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

I wrote the majority of this chapter while listening to "Holding Out For a Hero". If you want to know when to play it, wait until Noire makes her declaration.

Chapter 46

Rom's eyes widened and her pupils shrank as she saw what Black Void was doing to Purple Heart. "NO! YOU MONSTER!" Rom ran forward, lightning crackling around her hands as tears burst from her eyes. "HOW DARE YOU!?"

"Oh shut up!" Black Void snapped at her as she pulled her arm back slowly. "Take a close look, you brat." She looked back at Purple Heart, who was jerking and gasping, but calming down while the red and black energy that was surrounding her body was dissipating and traveling to Black Void. When the energy cleared up, Purple Heart lay there, with no damage to her body and stared at Black Void in shock as the other CPU stood up and stepped away from her. "You saved my sister, I saved you. I think that makes us even."

"N...Noire?" Purple Heart couldn't believe what she was seeing. "You... You took that energy into yourself?" She asked as she looked at Black Void's right hand, which was crackling with Fearicite energy.

"If you want it back, I'd be happy to oblige." Black Void gave Purple Heart a smirk. She watched as Purple Heart let out a groaning sigh and transformed back to normal. "That took a lot out of you, huh?"

Neptune nodded as she sat on the ground. "Y...Yeah..." She trembled. Being bombarded with that energy, it felt like she had sank into an ocean of pure despair, darkness and hatred with no way to reach the surface. "I... Thank you." It felt weird to thank a Void, but Noire didn't seem as bad as the others had been.

Neptune shuddered as she still felt cold to her core. 'It... It got stronger, didn't it?' The Fearicite that was infecting her, even without the active energy flooding her body, it was still there.

Screwing her eyes shut, Neptune tried not to vomit. She knew that if she were to transform again that she might transform into a Void. 'No! I don't want to!' Images of Nepgear, Histoire, Plutia, B-Sha, Uzume, her bigger self, Peashy, both versions of IF, Compa, Noire, Blanc, and Vert flashed through her mind as she doubled over and shuddered. 'No! I won't hurt them! I won't hurt those I love!'

The images shifted to all of her friends and family were laying on the ground in pools of their own blood while she saw her hands covered in blood and shaking. But instead of a horrified cry, she heard, in her mind, the sickening laughter of someone who was insane. "No! Stop!"

Black Void frowned at Neptune and sighed. "Just try to recover."

Neptune nodded while panting heavily. "I can... Do that."

Black Void nodded and a screen appeared in front of her. She frowned as it was covered in static. "So whomever's in charge of the C.I.D. doesn't want me to see, huh? Too bad. Override! Code Seventh Heaven Fantasy." The static instantly cleared up and Black Void narrowed her eyes as she saw Singe in the captain's chair. "Well, this is interesting. To think that you were this brazen with your manipulation and betrayal."

Singe stared at Black Void, before chuckling. "Yes, that's right, we've been using you for years to deal with problems that threaten our hold over Lastation. It was so easy to do it too. We had a few modified people, which was never in short supply thanks to your policies that left so many destitute and in the slums, we were able to antagonize those that would be a threat to our power and use you to destroy them."

"I see..." Black Void narrowed her eyes and looked up at the C.I.D., "I think I'll come visit and thank you personally." She turned back to the screen as Singe laughed at her. "What?"

"You think that you can come visit me?" A savage grin came across his face as he laughed. "The C.I.D. was designed knowing how strong you are." Black Void's expression didn't change even as Singe continued to laugh. "I know that you never obtained your Nightmare form, Black Void."

"Nep-whaaaa?!" Neptune gawked at Black Void, who stood there silently. "The Nightmare form isn't natural to Voids?"

"It is natural." Black Void countered and looked at Neptune, "however, much like our Void state, we have to unlock it." She looked back at Singe and narrowed her eyes, "yes, it's true. I never unlocked my Nightmare form. My sister, Sapphire Void told me that I was unlikely to ever unlock it when she was dying. Because I could never feel the emotions needed to tap into the full power of the Fearicite. I stopped caring after I became a Void because nothing but power mattered in life. I sought to impose order on a chaotic world so that no more Voids would need to be born into this world."

"And yet you shut down the cybernetics enhancement program that we had going with Gernia G.," Singe countered, "you could have easily gotten the order if the people were stripped of their free will."

"And what would be the point of that?" Black Void countered and narrowed her eyes at Singe. "Easily controlled masses who are pre-programmed to do what you want aren't the type of people that this world needs." She scoffed before looking back at Neptune, who was being helped up by Rom, and then at Uni.

"Sis?" Uni asked, confusion on her face as Noire smiled at her softly.

"I never wanted you to become a Void, Uni." Black Void told her, "our lives are ones of suffering." She looked at Neptune again, "you, Neptune..." Black Void gave the purple-haired girl a stern look, "look after Uni for me while I deal with this. When this is over, help me make sure that she becomes a proper CPU, a Guardian Goddess."

"And what are you going to do?" Singe asked her. "In case you forgot, that other CPU is your enemy."

Black Void turned back to him and narrowed her eyes in anger. "My enemies are those that seek to cause disorder and chaos in my nation. And guess who's causing the most disorder and chaos right now?"

Singe's eyes widened. "But... Even so... You can't get up here! I'm safe from your..." He trailed off as Black Void held up her right arm, which was still crackling with Fearicite energy. "Wait... That..."

"My name is CPU Black Void..." Black Void began as she held up her arm while the power started to arc over her body. "The Black Calamity which seeks control over all else!" Her body was engulfed in a red light even as her eyes glowed. "And now, I am the nightmare that will eliminate the rot of Lastation."

"Noire?" Both Neptune and Uni gasped as the red light with black numbers engulfed and covered Black Void.

When the light ended, Black Void was standing there, but her form was different. Her legs from her feet to her knees were covered in white and black metal guards, her toes were covered in sharp points, her thighs were left exposed while her hips were covered in a tiny bikini bottom that was black that barely covered her crotch.

Neptune blushed as she looked at Noire's fully exposed butt, though she thought she saw hints of a thong covering up her naughty bits and a tail that looked like a Fenrir's tail was sticking out from the base of her spine.

Black Void's midsection was exposed, but her ribs and breasts were covered in a black and silver corset that, ironically, covered more flesh than her original Void form did. Her arms were covered in black and white armor while her hands were covered in clawed gloves.

Uni watched as her sister turned to look at her and she could only stare at the changes from the front. The hole in Noire's chest was red and pulsating with power and her sister had shoulder guards with spikes on them and a bone mask over her face that reminded Uni of a large dog for some reason. 'Maybe it's the parts on the top of her head that look like ears?' Uni thought to herself. Her sister's hair was in a style that was a mix of her CPU and her human forms, with long flowing hair with twin pig-tails on each side of her head, framing it. "Noire?"

"Call me Black Nightmare like this." Her voice was deeper, but there was no trace of that typical arrogance that was part of Black Void's voice. "Uni, Neptune..." She gave them a small smile. "You're both good people." Her smile disappeared as she looked up at the sky. "But there are times that even a good CPU must act like a Void to reign her people in."

"...You're not wrong." Neptune commented as she remembered how she and Plutia had to enforce some strict rules to keep people from trying to do lewd things with Yellow Heart back in the Ultradimension and how they had to actually make more than a few visits to people to get them to stop trying to lewd the naïve CPU.

Black Void nodded and threw her head back and let out a howl that shook everyone down to their bones before disappearing a burst of speed.

"What the?" Uni, Neptune and Rom all asked at the same time before hearing a bunch of shattering and smashing progbots.

"Woah!" They all gasped in surprise.

(-)

Ram and Filyn stood, back-to-back, as they fought off the progbots and cyborgs that were coming in close to them. "I'm getting tired, Filyn." Ram whimpered.

"And I'm having a hard time seeing straight!" Filyn snapped back as she looked around at the monsters surrounding them. "Ram... Let's make our big sisters proud of us."

"Yeah." Ram smiled. She was still embarrassed about being in just her panties, but Chrome had been right, the only thing that mattered was surviving right now, she could get new clothes if she survived.

The next thing either of them knew there was a blur that spun around them before stopping, revealing Black Nightmare as the progbots and cyborgs fell to the ground in pieces. Both of them stared at her in shock. "Get to Neptune, she needs to be protected from enemies."

Both of them nodded as Black Nightmare looked up and launched herself upwards at the C.I.D., tearing through flying progbots and security drones along the way.

"Come on!" Filyn grabbed Ram and the two ran towards Neptune, which was easy as there wasn't much of anything left on the ground to challenge them.

(-)

In the cockpit of the C.I.D., Singe shuddered. "Dammit! How could this..." He looked to the side and saw a glowing button. He pushed the button above it. "Please tell me that project BTH is ready to go." He said as the screen showed some technicians in the C.I.D..

One of the technicians nodded.

"Then..." Singe chuckled. "Allow my masterpiece," he looked at the oncoming Black Nightmare, "to show us the end of this Nightmare." He pushed the glowing red button as doors to the C.I.D. started to open up and a large body that was in the hangar suddenly jerked and its eyes glowed as it fell out the open doors and down to the city below.

(-)

Black Nightmare's eyes widened as a large object came out of the C.I.D. and came diving at her. "What's thack!" She cried out as the object turned out to be a large humanoid body that punched her with its left hand and grabbed her with its right hand as it zipped to the ground below, crashing with enough force that all loose objects, such as window glass, trash, people and even the sidewalks were blasted off the ground and away from the impact site.

Black Nightmare grimaced in pain as the humanoid being pushed down on her body while standing up fully.

"It..." Neptune's eyes widened as she saw who was there. "It can't be..." Images of that enemy flashed through her head. "...C...F...W... Brave?"

The large humanoid robot stood above Black Nightmare and reached over its shoulder to pull out a large sword and raised it up to strike at Black Nightmare.

"NO!" Uni and Neptune yelled as Brave swung his sword down at Black Nightmare's prone body. They could only watch in horror as his sword slammed into where Black Nightmare was, kicking up dust and dirt and obscuring what they could see.

Suddenly Brave raised his head up. "I must say," he began, "I am impressed at such speed."

"What?" Uni gasped, her eyes widening and watering up as she saw her sister, still alive and okay and being held in a bridal carry by Steamax.

"You are safe, Lady Noire." Steamax said to her as he put her down. "...Is something wrong?" He asked as he saw Black Nightmare's slightly flustered look.

"...You grabbed my boob and my butt when you rescued me." Black Nightmare muttered, causing Steamax to jerk in surprise. "I'm not upset about that, just pointing it out. Next time you need to rescue a girl, be careful where you grab is all."

"Yes!" Steamax nodded and both of them looked at Brave. "Lady Noire, allow me to help you with this foe."

Black Nightmare was silent for a moment before looking at Steamax. "Your priority is to protect Uni. For all I care, you could leave me to die at any time, so why did you help me?"

"I do not need programming to tell me to protect those I care about." Steamax told her, causing Black Nightmare's eyes to widen. "You created me, if I can make your life just a little easier, then I shall do what I can to help in that regard."

"...Idiot." Black Nightmare turned back to Brave, her face slightly red under her mask. "If that's the case, what took you so long to get out here?"

"My apologies," Steamax said, "I was busy dealing with the ringleader of the cyborgs, Azna=Leb."

Black Nightmare nodded, glad to have someone like Steamax on her side.

(-)

At the Basilicom, Kei was watching the events unfold on various screens with a frown on her face. "...Azna=Leb?" She whispered softly and opened a communication channel to him. When the screen showed his broken, bleeding and dead body with his Affimojas power armor laying around him in pieces, she felt herself trembling in pure rage. "That..." She snarled as she gripped her chair. "Okay, fine bitch, you want to play this way? I'll show you that two can play this game." She flipped open her phone and pressed a button on it to call someone. "Gernia G.? Did you put those neural over-rides in all the cyborgs? You did? Good. As soon as I give the signal, activate them. We're going to capture that bitch and all those others down there and I'll figure out how to deal with them. Do you understand! Any of them die and I'll feed you to sharks with lasers on their foreheads!"

Snapping her phone shut, Kei reached into her desk and pulled out a handgun before getting up from the desk and walking to the elevator. "I'll take care of that bitch on my own."

(-)

"Do you two think you will be enough to take me on?" Brave asked as two cannons formed on his shoulders and he fired at them. Both Black Nightmare and Steamax quickly dodged and rushed in. "Fools!" Swinging his sword out in a wide arc, he forced them to dodge again. His shoulder cannon fired at Black Nightmare, who jumped to the side as Steamax rushed in and did a diving kick at Brave's head, causing the large robot to slide backwards and Brave swung his sword up at Steamax, who twisted in mid-air while Black Nightmare came rushing in and slammed into Brave hard and sending him crashing onto the ground hard.

Not far away, Uni, Neptune and Rom, who were joined by Filyn and Ram, watched in slight awe as Black Nightmare and Steamax fought the lion-crested robot. "They did it!" Uni smiled happily. "I knew that big sis could do it."

Neptune shook her head. "No... He's one of the four... WATCH OUT!" She screamed as two energy blasts ripped through where Black Void and Steamax had been just a moment ago. "He's one of the Four Felons in my world. Because of his leader, I was captured for three years." Being slowly drained to death while the world was on the verge of destruction and being unable to do anything about it really did suck.

"Wait, your world?" Uni asked, confusion on her face. "What do you mean by your world?"

Before Neptune could answer, they heard Black Nightmare suddenly scream in pain, as if her entire being was being assaulted at once. "What?!" They both stared and gasped as they saw, not Black Nightmare, but Noire on her knees panting and gasping.

"Noire!" Uni ran to her sister, or tried to as she was grabbed from behind. Turning, she glared at the person who grabbed her before staring in horror as she saw K-Sha's headless body grabbing her. "No! Let me..." She jerked as another body, this one mostly destroyed, grabbed her by her legs.

Neptune, Rom, Ram and Filyn were all quickly grabbed by dead cyborg people and pinned down to the ground.

"So sorry!" A screen with Gernia G.'s face appeared on it while she smiled at Uni and the others. "Can't have you do anything to stop us. Anyway, night night."

Before Uni could ask what she meant, she felt sharp pin-pricks hit her in the back of the neck, her breasts and her butt before she fell to the ground, unconscious.

(-)

Not far away from them, Noire was on her knees and panting. "What the hell?" A screen appeared in front of her and she looked up to see Kei grinning at her. Noire's eyes widened in shock as she saw the room Kei was in. "The Fearicite Chamber?!"

"Well, I guess you can call it that." Kei chuckled at her. "It was easy to get past your security, Noire. But I don't know if I'd call it the Fearicite Chamber anymore... I kind of destroyed the Fearicite in here."

"Lady Noire, look out!" Steamax yelled and rushed in, pushing the redhead out of the way before a blast from Brave slammed into him, destroying most of his body, save for his left arm, chest and head.

"STEAMAX!" Noire quickly crawled to him. "You stupid idiot!" She yelled at the robot. "If you die, then who will take care of Uni?!"

"My... Apologies... Lady... Noire..." Steamax's eyes dimmed before going dark.

"Steamax... Steamax?!" Noire yelled, tears falling out of her eyes. "YOU IDIOT!" Before she could continue to cry, she was wrapped up in a cable and a surge of electricity went through her body, causing her to scream as her essence became nothing but pain.

Brave said nothing as he waited for her to pass out from the pain. When she finally stopped screaming and went limp, he cut the power and lifted her up.

"Brave, bring that dead robot with you as well." Kei told him. "And bring Uni and those others with her with you as well."

A loud crash caught Kei's attention as she saw Chrome smashing her way through Progbots and cyborgs. "Leave them alone or I'll..." Chrome stopped as she saw that Neptune, Filyn, Rom, Ram and Peashy all had cyborg hands around their necks.

"Come along quietly, won't you." Kei replied to her calmly while smiling tightly. "If you don't comply, well... I can't guarantee that they won't be killed."

"...Dammit." Chrome muttered and dropped her weapon to the ground while letting her razor wires dissipate.

"Good girl." Kei chuckled softly and snapped her fingers as cables wrapped around Chrome's body and lifted her up. "Brave, bring all of them to the Basilicom, we have... Much to do with them."

"Yes, mistress Kei." Brave said while sending out cable cords to wrap up Neptune, Uni, Rom, Ram, Filyn, and Peashy and pulled them and Chrome all close to his body while putting his sword away and walking over to the remains of Steamax and picking him up before turning and flying to the Basilicom.

To be continued...

...The bad guys won? Well, fuck!

Project BTH is Project "Brave the Hard" (as CFW Brave's name in Japan is known as that).

In case you forgot, or don't know how Noire knows Neptune's name, Kei told her when she gave Noire the information. If I didn't have it shown, just assume it happened off-screen.