Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. This is made for entertainment purposes only.
Inside of what appears to be a private mechanics workshop, a male teenage boy is currently welding hanging pieces of metal together on a hangar as if to make some kind of armor. His attire currently consists of a black T-shirt and jeans and his features include short black hair and brown eyes. On the wall on his left side, a huge section of it is filled with historical records of the activities and accomplishments of the CPUs as well as sighting. These records range from newspapers to magazines and even includes printouts and notecards. His old television set is currently broadcasting Purple Heart's accomplishment in assisting defeating rampaging monsters and how the citizens show their faith and respect towards her, making him scoff out of disgust.
"Heh, if those CPUs were such heroes that we need to put our faith on, why the heck did we become the victims of their war?" The boy spoke to himself.
After forming the shape of each piece, he spent the next few hours cooling it off and putting them together into some kind of armor using his own handmade blueprints.
"It looks like people's faith towards the four CPUs remain as strong as ever in all nations." The female news reporter continues her report after receiving new information of the other three CPUs' involvement in putting a stop to the monster crisis.
Out of frustration, the boy took out a pistol and shoots the screen, destroying the TV.
"Keep giving people false hopes you fake Goddesses! It won't be too long until you create another victim like me!"
As he continues working, a flashback reveals the boy's transition from a normal life to a life of hate and abuse during his childhood.
Flashback begins...
An evacuation order was given by the CPUs after Arfoire, in her true form, decided to cause chaos in Planeptune in order to lure the CPUs out. A young boy with his parents and an older sister were placed into an underground emergency shelter in the outskirts of the nation, where it is already filled with dozens of people. Against his family's wishes, the boy sneaks out to witness the CPUs fighting against Arfoire, an enemy Goddess who keeps coming back after being repeatedly defeated or even killed. Meanwhile, his family is making sure that everyone is accounted for inside. However, his father notices that his son is missing and realizes that his curious and adventurous nature has led him outside, much to the family's dismay.
"That boy is going to get himself killed!" The father yelled out before heading to the entrance.
Once he sees his son outside of the shelter, he calls him back while remaining inside. "Aldren! Come back here! You are going to get yourself killed!"
Aldren was unable to hear his father's words due to the noise of the battle as he witnessed Purple Heart blocking Arfoire's Javelin. Black Heart then attempts to attack from behind, but Arfoire notices this and barely avoids it, only for White Heart to knock her down dangerously close to the unseen shelter with her plasma axe, but manages to steady herself before crashing. However, the position she is in caused her to make brief eye contact with the boy. She stared at him for a good few seconds before flying back up for another round.
"Aldren, come back inside!" His father's voice finally reaches to him, causing him to turn around.
"Son, what the heck are you thinking!? It's unsafe to stay out here! Get back in!"
"But dad, the CPUs are here fighting her! I am pretty sure that we are save as long as they are around!"
"The CPUs maybe on our side, but getting close to their battles makes them dangerous as well! You have to come back! They cannot even see where we are!"
As the boys were arguing, the battle continues as Arfoire in her true form continues to hold her own against the four CPUs at once. Believing that the battle is going nowhere, Purple Heart activates EXE Drive skill, HDD Neptune. Her body transforms into a jet heading for Arfoire and shoots missiles at her, which then disburses into smaller missiles. However, Arfoire's speed helped her dodge most of the missiles, leading one to become astray from the target and heading towards the shelter. Realizing this, Aldren turns back and tries to head back inside.
"DAD!"
Before he was able to grab his father's hand, the missile hits the shelter, knocking Aldren back upon impact with the explosion engulfing his father in flames. The explosion then caused the entire shelter to collapse, killing everyone inside and trapping the young boy beneath the debris. However, Arfoire was soon hit by two of the missiles, causing her to crash down on the ground away from the collapsed shelter. As the CPUs attempt the final blow, Arfoire, although weakened, regains her footing and avoids the attack before flying away.
"This won't be the end of me!" Arfoire declares before flying away.
After Arfoire flies away Black Heart turns to Purple Heart. "What the heck was that!? How could most of your attacks missed when you had her in your sights!?"
"Sorry about that, but at least I was able to hit her in the end, although she did seem to move a lot faster than our last fight with her."
"Just be glad that there weren't any civilians around since we managed to lure her away from Planeptune. Still, Neptune is right with Arfoire being faster. We better take precautions for the next time we face her." White Heart warned.
Green Heart nodded. "Agreed, but for now, despite Arfoire's attack, there seems to be no civilian casualties so we should be able relax for the time being. Let's head back to the Basilicom to report the status of their mission."
The CPUs then left the battlefield, not knowing that their battle collapsed the shelter nearby and Aldren, who is stuck underneath the debris with his head bleeding heavily, tries to reach them with his one free arm and calling for help, only to remain unheard due to his injuries preventing him from screaming and his vision becomes blurry as the CPUs leave his sight.
"Why..?" Aldren said softly before passing out.
A few hours later, Aldren wakes up and finds enough strength to remove the debris he was trapped under. As his head finally clears, he saw the shelter completely destroyed, causing him to become desperate as he tries to find his family.
"Mom! Dad! Ani! Where are you!?"
Aldren spent the next hour digging through the debris and found his father's badly burned body underneath some on the concrete.
"No no no!"
Aldren turns around and sees a small blood-covered hand sticking out of some of the wood, which he instantly recognizes.
"Ani..." Aldren quietly said her name as he clutches the lifeless hand of his older sister.
"This has to be a dream, right? This has to be a dream!"
Unable to find the others, tears started coming out of Aldren's eyes as he realizes that he is the only survivor of the accident and starts crying as loud as he can.
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! COME BACK! COME BACK PLEASE!" Aldren yelled as he cried.
Aldren soon finishes his armor, with the only thing missing is the core located within the opening of the chest piece. An older man with brown hair and wearing what appears to be a butler uniform, apparently in his mid-30s, approaches behind him holding a small thin cylindrical container containing what looks like a shiny red diamond.
"Is the core ready?" Aldren asked.
"Yes sir, it is. Are you sure you really want to do this?" The butler asked while reluctantly handing him the container.
"Blake, this is something that has to be done sooner or later. The CPUs never paid the price for what happened in the shelter. There was no justice there for all of the deaths and the bodies I had to bury alone."
"You do know that the CPUs are vital for the survival of Gamindustri, right?"
"If the CPUs existed due to creation instead of birth then I am sure that whoever created them can create another set of CPUs for each nation." Aldren said as he inserted the core into the armor.
"Even if that is possible, there would still be panic as the people are heavily dependent on them for faith. If they are gone, the chaos in Gamindustri will be unimaginable."
"I don't care. Those people don't realize that the CPUs, putting aside all of their powers, origins, and immortality, are barely any different from us as humans. They just think they are always the solution to solving all of our world's problems and yet they could not solve mine. If you are done talking, I am taking this suit out for a test drive." Aldren prepares to get inside of the armored suit.
"Even if you want to punish the CPUs, please promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Please don't kill them. Even if you want to deliver justice, please don't let it be at the cost of Gamindustri. It is our home after all." Blake begged.
After taking a brief moment to think, Aldren turns to Blake. "Fine, I won't kill them. Nonetheless, I will make sure they get what's coming to them."
Aldren puts on the helmet, which also completely covers his face, and then activates the suit and activates the jetpack built within the outer layer of the back of the armor. The color of the core soon fills the lining of the suit and begins to fly. The voice changer in the helmet soon activates and Aldren turns to Blake.
[Blake, open the doors. Its time to test this thing out.]
Blake did as told and the large workshop gates open, allowing him to fly outside. Flying near the sea, Aldren finds himself having fun flying around the area near his large house.
[Being a genius in school is so worth it!]
After having fun for another ten minutes, Aldren gives a voice command to activate the suit's weapons system and out comes two blue-colored energy blades from the wrists of his suit and tested it out on some heavy boulders, which he cuts through effortlessly. The next weapon summoned from his suit is a pistol on his right hand, which apparently fires plasma shots and can use the suit's power core to increase the power of each blast.
[Perfect. Nothing wrong with this suit so far, but I better continue using all of the features to make sure.]
"Aldren, can you hear me?" Blake's voice is heard through the helmet.
[I can hear you. What's up?]
"I thought you should know that the CPUs are currently gathered near Westwind Ravine."
[Where were you able to get this?]
"I merely called the Guild and asked them which quest is taken by the CPUs under the guise that we want to avoid stealing shares by going on a different quest. Now you know where they are, what are you going to do now?"
[Let them be for the time being. I am still testing out this new suit to make sure it is combat ready and having to fight all of them at once is not a good idea at this stage.]
"Very smart of you Aldren. I will then log off, hope you are able to find them next time."
[Don't worry, I will.]
Unbeknownst to Aldren, he is being watched by several bystanders, consisting of three boys and one girl, during his test run. Aldren recognizes them and gives them a wave, which one of the boys reciprocates, eventually revealing that there are his friends. Once he lands home, he heads back inside of the workshop where he places his suit back into the hangar.
"Is the suit not to your liking?" Blake asked.
"Not versatile enough. The suit needs more weapons on the armor itself rather than the weapons that can be summoned by hand. Their should be more than just plasma-based weapons. Maybe we should add flight stabilizers on each hand that can fire repulsor blasts using the power of the chest piece."
"I don't think ripping off from a famous comic book superhero its a good idea."
"You are probably right. The jetpack still has space for weapon's modification. Maybe I can make a couple of weapons there for a good sneak attack."
"Let's just hope is not from the butt, because that's just another rip off from a famous manga series."
"I already said is from the jetpack and, personally, butts are off limits." Both Blake and Aldren share a small laugh.
"I just hope that once you are satisfied, we get to see more of this side of you."
Aldren's smile disappears after hearing that. "I hope so too, Blake."
At Westwind Ravine...
The four CPUs are currently taking a break after defeating the Metal Guarder mk2 with IF and Compa joining them in their quest.
As they are resting, Neptune suddenly makes a sneeze. "Achoo!"
"Hm? Are you alright, Nep?" Iffy asked.
"I suddenly get the feeling that my role as the main character has been replaced by someone else. Whoever that person may be, I feel chills just thinking about it for some reason. It feels like we just went through a dark subplot."
"Don't worry too much about it. We will see who the main character is eventually since the CPUs are the principal characters in almost all of our fanfiction." Noire told Neptune.
"Let's just hope the main character gets along with us. I would like to have another gaming buddy." Vert makes a small laugh.
"I think it will be interesting to have another character on board with us. I wonder who that person is." Compa remains optimistic.
Blanc nodded. "There might be inspiration for me to make a new story."
"Until we know who the character is, I will still consider myself as the main character no matter how much the writer puts emphasis on the so-called main one!" Neptune declared.
"Give it a rest, Neptune. Anyway, we are done with our quest so let's go back and report it to the Guild." Noire then stands up and heads back and the rest follows.
"Hey, wait for me!" Neptune shouts at as she catches up with them.
After the next few days...
Aldren's armor has been completed and he later finds himself in West Wind Valley after accepting a quest from the Guild, where he attracted some onlookers due to his armor. He then finds himself confronting an Ancient Dragon and summons his energy blades in response.
[Let's see how well you fair against this armor.]
After five minutes of fighting, the dragon finds itself defeated as its data disappears while Aldren was left with only minor scratches on the suit.
[Orichalcum appears to be very durable, but better add a little more chromium to minimize these scratches. Other than that, testing is successful. It won't be long before I can pay the CPUs a personal visit.]
Aldren then heads back home to make adjustments to the suit. Knowing that taking on all four Goddesses is suicide as they are more than capable of breaking through the armor if struck with enough force, he intends to attack them one by one. Blake, however, is concerned by Aldren's mental state since he was already traumatized by the death of his loved ones, but still supports him, nonetheless, since leaving him alone will make him more dangerous. As for his opinion on the CPUs, Blake remains neutral about them, but knows that they are necessary to keep Gamindustri alive, adding more of his concern about Aldren.
"Blake, do you remember the time I hired you as my butler?" Aldren asked as he tries to fix the scratches.
"Very clearly. You saved my family from foreclosure of our property and we are still very thankful for that."
"Your family lives in Planeptune and supports Purple Heart and yet despite finding out my hatred for the CPUs, you still remain by my side. Why do you still insist on working under me? I know its not the high payroll."
"Its because I don't feel it is right to leave you. After hearing what happened to you and how you are living now, I feel your need to be guided, which is why my family considered adopting you into the family, and yet you remain insistent to stay here just to get revenge. I understand your hate for them, but what exactly will you do once you are satisfied?"
"I don't know, but I can't find peace if there is no justice for what happened. Tell me Blake, what would you have done if your family was killed by a CPU you admire right in front of your eyes? I don't care whether it is on purpose or accident, but how would you feel?"
After a brief moment of silence, Blake answers. "I would probably be in the same position as you. I just hope you know what you are doing Aldren."
"I do too. Just let me know when the CPUs are out on another quest and see whether they are doing it solo or together. I won't stand a chance if I have to fight all four."
"I will, but do be careful." Blake then walks away from the workshop, leaving Aldren a little more uncertain about his plan, but goes through with it, nonetheless.
After a few more days of tests and trials, Blake alerted Aldren that Purple Heart is seen doing an extermination quest on her own in Haneda Forest. With the suit finally complete, Aldren flew away to Haneda Forest.
[Finally, you and I will meet, Purple Heart.]
Aldren said in a deep robotic voice through his helmet.
In Haneda Forest...
"I guess that's it for the Dragonia. I better search for the Dominance Machine next." As Purple Heart flew to the area where the monster was last seen, she saw that it was already defeated and yet she cannot see anyone nearby.
"I wonder who did this?"
[That would be me.]
Aldren emerged from behind the tree with his energy blades out of his wrists. Purple Heart immediately felt something is wrong, but decides to remain polite in hopes that he does not turn out to be her enemy.
"Um, good job defeating the monster, but who are you?"
[I am the guy you left for dead long ago! Now I am here to get some closure for the others who weren't so lucky!]
Aldren immediately strikes Purple Heart, who blocks it with her Katana. Aldren then summons his plasma pistol and aims it straight at her face, but the CPU flew up before he can even fire.
"Left for dead? I don't even know what you are talking about!"
[You still haven't figured it out after all these years? If you can't figure out the wrong you and the other CPUs have done during that time, then you are not the guardians Gamindustri needs! You girls are nothing more than frauds pretending to uphold what your people most desired in their nation when in reality you uphold only yourselves! You are no better than the humans who developed your nation!]
Aldren continues his attack, while Purple Heart continues to block and dodge them, reluctant to fight back.
"Please listen to me, I don't know what wrong I have done to you, but if you tell me, maybe we can figure something out!" Purple Heart try to reach to Aldren, but to no avail.
[There is no fixing this! Lives were lost because of you!]
Aldren then aims the plasma pistol towards Purple Heart and fires, but the latter was able to avoid it.
[You won't escape me!]
Another sword fight occurs between the two. Purple Heart then realizes that there is no getting through to him without fighting back and decides to strike, knocking Aldren back.
[Looks like things are going to get more interesting.]
"I don't want to fight! Please put down your weapon and let's talk!"
[No! Justice will be served now!]
Aldren makes a charge at her in an attempt to strike her with his blade, but Purple Heart evades and decides to use one of her combo skills.
"Cross Combination!" Purple Heart yelled before hitting Aldren with a barrage of slashes, knocking him hard to the ground.
"Have you had enough yet?"
[Hehehe. I am just getting started!]
Aldren then gets up, but the attack from Purple Heart manages to make several scratches on the outer layer of the armor, but was unable to cause any real damage to him due to the armor's durability.
[Let's see how you like this.]
Aldren summons what appears to be a modified form of an RPG, only that the weapon was capable of holding three rockets instead of one. Aldren fires the RPG, only for Purple Heart to slice them all before making contact. Nonetheless, the distraction allows Aldren to catch her off guard and strikes her in the face with his armored fist, causing Planeptune's CPU to get knocked hard to the ground this time. Luckily, she got up with no visible injuries, although she briefly rubbed the part of her forehead where she was punched.
"Geez, for me to get hurt early on in this story. The writer must really want to make a point."
Purple Heart then sees Aldren flying towards her at high speed, intending to strike her with his blade, but the former manages to block his attack.
"You are not half-bad, but I've had decades worth of fighting experience as a CPU." Purple Heart then knocks Aldren back and proceeds to finish him off.
"Victory Slash!"
Aldren was hit with two strong diagonal slashes, causing significant damage to the armor to the point that the AI (being watched over by Blake) is signaling a Code Red. The brunt of the attack caused Aldren to fall face first. Believing her opponent to be defeated, Purple Heart withdrew her weapon and gets closer to Aldren.
"Listen, I don't know what I've done to cause you to hold a grudge against the CPUs, but please just talk to me. What exactly did you mean that lives were lost and that I left you for dead?"
Purple Heart turns Aldren around only to find him holding what appears to be a grenade launcher he summoned beneath his body.
[Gotcha!]
Aldren fired, only for Purple Heart to dodge it. Anticipating the goddesses' speed, Aldren rigged the round to explode within a few seconds after fired. The CPU was unfortunately within range of the explosion, which releases some kind of red energy wave, knocking her down.
"AH!"
As Purple Heart tries to get up, she suddenly felt much weaker as if her shares have suddenly been reduced.
"Ngh! Why do I feel much weaker all of a sudden?" Purple Heart struggles to hold her katana up.
[That blast contains energy from an anti-crystal that is currently powering the suit. Found quite a bit of them over the years I've been away from home. Get ready for round 2!]
Aldren gets up, revealing that despite the armor showing deep cuts along with a large slash on the chestplate and pieces of the outer layer broken off from both arms and left shoulder, the armor is still functioning due to the chest piece remaining undamaged. Remembering his promise not to kill any of the CPUs, he then proceeds to beat Purple Heart with his fists, striking her on the abdomen and then laying several shots to her head, causing her to collapse. Seeing the fight through the armor's helmet, Blake remains unfazed while watching this from Aldren's home, but fears that there might be retaliation towards his employer for attacking a CPU.
[Guess you are not so tough without shares.]
Aldren gloats over the unconscious goddess and proceeds to drag her.
[You are coming with me. If you truly don't understand then there is something I want you to see.]
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING YOU PIECE OF SHIT!?"
Before he can take Purple Heart far, Aldren was suddenly struck by an axe, destroying the rest of his armor and sending him flying far back into the woods. Getting a brief glimpse of her, the attacker is revealed to be none other than White Heart, who also went to Haneda Forest not long after Neptune and witnessed the Anti-Crystal grenade go off. Due to the suit containing the anti-crystal energy inside, White Heart was not affected by it as Purple Heart was.
[GAH!]
After striking him, White Heart heard his voice then realizes that what she attacked was not a monster, but a human, causing her to go into shock. Unbeknownst to her, the same bystanders that witnessed Aldren's flight test of the suit arrived in the area right before White Heart attacked their friend, having been told by Blake where their friend would be. Believing Aldren to be dead, the group was shocked by Blanc's merciless attack, not knowing it was an accident, and ran back before they were spotted.
"Crap, that was a human!"
Seeing an unconscious Neptune, who had just transformed back to her human form due to lack of shares, White Heart puts aside her surprise and transforms back to Blanc to check on her injured friend.
"Neptune, are you okay?"
"Blanc? I am fine, but all those shares I just gathered have now disappeared! Am I going to be treated badly in this story!?" Neptune screamed.
"Don't worry, I struck him down." Blanc points towards the area where Aldren fell, only to find a trail of blood instead.
"Nepu! Did you try to kill him Blanc!?"
Blanc panicked. "Its a misunderstanding! I thought he was a monster at first because of all that armor!"
"We better hurry to him or he might bleed to death!" Neptune and Blanc then followed the trail of blood.
"Shit! That was unexpected!" Aldren himself was crawling away from the two CPUs and unable to contact Blake due to the helmet being destroyed. Knowing he won't last, he decides to move as far as possible, choosing to die from blood loss than to be captured by the CPUs, only to find a girl wearing a large dark blue jacket standing in his way.
"...I am sorry that...I failed you all...forgive me." Aldren said to himself.
Having lost so much blood, Aldren starts hallucinating, seeing his family as well as the other victims turning their backs on him. Believing himself to be completely alone due to his failure, Aldren gives up completely and passes out, not caring whether he lives or dies. The girl who stopped him, having no idea who he is or what he did earlier, is shocked by the severity of his injuries, but then sees Neptune and Blanc on the way and runs to them in hopes to save him.
In Aldren's house...
Blake, who heard Aldren's scream, also believed he was dead after failing to reestablish comms and visuals. He remains in grief and apologizes to Aldren over and over for failing to stop his ambition.
"I should have stopped you. Why didn't I?'
Blake then suddenly heard the doorbell rang. When he opens the door, Aldren's four friends were waiting outside with the oldest-looking member on the left, a boy apparently 19 years of age, holding on to the suit's damaged helmet. He handed over the helmet to Blake and started speaking.
"Aldren was right, what White Heart did to him shows that the morals of the CPUs we admired so much were no different than humans. She killed our friend without warning!" The boy struggled to hold back his tears.
"Ed, it seems like Aldren's death did taught us that maybe the world would be better without the CPUs."
"I went to the area where Aldren's tragedy took place. While there were sticks and even some flowers there, the way it is placed shows that the victims never had a proper memorial. It is as if the person who buried them had no experience prior, proving that there was truth to his story." The girl added.
"I see. Well then, come with me. Aldren still has some of his blueprints in his workshop to build these suits. We will pick up where we left off."
"I never truly trusted CPUs in the first place. Our friend's death will be avenged." The boy next to Ed added.
"No doubt that he will, Greg. We are now at war." Blake then lets the group into his house.
However, after Blake closed the door, Arfoire stood on the branch of a tree near the house, smiling sinisterly.
This is my first Neptunia fanfic sneak preview so please try not to be harsh. I know that there is a lot of DC and Marvel references, but that was on purpose as the main influences of the plot are from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War. I realized that Aldren's relationship with Blake is similar to Batman and Alfred early on, but it will be less so in the future chapters. Don't worry though, despite the civil war plot inspired by the two movies, the main themes of the story is forgiveness and understanding, which will eventually turn to romance. Yeah, a pretty much revenge to romance story. Whether or not I am going to continue this story depends on the readers' response to the concept. However, I won't continue until I finish one of my ongoing fanfics unless I have inspiration for the next chapter. Main pairing will be Aldren x IF, but the CPUs won't be left out of the romance once the misunderstanding between him and them is cleared. After all, he needs someone who can understand him first. More of Aldren's background will be revealed in the second chapter. Think of the armor similar to Batman's in Batman: Arkham Knight mixed with Incursio from Akame ga KILL! The voice from the armor is also influenced by the Arkham Knight's voice before he unmask himself.