a few seconds. She collapses, falling onto you and becoming unconscious.

It was a sudden turn of events, that is for sure, but what does it matter now?, you think before driving into unconsciousness as well.

.................

>To be continued...