Hyperdimension Neptunia is owned by Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sega and whomever else worked on it.
And yes, if you're wondering, that *IS* a Jojo's reference. You'll know it when you see it.
Chapter 8
In another part of Gamworld, eyes that could not see turned to look at nothing in particular. "What is this?" A soft female voice asked, her voice trembling. "It... Can it be?" She reached out towards the sensation and stopped as her fingers touched cold metal bars. The sensation that she was feeling beyond those bars was so familiar and yet alien to her that she almost didn't want to believe it. "If this is what I think..." Tears started to fall out of her eyes as she looked down.
"I don't care about me, I don't deserve to be spared. But please..." She looked up in the direction she was sensing the energy. "If you really are a CPU that protects all, save the people of this world. Save the CPU Candidates. I beg you."
She knew the person couldn't hear her, all she could do was put her faith in the person she was sensing and hope it was enough.
(-)
Back in Lowee...
"CPU..." Ram began, trembling as a warm, incredibly pleasant and kind sensation flowed through her body.
"Purple..." Rom continued, staring at the utterly gorgeous woman Neptune had turned into. Unlike White Void, this CPU left her feeling warm, protected and safe.
It was almost like the CPU just being there was enough to make the bad things in life go away.
"Heart?" White Void sneered at Purple Heart. "What the hell are you on, you fake?!"
Purple Heart chuckled at White Void's anger. "Fake? Oh no... The only fake is the washboard who dares call herself a Goddess in my presence when she's anything but."
White Void twitched in anger. "THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?!"
Purple Heart was suddenly reminded of a rather... Funny line that Vert had once said to her Blanc that had her privately laughing in the past. "Well, it's okay, after all, breasts are a sign of maturity and fertility, signs of a Goddess..." A smirk came to her face as she swore that she heard some people starting to laugh in the distance. "All qualities you are clearly... Lacking in."
There was a crack in the distance as White Void suddenly glowed red. "YOU FUCKING BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" She rushed at Purple Heart, who had two purple wings form on her back and take off into the air as White Void's axe crashed down where Purple Heart was a moment ago, causing a huge crater and sending cracks throughout the street.
"Really?" Purple Heart said as she hovered over White Void. "Are you so pathetic that you can only fight people who lack the strength to fight back?" She floated back as White Void flew up at her, snarling.
"Kreiselknall!" White Void yelled as she spun around like a top so fast that she looked like a blender.
Slamming her large purple and black katana onto the oncoming whirling blade of death, Purple Heart grimaced as she felt herself being pushed back with far more strength than she had thought White Void had in her. 'Of course she'd be a lot stronger than you think, you nepping idiot, she's Blanc!' Purple Heart yelled at herself mentally, a bit of her human form creeping through her mind at that moment.
After being knocked away, Purple Heart kept her distance while holding a defensive stance as she waited for White Void to stop spinning. 'Now!' She pointed her katana at White Void while power built up. "My Critical Edge will tear you apart!"
White Void's eyes widened as Purple Heart was suddenly in front of her, slashing down. "YOU... GAH!" She screamed as Purple Heart knocked her into the air and flew after her, slicing her as she passed by. "Interesting," she grinned and, ignoring the injuries she had just taken, she flew after Purple Heart, her large axe clashing against Purple Heart's sword. "So that talk of you being a CPU isn't for nothing, huh?"
Purple Heart said nothing as they swung their weapons at each other in wide arcs, the blades clashing against each other and sparking as a result.
The more she clashed with White Void, the more she was certain...
White Void was an affront to all things Divine.
(-)
On the ground, people watched in awe and surprise. Not only was there a CPU that didn't fill them with dread in front of them, she was fighting the current CPU of Lowee.
IF couldn't believe her eyes and she hesitated to feel hope, but the more she watched, the more she was certain that she had done the right thing by following Chrome's advice to put her faith in that silly purple haired girl. "To think she could do this..."
As Rom stood up, thanks to Compa's help, she grimaced, her broken ribs protesting her movement. She was helped over to a bench where she could sit down and try to ease the pain she was feeling. Looking up, she stared at Purple Heart as she parried a blow from White Void and struck back, stabbing the other CPU in the shoulder. Despite the fact that White Void had several injuries on her body, she was grinning with such glee that one would be forgiven for thinking she was enjoying herself as she fought against the Purple Heart.
Even though Purple Heart wasn't taking much damage, she still had minor cuts and injuries across her body.
"Go Purple Heart!" Ram didn't even try hiding her dislike of White Void. "Rip her limb from limb!"
The rest of the people watching slowly started to feel more and more hopeful that Purple Heart could deal with White Void permanently.
(-)
"Kopfjägerangriff!" White Void yelled as she swung her axe at Purple Heart's neck. She grunted as Purple Heart managed to block the attack. "Not bad, I guess I can stop holding back so much." She grinned at Purple Heart's look. "What? Did you really think that I was going all out before? People are so fragile that I have to take care not to break them so easily."
"...You threw me from a very high height." Purple Heart commented, getting a laugh from White Void.
"I admit, I was trying to kill you there, but seeing as you can survive such a hit, I'm guessing it's time to remove the kiddy gloves." White Void charged in and swung her axe at Purple Heart as she parried and blocked the attacks expertly.
Purple Heart grimaced with each attack as it felt like the strikes from White Void were threatening to take her arms clean off. She grunted in pain as she felt a strong stab on her left leg. Looking down, she saw White Void's tail stabbing her.
"Tails are so useful." White Void laughed as she yanked her tail out of Purple Heart's leg.
Purple Heart grimaced, that one actually hurt. "I'm curious," she spoke up, causing White Void to tilt her head in confusion, "is that tail connected to your tailbone or is it shoved up in your butt?"
White Void raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're confused about?" She spun around and reached behind her with her right hand to pull the bottom of her outfit down to show off the top half of her ass while her tail waggled up and down.
"Huh, it really is connected to your tailbone." Purple Heart commented before she rushed forward. "Neptune STRIKE!" She yelled, her attack hitting White Void on the ass and causing the Gamworld CPU to scream out in pain and humiliation of having her ass struck like that.
Crying out as she tumbled through the air, White Void held her bottoms and readjusted herself in mid air. "That was a low blow! You wanted to see my tail because you wanted a free shot at my ass!?" She yelled, her eyes glowing red.
"Well, partially, but I was also curious." Purple Heart answered her. "I don't think I've seen anyone with a tail. Wait, did either CC2 or Broccoli ever have one?" She couldn't recall and if they did they certainly didn't use it like White Void was using hers.
The next thing Purple Heart knew, White Void's axe was flying right at her face. Her reflexes kicking in, she knocked it away from her and rushed at White Void, who was smirking. "You're unarmed!"
"Am I?" White Void snapped her fingers.
Purple Heart's expression changed to surprise as she heard a whirling sound. Twisting and moving to the side, she cried out in pain as her left shoulder was clipped by White Void's axe. Grimacing as she felt blood pouring down her arm, she looked at White Void, who was merely smirking at her.
"You think you have a chance against me now?" White Void asked and rushed in. When Purple Heart twisted and was able to parry and avoid her attacks, she growled. "What kind of game shark are you using?!"
"Did you really think that I've never been in this situation before?" Purple Heart asked her. "I have, but I can tell this about you..." She said while pushing away from White Void. "You're getting weaker. Is the fear people have in you weakening perhaps?" She asked and held up her hand. "Thirty-Two Bit Mega Blade!"
White Void sensed an energy build-up from behind her and spun to cut down an energy blade that was flying right at her.
"YOU'RE OPEN!" Purple Heart yelled as she got close and slashed White Void with a down strike. Several more rapid strikes and slashes thanks to her masterful blade work left White Void stunned and bloodied.
White Void panted as she flew back while trying to recover, cuts, tears and blood all across her body were visible as Purple Heart flew after her. "What the hell is going on?!" She practically screeched in anger, frustration and, worst of all, something she hadn't felt since killing her elder sister all those years ago...
...Fear.
"Ruling by fear and intimidation is an effective way to control your citizens," Purple Heart said, causing White Void to glare at her, "I knew two CPUs who did that in the past. One lost all her followers and the other one reformed after I helped her out. But there's one major flaw in such a rule." She stopped chasing White Void and narrowed her eyes at the other CPU. "When you rule by fear, your greatest weakness is one who's no longer afraid." She swung her katana to the side and gestured to the people down below. "Listen to them, White Void. They cheer your defeat, they cheer for me. They no longer fear you."
White Void growled before suddenly chuckling and laughing at Purple Heart.
"What's so funny?" Purple Heart was confused, from what she could tell, with the people losing their fear towards White Void, her power had to be weakening. Sure, it wasn't as drastic as Blanc's loss of power in the Ultradimension when Mr. Badd had been manipulating her, but it was still noticeable.
"That you think that I'm finished." White Void just grinned at her.
"Even your own sisters are losing their fear of you." Purple Heart said as she held up her katana and a surge of power filled her. "But I think I'll end this here with Neptune Break!" She suddenly rushed forward, slamming into White Void before turning around and doing it again and again, picking up speed with each strike, leaving deep cuts across White Void's body.
White Void just chuckled as a particularly deep cut went across her face as Purple Heart slashed upwards. "Go ahead, keep it up, you'll just bring your own demise and the demise of those you want to protect."
Purple Heart said nothing as she flew above White Void and held up her katana. "You're finished!" She yelled as she dove down onto White Void, slamming her into the ground and kicking up a ton of dust and dirt and the ground cracked and shattered under her.
White Void's eyes bugged out as blood rushed out of her mouth and covered her face and neck from the attack. There was a deep wound on her stomach as Purple Heart pulled her katana away from White Void.
"It's over." Purple Heart said softly before staring in confusion as White Void started to chuckle in amusement. "What's so funny?"
"That you think that this is over." White Void continued to chuckle as her body was engulfed in a red aura as red energy lines started to escape from the hole in her chest. Her eyes widened as a delighted, psychotic grin came to her face while she sat up without any effort and ignored the injuries on her body. As Purple Heart took a step back in surprise, she stood up and started laughing. "To think that I'd have to use this spell..." Her eyes glowed, but instead of red, they were just shining as her aura turned from red to black. "But I guess against another CPU, it's needed."
Neptune could feel power throbbing through White Void as her energy surged higher. "What are you doing?"
"You said I wasn't a Goddess?" The Lowee CPU sneered at Purple Heart. "Then fine! If that's the case, I throw away my Goddess title and embrace becoming a Devil!"
Purple Heart took another step back. The idea of attacking entered her mind but she knew that if she tried it would be doomed to failure. 'Transformation is a free action after all.'
"Geteilt Schmerzen der Auftrag!" White Void cried out.
Purple Heart's main character's instincts screamed "danger" when White Void's smirk grew even wider as the energy condensed around her and Purple Heart could see White Void's wounds healing in real time.
"Shared pain mandate?" Slowly and carefully repeating White Void's words, Purple Heart narrowed her eyes while desperately trying to push back the sickening feeling of dread in her stomach.
"Yes. Again, it's a spell." Grinned now fully healed CPU of Lowee, grinning in malevolent triumph, as the magical circle of a light blue color appeared around her waist. "A very handy one. You see, if I put a special magical node in a certain person… or persons. I can transfer all received damage onto that person. Thankfully. I have at least TWO such convenient little shits around me for the trick to work! Huhehehehe…"
"Two li… NO!" Purple Heart's eyes widened in a horrifying realization as a sudden and loud cry of pain from nearby was swiftly replaced with a gurgle and series of sickening crunches.
Slowly, as if against her will, Purple Heart turned around just to see with terrified eyes as Ram and Filyn ran towards the suddenly broken and battered form of Rom, who laid motionlessly on the ground, blood coming out of her body.
"But wait!" White Void's grin couldn't have been any more psychotic even if she tried. "There's more! Verwandeln!" She cried out as a pillar of light engulfed her like before, but unlike her previous transformation or Purple Heart's transformation, this was red with black numbers.
When the transformation ended, Purple Heart could only stare in horror at White Void. "What the..?"
The CPU had undergone an even more horrifying transformation than last time. The skin on her body and legs became red and veins were seen. Her arms and legs were covered in what looked like tubes, or bones, Purple Heart wasn't sure which, her tail got longer and there were more spikes on it, but what worried Purple Heart was that while White Void's hands remained normal, there were large skeletal hands and forearms just above White Void's normal arms and hands. The wings on her back became three bone-like protrusions and glowed red.
White Void's outfit changed as well, where before she had an armored bikini on, now it looked like she had a bikini made out of bones across her mid-section and chest. Surprisingly the bone section over where her small breasts were located covered them completely. The hole on her upper chest remained, but there was a red glow coming from inside.
"...What happened to your face?" Purple Heart gawked as she looked at White Void's face. "Did your skin melt off?!" It looked like White Void's skin was replaced by bone, she could see the other CPU's eyes and the bottom of her face around her lips and chin still had skin, but it was still all kinds of disturbing.
"WHAT?!" White Void reached up and touched her face. "...Oh wait..." She shook her head. "NO! You moron! It's a mask." She snarled at Purple Heart. "And you can call me White Nightmare like this."
An even larger axe formed in her hands and Purple Heart privately wondered if maybe the CPU was compensating for her lack of breasts. It looked more like a large crescent blade on both sides as White Nightmare grinned at Purple Heart. "Anything more to say before I kill you?"
"Um... Yes." Purple Heart nodded. "Your shoe lace is untied."
"Huh?" White Nightmare looked down before realizing that she wasn't wearing shoes. She looked up in time to get charged by Purple Heart and knocked away after Purple Heart used her katana to strike the Lowee CPU.
"Neptune STRIKE!" Purple Heart called out as she hit White Nightmare multiple times in an instant. She watched in some dismay as White Nightmare used those large, hovering hands to dig into the ground and stop her from sliding back too far.
White Nightmare chuckled as she stood back up. "Is that all you have?" To Purple Heart and everyone watching, as none of the crowd had left, both out of fear of White Nightmare and hope that Purple Heart could beat her, they could only stare in shock.
White Nightmare had no injuries on her.
The Lowee CPU grinned at Purple Heart. "What's the matter? You were barely hurting me before, is this all you've got now?"
Purple Heart jerked in surprise as she was surrounded on all sides by white balls of energy. "This is..?"
"Weiße durchbohren Rakete!"
The balls of energy launched themselves at Purple Heart, who created dozens of energy blades to counter them, but it was a losing battle. Even with her own sword skills and instincts, the most she could do was avoid critical damage.
(-)
Chrome stared in shock, this wasn't something that she knew that White Void could do. "What is this? Do all the Voids have a Nightmare form?" If so, she wondered what they looked like and just how they were able to obtain it.
"Rom!" Ram cried out as she tried to help her sister. She looked at Filyn, who looked as troubled as she did while they tried to help the injured CPU Candidate. 'Why? Why would Blanc do this?' Her eyes started to water as she trembled. 'Blanc... She never cared for us... She hated us, just like everyone else. No one ever helped us without getting hurt. No one wants to help us now and...'
"Here." A voice broke Ram out of her thoughts and she looked up, tears flowing out of her eyes as she saw Gust holding a small bottle. "Is healing potion, might help her."
Ram nodded and with Filyn they rolled Rom onto her back and helped her sit up. "Please... Save my sister."
Gust sighed at the look Ram was giving her. 'It would be best to let this one die.' But there was a chance that it could trigger her twin to transform as well and that was just too much of a risk.
There was another reason Gust was willing to help.
Unlike the CPUs, she wasn't a heartless monster and Rom was, as Filyn put it, not a CPU yet.
Popping the top off and pouring it into Rom's mouth, Gust helped Rom swallow the liquid. "Gust still thinks this is a bad idea." She muttered as she watched the wounds on Rom slowly heal and the young girl to cough and stop trembling.
Gust really hoped that this wouldn't come back to haunt them in the future.
(-)
Purple Heart was panting some distance away, her body covered in cuts and was oozing blood from the holes in her legs, arms and sides.
"HA HA HA HA!" White Nightmare laughed at Purple Heart. "You're not bad! But please." She grinned, put her over-sized hands on the ground and rushed at Purple Heart like a demented cat during an energy rush, Purple Heart was staggering and swaying as White Nightmare got in close. "DO TRY TO SURVIVE!" She swung her axe at Purple Heart, only to watch in shock as the bloodied and injured Purple Heart swung her sword up and in move that White Nightmare couldn't describe, disarmed her and sent the axe flying.
"I'll have to thank White Heart when I get home." Purple Heart said softly. Back home, Blanc had been demanding sparring partners for one reason or another lately and Histoire had volunteered Neptune to be Blanc's sparring partner, stating that she didn't want Neptune's levels to drop down too far when the next major adventure happened again.
White Nightmare chuckled and seeing the slasher smile on her face caused Purple Heart to pause slightly. "Want to know something interesting? I've always preferred to beat people to death than using that axe, things end so fast because of that weapon." She rushed in as Purple Heart braced herself and charged forward. White Nightmare just grinned as Purple Heart's attack got close and she tilted her head to allow the injured CPU's attack hit her in the shoulder.
Purple Heart stared in shock as her katana, a weapon that had had fought against CFW Magic, Yellow Heart, Anonydeath, Mr. Badd's robosuit, Affimojas, the Gold Third and even Dark CPUs...
Shattered, leaving only a broken stump behind.
Before Purple Heart could figure out what to do next, she felt her right leg getting grabbed by one of White Nightmare's large hands and squeezing.
"Let's see how you like this." White Nightmare grinned as she slammed Purple Heart into the ground so hard that the street nearly exploded apart. "Hmm, I wonder just how tough your bones are now."
Purple Heart watched in horror as White Nightmare used her free large hand to hold her down while shifting her grip on Purple Heart's leg so that the large hand was holding onto the lower part of Purple Heart's leg while she grabbed Purple Heart's knee with her regular hands. "NoAAAAAAH!" She screamed as White Nightmare pulled up and with a sickening snap broke her leg with ease.
"Ooooh! That sounds like it hurt a lot." White Nightmare chuckled and let go of Purple Heart before jumping up and landing on the CPU's broken leg, causing even more damage to the broken appendage. "Does it hurt?" She asked in a mocking tone. Sneering, she started punching Purple Heart all over in rapid succession. "Useless! Useless! Useless!" She screamed as not only her regular fists were hitting Purple Heart, but also her large ones.
After almost three minutes of that, White Nightmare stopped and smirked as she saw that Purple Heart wasn't moving, but still breathing. "Hmm..." She grabbed Purple Heart by her left arm and lifted her up to look her in the eyes. "I wonder... Oh yes, I know the most fitting way for you to die. I'll grab your legs, hold you upside down and make everyone watch as I split you apart like a wishbone." White Nightmare grinned as she dropped Purple Heart to the ground and used her large hands to grab the Planeptune CPU's legs and held her upside down as she started to pull, causing Purple Heart to scream as she felt her everything popping and groaning. "Yes! You can just scream as I tear you apart!"
There was a loud pop and Purple Heart felt as if her hips had just been dislocated from that. The scream of anguish that came out of her mouth was like music to White Nightmare's ears.
"Just a little more!" She taunted Purple Heart as she heard some creaking, cracking and groaning from Purple Heart's body even while Purple Heart's screams got louder and more desperate while filled with pain. "Ah, there we go, now to split you in half. I hope you're ready. It's so amusing to watch people's horror filled looks when they watch themselves GAH!" She screamed and suddenly toppled over as her left leg went flying away from her, causing her to drop Purple Heart to the ground as she spun to who attacked her, only to find Chrome behind her while holding White Nightmare's axe in her hands.
"Creatures like you..." Chrome snarled as she watched White Nightmare fall to the ground. "Should just disappear!" She slammed the axe down on White Nightmare's left elbow, shattering the armor there and severing the arm completely. "For Compa..." She muttered and lifted the axe up again. "This is for IF." Chrome said as she severed White Nightmare's left arm, both of the CPU's left arms, from her body.
White Nightmare screamed in agony as Chrome lifted the axe up again, this time dropping it onto White Nightmare's body, shattering her armor and cutting deeply into the CPU's body causing her to gurgle and cough up blood.
"That was for what you did to your sister." Chrome said as she pulled the axe out of White Nightmare's body and watched as the mask on the CPU's face shattered into pieces.
"W...Wait..." White Nightmare coughed, a truly scared look on her face as Chrome lifted the axe. "Please... I didn't want to..."
Chrome narrowed her eyes at White Nightmare. "To die? I think all of your victims didn't want to die either! You use your own sisters as a healing battery. Let me ask you... Would you have given your sisters any quarter when you had to fight them? Did you spare your own elder sister when you became a CPU?"
White Nightmare's eyes widened as the image of her broken and battered elder sister laying on the ground, begging her for forgiveness before she took her elder sister's life. "...No."
"I didn't think so." Chrome said as she dropped the axe again, this time aiming it at White Nightmare's throat.
A loud thunk, a garbled groan and suddenly silence.
The CPU of Lowee, Blanc, also known as White Void and White Nightmare...
Was no more.
To be continued...
I hope that wasn't too abrupt.
Original draft was Purple Heart ending it. But my beta readers both agreed that this ending was better.
So the next couple of chapters will be unwinding and preparing for the next arc.
Um... That's it, bye!