Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega and whomever else worked on it.

I love "What-Ifs" of my stories!

"RENDING BLADE!"

The attack cut through the barriers and into the reactor, causing a chain reaction that caused it to explode and engulf everything, including Noire, who had transformed back from Black Nightmare after the attack ended.

"Goodbye..." Noire whispered as she closed her eyes while the heat consumed her.

At least, that's what she was expecting, as the next thing she knew, a hand grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her away from the explosions as they got large and powerful. "What?" Noire gasped as she was being grabbed and pressed against a body. "What's going..?"

"Lady Noire!" A familiar male voice called out and Noire realized that it was Steamax. "I apologize, but I could not..." Steamax looked over his shoulder and increased his speed. "Forgive me, I'll explain later, the explosions are getting bigger."

Noire put her face against his chest and closed her eyes. "You idiot! If you get destroyed, who will watch after Uni when I'm dead?!"

An extremely powerful explosion suddenly erupted, sending a shockwave and heat rushing towards the two, causing both Steamax and Noire to cry out in pain as they were slammed by the powerful wave, sending them both tumbling forward as the entire ship was engulfed by chain explosions.

Peeking over her shoulder, Noire screwed her eyes shut as a wall came rushing towards them.

(-)

The C.I.D.'s eruptions were intense and violent, causing pieces to fall off of the ship as they exploded and sent debris flying into Lastation. Most of the debris was, thankfully, small enough that it didn't do significant damage as all the buildings had some low-level armor and shielding to protect them. Though there were people who got injured or killed from large enough chunks of debris that fell.

When a particularly powerful explosion sent a human-sized piece of debris through the wall, Uni knew that it was her sister and Steamax. "Good thing I went with you." Uni muttered as she turned on the boosters of the hoverbike and flew over to where Steamax was holding Noire. "Hang on!" Uni yelled as she got close and reached out, grabbing Steamax's extended hand and pulled him onto the bike. "Are you two okay?"

Noire was twitching and spasming in Steamax's arms. "I...I'll tell you when the pain stops, okay?" Her skin was bright red, blistering and blood was seeping out of her outfit.

"Lady Uni..." Steamax grunted out and Uni could see that his back and arms were sparking. "M-might I suggest the medical bay for Lady Noire?"

"Yes." Uni nodded and hit the thrusters to rush to the Basilicom.

On the ground, Neptune looked up and smiled. "See, it... All... Worked out..." She shook her head. "I... I'm gunna need a nap." She suddenly crumpled to the ground, out cold.

Or she would have, had Chrome not grabbed her and picked her up like a princess. "Just rest tight." Chrome said to Neptune and took off towards the Basilicom with Peashy, Rom, Ram and Compa following after them.

Gust looked at Filyn, Linda and Warechu. "We follow?"

Linda nodded at her. "Yeah, but only so we keep people from bothering them." Gust and Warechu both nodded and ran after the rest of the group.

(-)

Hours later...

"You should get some rest." Chrome said as she walked into the medical bay with a couple cups of some hot liquid in her hands. She rolled her eyes as Uni gave her a dirty look and sat down next to her. "Your sister will be fine. Compa's a great doctor and Gust and Linda are making sure that nothing happens to either Noire or Neptune."

"I can't help but be nervous." Uni said as she gripped her hands in front of her. "My sister's hurt, Steamax needs to be repaired again and I'm helpless."

Chrome huffed and handed a glass to Uni. "Drink some coffe then." Uni gave her a confused look. "Just a word of advice, kiddo, you'll still be tired even when it fully takes effect, it's just that you won't be passing out right away." Uni nodded and took the glass from Chrome. "By the way, good call on grabbing the hover bike with Steamax and flying up after her."

"I just had a really bad feeling." Uni said as she looked at the coffee cup before taking a small sip and grimacing at the taste. "Bleah, never liked this crap. How are the others?"

"I forced the kids and Warechu to go into your sister's office and told them that if any of them were naughty that Compa would spank them." Chrome smirked as she remembered how Ram came to her senses. "That seemed to make them calm down."

Uni was about to say something more when the doors to the emergency room opened up and Linda walked out. "Hey, Uni..." Linda jerked a thumb behind her. "Your sister wants to talk to you."

Uni stood up and walked into the emergency room. She saw Neptune on a bed, sleeping away with several monitors around her. But seeing that Neptune's vitals were stable, she turned her attention to Noire, who was on the bed further in the room with only a sheet separating her and Neptune. "Hey." Uni said softly as she got to her sister, who had her eyes closed. "You wanted to see me?"

As far as she could see, her sister was naked under the blankets, as her red dress was on a chair next to her bed.

Though her sister looked like she was wrapped up in bandages, so maybe she wasn't naked.

"You don't need to be so quiet." Noire said as she opened her eyes. "Also, did you see where they put my underwear?" She asked and tried to shift, which caused the blanket on her to shift and slide down, revealing her bandaged-covered chest. "That Compa girl wrapped me up like a mummy."

Uni blinked owlishly before she suddenly cracked a smile and started giggling. Seeing Noire's confused look, she tried to stop herself, but she continued to laugh. "It's just, hee hee hee, you nearly died, you got wrapped up in bandages and now you're complaining about your panties missing."

Noire gave Uni a flat look. "I don't want to have to use a bed pan if I have to use the bathroom and I'm..." She blushed softly. "She didn't wrap up that area."

"Because if you need to use the bathroom, it's better to not have bandages stopping you from doing your business." Compa told her as she walked up to the bed. "It's a giant mess and we have to replace those bandages, you know?" She ignored Noire's annoyed look and gave Uni a stern look before poking her on the nose. "Keep it down, Nep Nep needs to rest." Uni nodded, knowing that those metal hands could hurt if Compa wasn't careful with them.

"Where's Steamax?" Noire asked Uni.

"Getting repairs done to him." Uni told Noire. "I told the repair guys that if they tried adding anything to Steamax that I wouldn't hesitate to shoot them between the legs."

Noire nodded and closed her left eye. "Urgh, I'm tired. Uni..." Noire gave her younger sister a small smile. "I'm glad you're okay." She yawned and closed her right eye, sighing softly.

Uni gave Compa a look and Compa sighed. "Okay, you can stay, just don't wake her up, okay?" Uni nodded as she gave Compa a grateful look.

(-)

The next day...

Noire grumbled as she looked up at Neptune, who was walking in. "I hate the fact that I'm stuck in this stupid hospital bed for a week and you're already up."

Neptune stuck her tongue out. "Uni's going through your office right now with the other CPU Candidates. They're just making sure that the paperwork gets done right."

Noire sighed as she squirmed against the bed. "...How's Steamax?"

"You almost sound like a parent worried for her child." Neptune grinned at Noire. "Or..." Her grin increased in size, "a wife worried about her husband."

Noire scoffed at Neptune. "One, he's my sister's bodyguard, not mine. Two, I can't feel those kinds of emotions, being a Void and all, you know that. And three..." Noire gave Neptune a ghost of a smirk. "I did make it so he could be "fully functional" for a reason after all."

"Nep-wha!?" Neptune face-faulted, crashing on the floor. She got up and gave Noire a weird look. Noire, for her part, just gave Neptune a cool look. "...Seriously?!"

"Hey, if I had a lover or spouse, I'd want one that couldn't betray me." Noire simply shrugged at Neptune. "It's why I made him."

"...To be your lover?" Neptune asked. "Are you that desperate for friends that you make your own?"

"NOWA!?" Noire's face went flush. "NO! I meant to be Uni's bodyguard. And why are you laughing?!" Noire tried to sit up, but found it hard to do as the burns on her body were limiting her movement and making it painful.

"It's just, hee hee, the two Noires that I know do the same thing." Neptune put her hands on her stomach and started laughing harder, causing Noire to roll her eyes as she just waited for Neptune to stop laughing.

"...Why do I feel both annoyed and content?" The redhead asked herself. She might have whispered it, but apparently Neptune's hearing was good enough that she stopped laughing and gave Noire a small smile.

"Because," Neptune took Noire's hand and gave it a squeeze, "you aren't alone anymore, Lonely Heart."

Noire had a shocked look on her face. "...But I'm a Void."

Neptune smiled and shook her head. "No. You might need negative feelings and were born from Fearicite, but you're every bit a Heart as my Noires are." She winked at Noire. "If you weren't, you wouldn't have cared about Uni or gotten pissed at those jerks for trying to blow up your city. And you sure as heck wouldn't have saved me or turned into your super sexy Nightmare form to save the city."

Noire found herself flushing and gave Neptune an annoyed look. "Do you casually try to seduce people or is it something you worked on?" She sighed at the confused look Neptune had and shook her head. "Nevermind. Just..." Noire bit her lower lip and Neptune smiled at her.

"Don't worry about Uni or Lastation." Neptune winked at Noire. "Me and the others will all work together and make sure everything's fine when you recover enough to get out of bed."

Noire nodded at Neptune, who got up and started to leave.

"Oh!" Neptune snapped her fingers. "Almost forgot, what do you want to eat?"

"...I want a hamburger." Noire said after thinking about it.

Neptune nodded and left.

"Lousy burns." Noire grumbled, hoping that Steamax was okay.

(-)

Four days later...

Uni sighed as she sat at the desk, looking over paperwork. "Gah! This is so frustrating."

"What's so frustrating?"

"The amount of stupid requests and..." Uni trailed off and stared at the door in shock and surprise. "NOIRE?!"

The redhead was wearing a loose, baggy shirt and loose pants and Uni could see several bandages around her sister's arms and neck still. Noire had a cane in her right hand that she was using to steady herself. "And don't say anything, I'm not fully healed, but I sure as hell am not sitting in that bed for another day." Noire hissed and grimaced as Uni ran over to her and grabbed her. "Careful, I'm still tender."

"Right." Uni nodded and helped Noire over to the desk. "Noire, um..."

Noire sighed and pulled Uni into a hug. "Stupid little sister, if you want to hug me, go ahead." A small smile came to Noire's face. "I just wish that there was a way to ensure that you won't have to become like me."

"If you feel like that," a voice spoke up and Noire looked up as Uni quickly let go of Noire, blushing hard and looked at the door, where Chrome was. "Apologies, I was just walking by to check on Uni when I heard what you said. If you don't want your sister to become a Void, perhaps we can help."

Noire raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I'm listening."

"Neptune and I can stay here in Lastation and help out for a month or two before we have to head to Planeptune." Chrome told her as she walked in. "While we're here, helping, we'll teach Uni how to feel for positive emotions to draw upon." Noire nodded, "as well as what it means to be a Heart CPU instead of a Void CPU."

Noire narrowed her eyes at Chrome. "...And the reason you're telling me this is because you want to take her with you when you go to Planeptune, right?"

"You're quite sharp." Chrome said with a nod. "Considering that it's different with you than the other Voids we've met, I thought I'd ask before taking her."

Noire closed her eyes and sighed softly. "...Very well." She looked at Uni. "Is that okay with you?"

"But..." Uni had a concerned look on her face. "If I'm gone, how will you protect Lastation? I should be..." She trailed off and blushed as Noire put a finger on her lips.

"As heartwarming as this is, and I assume it is heartwarming." Noire told Uni as she lowered her hand, "I have a hard time feeling emotions like that, you know that." Uni nodded at Noire, who continued, "I want you to go with, Uni, because I want you to become a proper CPU." Uni nodded meekly. "As for protecting Lastation..." Noire had a nasty smirk come to her face. "I think a big, scary lion robot that beat my ass the first time I fought him would be more than enough to help protect Lastation while I'm still recovering."

"Huh?" Uni had a confused look on her face. "Still recovering?"

"You really think I can heal from these injuries that fast?" Noire asked Uni. "That was a pretty powerful explosion, the only reason I'm not dead is because I didn't get a face full of death thanks to Steamax." Uni nodded and Noire sighed. "And I want Steamax to go with you." She held up a hand. "Don't argue with me on this, I don't want you to die and you're going into an area that you have no clue about anything with an enemy at least as strong as me waiting for you."

"She has a point." Chrome pointed out to Uni. "Every Void we've faced has been very strong. And who knows what else is there in Planeptune?"

Uni sighed and nodded. "Fine, but you better not die while I'm gone." Uni suddenly gave Noire a hug, causing the redheaded CPU to stiffen from the sudden pain. "I finally got you back, I finally get to know you, the real you, without you pushing me away."

Noire's expression softened and she gently hugged Uni back. "I'm so sorry for being like that, Uni. Forgive me?" Uni nodded as Noire closed her eyes and, for the first time since she became Black Void, allowed herself to absorb and enjoy the pleasant feelings of having someone who loved and cared for her.

"Careful." Chrome pointed out. "You might lose your Void and Nightmare powers."

Noire gave her a dirty look before scoffing. "If I did, I wouldn't complain. Being a Void is nothing but suffering."

"...So weird." Chrome said softly. She smiled at the confused look that Noire gave her. "To find a Void that wasn't completely consumed by what made her evil."

Noire snorted at Chrome. "If killing ten people meant that I could keep a hundred more alive, I have no problem doing that. Don't you think that makes me evil?"

Chrome shrugged at Noire. "Depends on the situation. But I've had to kill people before that were suffering and there was nothing that could be done to save them. We Hearts can be ruthless too." She ignored Noire's scoff and turned to leave before pausing. "...Neptune told me something this last week." She turned her head to look over her shoulder. "There are good people and bad people. There are good CPUs and bad CPUs. There are good monsters and bad monsters. And there are good Voids and bad Voids. In the end, what makes you good or evil is if you revel in the mayhem that you cause or if you only do what's needed when you do cause others pain."

"...Maybe." Noire said and sighed softly. "Anyway, Uni, I'll help you with this stuff, okay?"

"Sure." Uni nodded while Chrome left the sisters alone.

As she walked down the hallway, Chrome paused and thought back to what she had seen with Noire and Uni and smiled softly. "...Maybe there is hope for the future? If a Void can be redeemed, maybe we can save this world?"

It was a goal that she wanted more than anything else at that moment. To undo the damage that the Fearicite had brought to the world. Sure, there were things that could never be undone, but at least the world could heal from the sixty years of damage done to it.

Something that came to me and I had to write it up. Basically, what if I didn't kill Noire, how could I write the story out from there and this does change a lot. After all, with Noire alive and her Fearicite, the world can't be destroyed due to nothing supporting it.

But if I had done this, there would have been no Echoes of the Life. So who knows if it was a good thing?