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

Know what's almost as bad as losing an entire day's worth of work? When you realize that what you wrote the day before isn't good and you need to re-write almost the entire thing. That's bad.

Chapter 26

"Tell me something, Neppy." Iris Void casually commented as the two zipped across Eden's skylines, their blades clashing with enough force to create shock-waves. "Why is it that you talk as if you know me?" She asked, curiosity in her voice.

Purple Heart swung her sword in an arc to parry Iris Void's thrust at her face. "Why would you care to know?"

"Hmm, because I never knew you and I'm curious." Iris Void answered as she stopped attack and hovered backwards a bit. "Now, come on, I'm legitimately curious."

Purple Heart looked at Iris Void and bit her lip. "Dammit, why do you have to be so much like my friend?"

"Oh?" Iris Void raised an eyebrow. "I'm like a friend of yours?" A smirk came to her face as she realized something. "You're from another reality, aren't you?" Purple Heart jerked in surprise and Iris Void chuckled. "Yes, that's the only thing that makes sense. I've long since eliminated anyone who lives in Eden, even my own sister." Her eyes glowed as her blade started to crackle. "I know for a fact that the only people outside of Eden who would know of me would be that silver-haired woman and the redhead. You can transform into a CPU form, yet you lack the hole in your chest like I do and I don't believe there's any other CPUs like that alive today."

"...Okay, that makes sense, but how do you figure that I'm from another reality?"

Iris Void sighed and shook her head. "I've had so little to do that I watch old television shows that were recorded and read books."

"...You don't nap?" Purple Heart asked, shock on her face as she couldn't believe that Iris Void wasn't as lazy as Iris Heart was.

"That would mean I'd have less time to torment people if I slept." Iris Void answered, causing Purple Heart to twitch. "So you're from an alternate reality, huh?" She tapped her chin and grinned at Purple Heart. "And you know a version of me, huh? Tell me, how is she compared to me?"

Purple Heart was about to answer when memories of what Iris Heart did to Noire, to Nepgear, to Mr. Badd, how she wanted Blanc to cry because she thought it would be cute, 'though to be fair, I actually agree with Plutie on that one, Blanc is pretty cute when she cries.'

Iris Void chuckled softly. "Your silence tells me everything. She's a lot like I am, huh?" She narrowed her eyes while smirking at Purple Heart. "It makes me wonder, are you really friends with her? Do you actually want to fight me?"

Purple Heart growled. "Unlike you, Iris Heart never killed anyone!"

"Oh?" Iris Void raised an eyebrow, "I wonder... Is that the only thing that separates us? Are you sure that she wouldn't kill someone?"

"What are you getting at?" Purple Heart growled as her sword lit up in flames and she rushed forward, her blade parried by Iris Void's crackling blade as their energies repulsed each other. "Plutie might be a sadist that terrifies everyone, but she'd never kill anyone."

"I wonder," Iris Void grinned at Purple Heart as the two struggled against each other, "are you saying that because you know? Or are you only saying that because you consider her a friend?" Her grin got larger as she felt Purple Heart falter slightly. "I bet..." She licked her lips, "that your friend is a lot worse than you're willing to admit."

"You're wrong!" Purple Heart yelled back at Iris Void, but her mind couldn't help but think back over a decade in time.

*Flash*

"Neptune! Help!" Purple Sister cried out as Iris Heart leered at her while looming overhead and held a riding crop in her hand. "Please!" Purple Sister had tears leaking out of her eyes as she looked at her sister.

"Shouldn't you help her?" Black Heart asked Purple Heart.

Purple Heart sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Dealing with Sadie is too much of a hassle. It's best if Nepgear learns the terror of Sadie first hand."

"NOOO!" Purple Sister cried out as she was struck by Iris Heart across the thigh. "Owwie!"

"Ooooh!" Iris Heart purred and slapped Purple Sister's butt with her riding crop, getting another cry of pain from her. "You cry out so deliciously. I wonder..." She licked her lips in anticipation, "how much pain can you handle before it becomes pleasure?"

"AAHHHH!" Purple Sister screamed as her butt, thighs, legs and other parts of her body were whipped over and over again.

*End Flash*

"I can tell," Iris Void chuckled at Purple Heart, "you realize it now."

Purple Heart's eyes seemingly flashed as she let out a scream, striking at Iris Void with abandon. Iris Void, for her part, parried the attacks. "You know nothing about my Plutie! She loves people! She's friends with so many! She loves kids!"

"Yet I bet she's willing to torment those she calls a friend, doesn't she?" Iris Void grinned at Purple Heart. When the purple CPU faltered this time, Iris Void kicked Purple Heart in the gut with her left leg, causing Purple Heart to double over and cough up some blood. She then did a flip in mid-air and slammed her right leg into Purple Heart's back, causing her to cry out in pain and go flying to the ground below.

"Big sis!" Ram yelled and ran to Purple Heart, who was struggling to get up. "Are you okay?" She asked and helped her to her feet while Rom and Peashy stood in front of them protectively as Iris Void slowly lowered herself to the ground.

"My, my..." Iris Void shook her head. "So sad," she gave Purple Heart a look of pity while Purple Heart looked at her, "just this much affects you so much, huh?"

Purple Heart panted as she tried to catch her breath. "What are you..?"

"What I told you," Iris Void shook her head, a sad look on her face, "deep down, you know what I say is true. That your friend is no different than me."

"That's not true!" Purple Heart yelled back as she recovered from Iris Void's last attack and pointed her sword at Iris Void, anger in her eyes. "Iris Heart might be similar to you, but she would never do the things you did! In fact, when our daughter was scared of her, she was legitimately saddened by that fact."

Iris Void stared at Purple Heart in shock. "...CPUs can have children together? This is most interesting."

"...You're a mommy?" Peashy asked Purple Heart, who blushed softly.

"Get your mind out of the gutter! We adopted some orphans and raised them as our daughters!" Purple Heart shot back at Iris Void. "Enough of this, Void..." She snarled, genuine anger on her face. "I've had it with your kind! You steal my friends' faces! You harm innocent people! You torment and kill your sisters?!"

Iris Void chuckled as she saw Purple Heart start to glow softly. "Careful there, Neppy, you might become a Void if you're not cautious."

Before Purple Heart could say anything more, there was a scream of anger and a metallic streak filled the air. "What the?"

"IRIS VOID!"

Iris Void looked up, shock on her face as someone came crashing in at her. "What the hell!?" She screamed as something hit her weapon so hard it shattered. Before she could ask any more questions a strong blow hit her in the chest, sending her flying backwards where she landed on her back and slid back so far that she met the stairs leading up to the area they were fighting in and tumbled down them.

"I'll never forgive you." The new person muttered darkly as the glow around their body started to die down.

"Another CPU?" Purple Heart asked, shock in her voice. "Where did this one come from?"

(-)

Several minutes prior...

"You're..." Chrome looked at Silver in shock. "How?"

Silver smiled at her softly. "Well, before I ended up like this I moved your weapon here."

"...How do you know that I wouldn't have needed it before this?" Chrome asked, causing her sister to sweat-drop heavily. "Nevermind." She sighed and shook her head. "Silver, this..."

"Um..." Filyn raised a hand. "If that's Chromey's weapon, is that her human or CPU weapon?"

"Chrome was unusual." Silver answered her. "I still don't know how her HDD weapon ended up being the same as this one." She giggled softly. "I remember when you had this made," she laughed at Chrome's groan.

"Please no, we don't have time for this flashback."

Filyn looked at them in confusion. "What? What?"

Silver laughed and winked at Filyn, "when Chrome was only a few months old, she had this staff made and said it was her royal scepter."

Chrome's face was slightly red as she remembered that. "Please don't talk anymore."

Silver smiled for a few more moments before sobering up and looking at Chrome. "Are you ready to fix your mistake?" She asked and held up her hand, the staff moving forward and towards Chrome.

"...Do I deserve another chance?" Chrome asked as she looked at the staff in front of her.

"That's not for you to decide." Silver said as the room was suddenly filled with transparent people. As Chrome and Filyn looked around in shock, spinning in place as they saw so many people, Silver continued, "a CPU is bound to the whims of her people, in many ways, we're in a cage, our lives are chosen for us the moment we're born."

"Chrome Heart..." The spirit of an old man walked forward and smiled at Chrome. "I never stopped believing in you."

"Chromey!" Some children yelled and waved at Chrome, "you were awesome at the park!"

The spirit of a young man and woman both stepped forward and smiled at Chrome. "None of us stopped believing in you, Chrome. We knew you'd return." The man said to her.

The woman spoke up next. "Please, we know it's not much, but take what little shares our spirits have left and avenge us."

Chrome turned to look at Silver, who nodded. Reaching forward with a trembling hand, she took the staff and her eyes widened as she felt all the spirits in the room, all the ghosts of the people she abandoned flowing not only into her, but into her staff. "This is..."

"Now!" Silver spoke as she started to glow. "Take what we have and use it, little sister." She disappeared, flowing directly into Chrome, whose eyes started to glow as her pupils changed into a power symbol.

"...Thank you, Silver Heart, my big sister," Chrome whispered softly, "and to everyone else..." Her face became determined in ways that she hadn't been in decades. "Thank you for giving me this last chance to redeem myself. I promise you..." A white glow covered her body and got brighter and brighter. "I will NEVER let you down again!"

Filyn winced as the light became so bright that she couldn't see. "Chromey? What are you..?!"

"ACCESS!"

(-)

The glow around the CPU died down enough to reveal a woman with long, metalic-colored hair, blue-green eyes and was wearing a white processor with black and blue trim. A choker of metallic black was around her neck that connected to the top of her processor, which covered the bottom of her breasts. Her thighs and shoulders were bare while her arms were covered in white gloves that went up to the center of her biceps, her legs were covered in metallic black boots that went from her feet to half way up her thighs. On her head were two hair ornaments and her wings were black and jagged with blue energy that became much larger wings on her back. In her hand was an ornate staff that crackled with power.

The CPU's eyes glowed as she glared at Iris Void. "For all the people of Eden that you hurt, for your sister, I, Chrome Heart, am here to exact punishment for all the people of Eden."

"Well," Iris Void chuckled as she pushed herself to her feet and summoned forth a new blade. "This is a surprise."

Chrome Heart glared at Iris Void and her wings burst with power as she flew down at the Void, who spread her wings and flew into the air. "Get back here!" She screamed and flew after Iris Void at speeds the Void couldn't dodge in time. As she passed Iris Void, Chrome Heart smashed her staff into the Void's stomach, causing her eyes to bug out in pain. "You slaughtered everyone for your own sick amusement."

Iris Void raised her head as her eyes glowed. "And I'd do it again!" Electrical energy started to cover her as she let loose a pulse of power that forced Chrome Heart back. "Don't presume to know anything about a Void!" She yelled and rushed in, her blade clashing against Chrome Heart's staff. "Unlike you Hearts, we Voids aren't slaves to the whims of the people!"

"Is that what you think?" Chrome Heart asked as she pushed back against Iris Void. "That we're nothing but slaves to our people?" The two took off into the air as they traded blows against each other.

"It was something Silver Heart wrote down," Iris Void sneered at her, "that she sometimes wished that she was a human, so she would be able to choose her own path, instead of being forced to being the protector of the country that could just abandon her at any time they felt like it."

Chrome Heart chuckled softly. "If that's what you think, then it's no wonder you Voids are as fucked up as you are." With a yell, she rushed at Iris Void and slammed her staff into the Void's weapon. "It's true that no CPU had the right to refuse what we are and yes, it is true that we sometimes get envious of humans and how they can be whatever they want to be," she pulled her staff back as she and Iris Void clashed weapons against each other over and over, "but that's natural!"

Down below, Purple Heart had a look of quiet contemplation on her face. '...Other CPUs feel the same way?' She knew that she sometimes got like that, that sometimes she sometimes wished that she had been human and could have chosen her own path. 'Do Vert, Noire or Blanc feel like that?' She wouldn't be surprised if they didn't, however, since all of them seemed to enjoy it. 'Or am I the only CPU with such a selfish desire?' She knew that the Noire from the Ultradimension didn't feel like that as she had chosen to be a CPU intentionally, knowing the risks that came with attempting to achieve that level of power.

In the air, Iris Void sneered "Is it?" Iris Void shot back. "Perhaps for you, but as a Void, I never wanted to be human."

"That's because you're nothing more than a Devil." Chrome shot back as she paused in her pursuit of Iris Void for a moment, to let her get some distance. "However! I was always a Goddess! A protector! And my relationship with my people was never parasitic like yours!"

Iris Void sneered at her. "Parasitic? I don't think so." She snapped her wrist to the side and her sword became a chain-whip that glowed red and crackled with power. "Your very reality crumbles unless you do everything that the humans demand of you." She swung it outwards at Chrome Heart, who batted it away. "You think," she swung it at Chrome Heart again, "that you're," again, she swung it at Chrome Heart, increasing speed and creating a blender of blades that Chrome Heart couldn't get through, "any better than me?!" The air around her started to crackle and shake as she glowed red. "I'll show you what I can do as Iris Nightmare!"

"She is better than you are." Purple Heart said softly from behind Iris Void, "and I won't let you turn into your Nightmare form, Sadie," Iris Void's eyes widened as she turned to look behind her before three blades lodged themselves into her back and pierced through her stomach. "Chrome! NOW!"

Iris Void looked back at Chrome Heart and her eyes widened in fear as the glowing wings on the other CPU's back suddenly glowed brightly and expanded in size. "No! It can't..."

"V2 STRIKE!" Chrome Heart screamed as she went from standing still to right in front of Purple Heart so fast that their noses were almost touching. "Hello."

"Hello." Purple Heart smirked and looked back at Iris Void as Chrome Heart did the same. Suddenly Iris Void's body started to jerk and spasm as energy seemingly struck it at every which angle possible, deep cuts forming on her body as she twisted and screamed in pain. Eventually the attack ended and Iris Void fell to the ground and bounced as she landed before coming to a stop in a heap, her body started to glow black.

"No..." Iris Void's eyes widened as she felt her transformation dissipating. A flash of black light engulfed Iris Void as her body reverted to her human form. "Noooo!" Plutia panted and put her hands on the ground as she tried to catch her breath.

A moment later, a shadow appeared over her. Looking up, she saw the angry, stern look on Chrome Heart's face. "You have no idea how much I've waited for this moment for the past sixty years."

Plutia gave her a small smirk. "Buuuuut... You'll NEEEEVER have your people back." The raw anger she was feeling from Chrome Heart made her smirk get larger. "I still win..."

There was a crack in the distance as Chrome raised her staff and brought it down on Plutia's skull as hard as she could. "AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?!" Chrome Heart yelled as she slammed the staff on Plutia's prone body over and over again. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE THIS WORLD AND RUIN IT LIKE YOU DID!"

It was almost a minute later of her slamming her mace-like staff on Plutia's body when Purple Heart grabbed her wrists. "Chrome... Enough." Chrome Heart looked at her in a mixture of anger and pure anguish, tears falling from her eyes. "She's dead."

A moment later, Plutia's body erupted into a pillar of red light that shot to the heavens as her flesh, clothes and self dissolved into particles of light.

Dropping the staff to the ground with a loud thump, Chrome Heart turned to Purple Heart and trembled, pulling the other CPU into a hug as she started to cry into Purple Heart's shoulder.

"Your nightmare's over, Chrome." Purple Heart whispered softly as she rubbed the sobbing CPU's back softly. "She can no longer hurt you, Filyn or anyone else ever again."

Chrome Heart could only cry. Years of anger, regret, pain and loss came rushing out as her emotions finally found release as her tormentor was finally dead. 'My people... I finally avenged you,' she thought while she cried, 'I'm so, so sorry it took me so long.'

Purple Heart said nothing as she hugged Chrome Heart and let her vent her emotions.

To be continued...

Oh look, they got through a Void without needing to fight her Nightmare form.

I guess killing off all the people who power the Fearicite is a bad idea, huh?