Authors note: So yeah, not yet at the end of the arc, but close I swear! Also sorry about the wait, I was on vacation camping for two weeks so I fell badly behind on writing for all my stuff. Hope you like the chapter, and I swear the Arfoire/MK2 arc will end by the next chapter. Then we get to the really fun stuff!
"I can think of nothing that will stop Arfoire from being released. Not when the seals are within ASIC's generals." Histoire stated to everyone as they sat in Neptune's living room, staring at Histoire in disbelief.
"Aw come on Histy, you have to know something! It'll just take a few hours right? Three hours? thirty hours? three days?" Neptune pushed hopefully.
"That is not the case Neptune!" Histoire snapped back. "From what you have told me of what CFW Magic said, they willingly took in the seals that held Arfoire into their own bodies so that when they die the seals are broken. To stop them the seals would have to be removed, but forcibly removing them while she could fight back would destroy them. They would have to be willingly removed!"
"So we would have to convince her to remove it herself, which she will not do," Vert summarized with a sigh. " Oh dear."
"Oh dear, is barely the half of it! isn't there some we can like, seal her?" Blanc asked.
"There may be, but I would have to look, and it will likely take three days to come to a conclusion."
"Witch would leave us with only four days to enact it. That's not enough." Noire muttered with a sigh.
"It may have to be," Vert declared with a sigh. "We are not back up to full strength, and I am loathe to send our sisters against her when we could not prevail in the first place."
"There were four of them then, I'm sure we could do it now at full strength!" Blanc proclaimed angrily.
"Perhaps, but for now we have to decide what to do. She clearly did not realize that Nepgear has the core of CFW brave, so perhaps that means that Arfoire cannot be released?" Noire asked Histoire.
"Hmm, it is possible, but even if it is, some of her power will still be released and keep running rampant, two seals at least need to be held to keep her power at bay."
"So I need to Work on fixing him really fast then?" Nepgear asked, pushing herself into what had almost immediately become a conversation only for Histoire and their big sisters.
Vert nodded calmly. "I believe that would be a good idea if it is possible, but please don't push yourself too hard."
"I'll do what I have to!" Nepgear declared instead of simply agreeing with Vert as she got up and bolted out of the room, Uni following behind her saying something about helping.
"Aww, what are we gonna do then" Ram complained loudly.
"Why don't you help Compa?" IF suggested with a mischievous grin.
"I was about to get some pudding for everyone!" Compa exclaimed, making Rom and Ram's eyes light up.
"If we help do we get some?"
"Of course!"
"Then we'll help!"
" . . . . Well, that worked," Noire said as Compa led the twins out of Neptune's living room before she glanced at Louise to see her heading for the doorway. " Going to help Nepgear and Uni I take it?"
"Something like that," Louise said as she walked out, quickening her pace as she went down the hall, only stopping when she came to a bare balcony and sat down on its edge.
It was infuriating. ASIC had beat them before even starting by jamming the seals inside of them. Even if thy all died, they still won because they would release the Deity of Sin. Everyone seemed to be so hopeful on some way to stop them or seal it but could they? Magic was not about to help them, and Brave might not be able to fight against them. Neither they nor their sisters were strong enough to beat Magic at full strength either! Maybe if they all teamed up on her at once, but that would still release the Diety of Sin! Of course the fact that she so mockingly told them that once two of them were broken the Diety's power would begin leaking made it . . . . . . . .
"Wait a minute, once two of them are dead. . . . two of them. . . . . Trick, Judge, Brave . . . unless. . . ." Louise's eyes widened more and more as she began to connect the dots. She sat there for a few seconds before scrambling up onto the rail and over, dropping herself off the edge as if it was the most normal thing ever. Going HDD mid-fall she stopped falling and held herself there for a second beside the Planeptune Basilicom's tower and watched the horizon, making sure she had her direction correct before suddenly blasting off toward Lastation. It was going to be a long flight, but she didn't care. She needed to find out if what she thought was accurate or not!
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"There, the skeletal systems are done, I think," Nepear said unsurely as she and Uni gazed at the Mechanical Skeleton standing before them in Nepgears workshop. It was about the same height as them, maybe slightly taller, but aside from the metal joints, rivets and some glowing spots that were power junctions, it didn't look like much.
"It's . . kind of dull isn't it?" Uni asked carefully.
"Well, yeah, but I don't think I'd have enough material or time to Remake him full sized or in the same design, sorry Uni,"
" Don't apologize. Just the fact you're doing this is enough. I, I want to give him a chance to redeem himself!"
"I know. . . . I hope our sisters are making some headway too," Nepgear then said, sounding very worried and sullen.
"Me too," Uni agreed as she glanced at a wall with a clock, making her eyes go wide. "Uh, is that clock right?"
"Yeah why. . . . oh. I hope we haven't missed dinner."
"GE-GE, Uni, Lou-lou, Foods ready!" Compa called as she came in the door of the worskshop and looked around. " Where's Lou-Lou?"
"Lou-Lou?" Uni asked in confusion.
"Yeah, Nepgear is Ge-Ge, so Louise is Lou-Lou!" Compa exclaimed.
"Um, I think she'd attack you if she heard that," Uni said unsurely. Sure they knew Louise better now, but that fact made Uni worry about how quick to react she was.
"Louise isn't here, isn't she up with Vert?" Nepgear asked with a tilt of her head.
"She left the room just after you two did. She hasn't been seen hours for now."
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Histoire let out long sigh, telling the night air just how tired she was. When dinner had come she had left her own room and her research to get some food, after all one could not work without food, only to find Vert madly rushing around looking for Louise. Apparently she had disappeared at some point in the day without telling anyone, and all attempts to call her were met with the noise of no connection.
The result was that Vert had dragged everyone into helping look for her for almost an hour before Histoire had managed to calm everyone down. just in time for a text from Louise saying she be back sometime in the night and to not wait for her.
Which promptly made Vert go crazy.
Again.
"Haaa, she is such a handful, it almost makes me happy all I have to deal with Neptune. Almost."
"Now now, you don't actually believe that, no?"
Histoire turned to see a quartet of old friends hovering on the balcony with her, the four mascot discs.
"No, perhaps not," Histoire said simply before she hovered down to the railing and smiled. " I apologize that we haven't had a chance to talk since you arrived."
"It is no trouble, The current CPU's are quiet energetic after all," The purple disc replied, glowing slightly as it spoke.
"The Candidates even more so," The green disc added humorously.
Just as Histoire opened her mouth to respond she noticed Louise, in her HDD, land on another balcony around the corner of the building from her holding something of dangerous interest. "It seems it will have to wait," Histoire said with a sigh as she Quicley came in from the balcony, and went down the hall until she caught up with Louise, who seemed to have reverted from her HDD. "where have you been?!
Louise turned around on the spot allowing Histoire, and the four mascot Discs who had followed her, to see the pair of dangerous, borderline grotesque objects that Louse held. In her right hand she held a large handle of a sword missing most of its length, red, blue and gold in color. It was clear who it likely belonged to, and even with its lesser mass Louise had resorted to resting it on her shoulder. The sword looked dangerous, but in her left hand Louise was holding a large and dented Sphere of dark metal with numerous torn wires coming out of it. The wires sparked occasionally, even twitching slightly as if they were alive, and the thing had a disturbingly ominous aura about it.
Louise scowled and looked away from histoire for a moment, muttering under her breath before she sighed and turned back to her. "I was acquiring some things."
"A broken sword of our enemies, and illegal technology you mean?" Histoire asked angrily, trying her hardest so sound upset and unamused all at once. She knew it was difficult considering her size.
"Braves sword, and Judges core," Louise clarified, much to Histories shock as she tossed the core in the air a few times. "Magic's words made me realize that we hadn't actually finished off Judge, so I went back to finish the job and took his Core in the process."
"Why?" Histoire demanded.
Louise simply stared back at Histoire for a few seconds before she smiled slightly. "Because the seals are in their cores! If we jam judge's core into Brave when he's rebuilt, that's two seals that stay sealed!"
"And what if it ends up being Judge that takes over that body? What if two makes him unstable, or worse, they destroy each other? why are you intent on dabbling with what you don't understand?" Histoire nearly yelled, stopping her voice from reaching such a pitch as she remembered that everyone was asleep. It was almost three in the morning after all!
Louise's expression went from angry and haughty, to a sullen scowl that shifted to full anger and sadness as she suddenly dropped both Brave's sword and Judge's core to the floor with heavy clangs. "Why? You ask me, why? Because I have no other life to live for! My old life was nothing but pain, but here, I'm someone, I have family that loves me, I have friends that actually care about me, and don't just care about how our family names interact! No matter what happens, I am not letting it end! I am not letting Vert or 5pb suffer, I'm not letting Rom, Ram, Uni, Nepgear, Blanc, Noire, Neptune, or even you suffer either! I finally have a place I care about, and I am not letting the advent of some old god of evil wreck that, not if I can help it!"
Histoire was taken back for a second before she scowled back at Louise. "So you would endanger everyone to protect them? If any of those things goes wrong and what I said happens, everything you're trying to do becomes pointless!"
"I know that! I know that but there's nothing else I can try! Nepgear and Uni are giving it their all hoping that brave will be on our side, and I trust them on it, but even if brave is, if we kill Magic, that's two seals gone for sure, and then Arfoire's power starts coming out anyway!"
"That is why I am looking for a way to strengthen the seals! if I can find one, then-"
"Then they are strengthened, but if we kill Magic, that's still one seal broken for sure, alongside Tricks that already was!" Louise intercepted as she crouched down and picked up Judges core. " That's why, when I heard Magic's words, and again when I found judge and took his core, I had an idea. A horrible, monsterous, and terrible idea!"
Histoire looked at Louise and could see the worry in her eyes. " What is it? Your idea."
Louise took a few steps forward until she was barely a foot away from Histoire and very quietly said her plan.
Histoire went quiet as she thought about it and then sighed. " I'm not sure if-"
"It should work," The White Mascot disc suddenly said. "It's not a bad idea either."
"I agree, if we use our powers, and incorporate the other core, it should work," The green one agreed.
"Are you sure?" Histoire asked as she turned and looked to see the four Mascot Discs hovering around her and Louise. "Using your powers for such a things would be . . . well it might not feel right."
"There is no wrong way to utilize out powers when it shall protect Gameindustri," The black disc said finally.
Histoire looked to Louise and sighed. " I do not like this plan. I see the potential for it, but if it goes wrong, we'll have nothing to protect Gameindustri from Arfoire if the worst comes to pass."
"I know that."
" . . . . .you don't like me, and personally, I'll admit that you're the only CPU candidate I don't like as well."
"I haven't exactly given you many reason to like me," Louise admitted with a shrug. "No one I hated in my old life would I be willing to work with, even if someone's life was at stake. that's how much I hated them. I don't like you, but if this gives us a . . . . Ace in the hole I think the saying was?" Louise asked, getting a slight nod from Histoire on the phrase. "Right, if it gives us our ace, then I'll be more than willing to work with you on it."
Histoire paused for a second and nodded. " Very well, we'll work on this, tomorrow!"
"Why not now?"
"Because Nepgear and Uni are not done rebuilding Brave, and it's three in the morning. You need sleep, and if you are not in bed when Vert wakes up, she is going to tear the streets up looking for you!"
"Oh . . . she was worried?"
"Frantic would be the more appropriate word. leave Judges core with me and take the sword with you. you can give it to Nepgear tomorrow, now go to bed!"
"R-right," Louise said as she picked up braves sword, or what remained of it, and dropped Judges core again and began walking down the hall, only to stop and turn back to Histoire. "Should, we keep this plan to ourselves?"
Histoire sighed. " For now yes. I will tell you when I need you for it."
Louise nodded in agreement and ran off, leaving Histoire and the Mascot discs alone again.
"Goodness. She is quiet the bundle of emotions," The black disc said casually.
"Yes, a roiling mass of emotion and barely contained power, a tiny little spitfire," The green disc added, sounding slightly amused.
"That is an apt description. Haaa, it seems our musings will be cut short before they even began. Shall we go over what this new plan shall entail?"
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"Where did you run off too?! Why didn't you say anything!? What were you even doing!? Why did you make me worry like that!?"
Louise promptly fell off the bed, Verts loud cries not only throwing her out of her sleep, but making her panic as well. When she finally was not breathing like she had run a marathon Louise sat up and looked over the top of the bed to find Vert sitting there, a tearfully worried expression covering her face. She was still in her nightclothes, meaning she had just woken up as well, but her eyes were so wide Louise found it hard to believe she could have been sleeping just seconds ago like she had when she snuck into the bed with her.
"Uhm, can I answer one at a time?" Louise asked nervously as Vert continued to glare at her.
"All, now!" Vert stated instant as she crawled across the bed until her face was right in front of Louise's allowing her to suddenly hug her. "Don't you dare run off and not tell me like that! I thought ASIC kidnapped you or something!"
"I wouldn't get kidnapped! I just, had to go check something. . I realized that if Nepgear is rebuilding Brave, he wouldn't be of a use to us if he didn't have his weapon. So I got it. err, part of it."
Vert glanced to the one wall where Braves sword was resting and let out a sigh. "That's a fine reason, but if you're going to do something like that, you need to tell someone, and someone should have gone with you!"
" . . . .Sorry," Louise said bashfully as he looked away from her sister, feeling extremely stupid for her lack of forethought. She hadn't told anyone because she was worried what they would say, but now she felt even worse knowing she had worried Vert so badly.
"As long as you understand," Vert said warmly as she looked at the broken sword against the wall. " Last night, Nepgear said she and Uni were going to wake up early to continue their work. I'll tell the others you're here and awake, so why don't you go deliver that, since you went through so much trouble just to get it and worry me!"
Louise shifted away a bit as she felt Verts Displeasure radiating from her and quickly nodded before jumping off the bed, quickly getting changed and rushing out of the room with a quick call of thanks. As she got away from the room and began heading toward Nepgears workshop though he slowed as her thoughts returned to the night before.
Histoire and her had a plan, but the thought of it was imperfect. It could fail, and if it did it would be spectacular. She had admitted it had the best chances though, so they would do it, but because of how it needed to be done, they could not tell everyone. She could give the sword to Uni and Nepgear, but she could not tell her what her real intention had been, or at least not part of it.
She had to lie to her friends, the first friends she really ever had all in the hopes that it would lead to a better tomorrow.
"No, it will. I will not fail. We won't fail!" Louise said to herself as she arrived at the door to Nepgears workshop. the sounds of machinery echoed even through the thick door, as did voices and the clang of tools. After a second of simply standing there, Louise pushed open the door and went in.
The workshop, even with the previous cleaning, looked like a tornado had struck it. Pieces of metal pipe, fillings, shrapnel, and even still glowing pieces of red hot nearly liquid metal sat around the floor, desks and shelves that were pushed against the outer walls. At the back of the Workshop was the metal and glass tube that contained Brave's core, and in the centre of the room connected to a number of cables, metal cranes and clamps was the metal skeleton that Nepgear had already finished. Staggered around it, also held in similar ways, was a variety of metal plates, braces, circuitry boards and wire cables. Some were carefully connected to the skeleton, while others were simply awaiting placement while Uni and Nepgear fiddled and compared ideas on placement and other such things. They were so into it that they did not hear the door open, Louise come in, or the thud when she closed the door behind her.
Stepping closer to them and the skeleton, Louise found that it hardly was just a skeleton anymore. With the cabling, circuitry and plating that was in and partially on it, it was truly taking on a humanoid form. It looked like a generic kind of machine, but the fact that it did already said just how hard Uni and Nepgear had been working on it. As Uni and Nepgear took a step away from it, Louise figured it was as good a time as any and held Braves sword behind her and coughed lightly. "Um, M-morning."
Both Uni and Nepgear turned at once to face Louise, their faces filling with shock and surprise before they ran over.
"Louise where have you been?!"
"Are you alright?"
"Does Vert know you're back?"
"We spent ages looking for you, why didn't you say anything!?"
"When did you get back?"
"What have you got there?"
Louise felt her head spin as the two of them asked so many question one after another they began to all blend together. She quickly raised her free hand with an open palm and smiled. " Stop, please, I can't answer if you keep asking questions!"
Both Uni and Nepgear said nothing and simply stared at Louise expectantly.
"I'm fine, thank you for worrying. Yes Vert knows I'm back and is telling everyone else, and I went back to Lastation, for this," Louise said as she held Brave's sword, what was left of it, in front of her so Uni and Nepgear could see it in all its splendor. Even broken it was still a beautiful weapon, and was still very sharp. "I . . .I figured you'd want brave to have this when he woke back up, to prove we trust him, or something, like that,"
"You, went all the way to Lastation by yourself, just to get this?" Uni asked in surprise.
"Well . .. I mean, I'm not mechanically inclined but I wanted to help in some way," Louise said nervously as she glanced to the side, hoping Uni would not press deeper.
Much to Louise's surprise, Uni took the sword from her, passed it to Nepgear, and then proceeded to latch onto Louise, giving her a tight hug. " Thank you Louise, you have no idea what this means!"
"Sorry, it was all I could-"
"Don't be sorry!" Uni interrupted as she broke away from Louise and grabbed her shoulders, staring right at her. "This is something great, and it means that Brave might even be able to help us fight against Magic!"
"Uni's right, everything helps," Nepgear chimed in with a smile as she pulled out a small folding tablet and smiled even wider. "If you wanted to help though, there is a lot that you can do to help! Especially since Rom and Ram would just break it if they wanted to help," Nepgear stated, whispering the last bit as she glanced to the side with a neutral and an expression that said she was more upset at herself for saying it than anything else.
"But, I really don't get technology that well. The last time I tried to record something on TV, I ended up reformatting the PVR's Hard drive and making it give all the show info in ones and zeros," Louise admitted as Uni let go and took a step back.
"You formatted it and made it spit out all its info in binary?" Uni asked in surprise. When Louise simply nodded Uni simply broke into a fit of laughter, with Nepgear smiling and holding herself back from doing the same. "Yeah that's pretty bad. I've been wondering for a while but, why are you so bad with technology?"
"Well, is not that I can't use it, but if I try to do anything beyond that . . . . . . . I'm just not used to it. My home, other life thing I guess."
"That makes sense," Nepgear said as she walked over and showed Louise the tablet. "Here, touch here, and raise this, while using this little dial to control speed and this little knob."
Louise carefully took the tablet, as if touching it would cause it to snap into a billion pieces, and very gently did as Nepgear had shown her. In response, one of the small cranes that was attached to the ceiling, and holding a large piece of shaped metal that looked like a shoulder pad, shifted to the side a bit.
"You, have a crane connected to a tablet?" Louise asked in surprise. She knew it had to be connected wirelessly, but she could barely connect her and Verts console controllers without worrying if they were connected properly or not. The idea of such a massive piece of machinery being controlled wirelessly. . . . . "it made her a little more nervous about holding the tablet so loosely.
"It makes things simpler if I can just grab it from my pocket and move things," Nepgear said as he turned and began gesturing to the various cranes of hanging metal and plate. " But we're getting to a point where we're having to weld and bolt things at the same time, so it's difficult with just two of us."
"But if you're wanting to help We can speed up the building of the body and get Brave rebuilt faster!" Uni exclaimed in sudden realization as she then ran over to a workbench and began looking over layers of paper and a clutter of almost two dozen individual tablets. Just how many did Nepgear have?!
"But, I'm not mechanically inclined. What if I break something?" Louise asked, clearly worried about the chance of ruining all their hard work.
"I can put a lock on the cranes speed so you don't, and I'm sure you can do it!" Nepgear said positively.
"Well," Louise muttered nervously as she looked over the arrays of chains, machines, and other things she barely understood, then glanced at Uni and Nepgear. They both had very hopeful looks on their faces, and Louise then also noticed bits of oil and grime all across their skin and clothing. She also noticed an uncountable number of water bottles and food wrappers piled at the corner of one of the desks, making it clear that they had been doing little except working on Braves new body.
"Alright," Louise finally said with a deep breath as she looked at Nepgear and Uni. "What can I do?"
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With a third set of hands the work on Brave's body became streamlined, and by the next day the body was complete. All it needed was for Braves core to be placed within it.
Unfortunately things would not go simply, as that was when the CPU's decided to come and see how it was going, just as they were about to put Brave's core inside the new body.
"Hey little sis how's it going!" Neptune declared loudly as she swung the door to Nepgears workshop open, causing her, Uni and Louise to all flinch back from the machines, just in case something moved.
"N-Neptune, I've told you not to just barge in if I could be working!" Nepgear whined, clearly angry, but unable to truly show it to her beloved sister.
"Oh it's all good right, whatcha doing!" Neptune said as she walked in with Vert, Noire and blanc coming in behind her. a second later Histoire floated in as well, glancing at Louise with an expression that Louise simply gave a light, barely discernable nod back to her.
"Well, we've finished the body, so we were about to put Braves core inside, and see if he'll wake up," Uni admitted nervously as she avoided looking at anyone but Nepgear or her own feet.
"And you didn't think to tell us so we could be here in case he becomes violent?" Noire chastised her sister, making her head slump even lower.
"He's, he's in a new body, he won't be able to move that fast right? It won't be that dangerous," Louise said, trying to help recover the situation.
Unfortunately Vert took a step forward and shook her head. "They still were our enemy, and none of us have seen his supposed desire to not fight. No, he should be held down in some way to make sure he cannot act!"
"I agree, we cannot trust him," Blanc agreed with a nod.
"But, that's-"
"Why don't we just disconnect something then," Louise suggested quickly as Uni paused. "Like. disconnecting his legs or arms or something?"
The CPU's all looked at each other uncertainly, making it clear that even activating him made them worried. to their surprise though, Histoire was who spoke up. " That should be fine, his weapon is away from the body. So long as Nepgear has not added anything unneeded there should be no trouble."
"Well, if Histy says its fine . . " Neptune muttered, unsure of what else to say.
"I suppose that is alright, but we would like to speak with him about . . . . ..well, about things." Vert said, not continue to say about what.
"Well, that's fine, I guess," Uni ceded before she suddenly smirked. " But we're talking to him first!"
"Uni that is not a-" Noire began to chide, but stopped when Louise stepped forward with a scowl on her face.
"Uni and Nepgear have been working tirelessly on rebuilding him, It would only be right that they get to talk to him first!"
Both Noire and Blanc opened her mouths to speak, the latter looking like she was ready to summon her hammer, until Histoire floated forward and spoke up again. "I believe that is fair. It will also make him more likely to be cooperative if there are friendly faces seen first and foremost."
The CPU's all looked at each other uncertainly and finally each nodded. "Very well, but were staying her and watching!" Blanc exclaimed with a grumble.
"Um, that's fine; we'll turn him on then!" Nepgear said as she looked to Uni and nodded.
Uni, using a crowbar, bent open a piece of the chest allowing its core recess point to be visible, and very carefully Nepgear set it in place and quickly connected the major points. As she finished and steppe back Uni let go and let the late pull itself back into positions with a click. For a few seconds nothing happened, then some sections of metal on the shoulder lit up slightly, followed by a twitch of the fingers, and then finally his eyes lit up. It took a few seconds, but his head finally tilted from to side, finally landing on Uni. "U-Uni? why . . . .. am I alive?"
"Yes, yes we rebuilt you!" Uni exclaimed happily.
" . . . .Why?" Brave said in a solemn voice. As his undetailed head simply glanced down at the floor. "I did horrible things, I endangered the very people I wanted to help. Why would you help me still?"
"Because you wanted to help people!" Uni nearly screamed surprising everyone in the room. "Trick just wanted to be a creep, Judge just wanted to kill people, and Magic just wants to destroy the world. You, you wanted, still want, to help people, you want to allow all children to have fun and play games!"
"But, I fought you; I tried to stop you from doing the right thing!" Brave pressed as he head lifted up and tried to lean forward, though his body would not move.
"Well, people do fight, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, or do the right thing when we find out what it is, right?" Nepgear asked as she stepped forward and smiled at Brave.
The room was silent for a couple seconds as brave looked at Nepgear, then back at Uni and then at the floor for many moments. Finally, his head nodded slightly and he looked back up at Uni. "I'm sorry. You're right. Just because I did the wrong thing, doesn't mean I can't do the right thing! How can I help?"
"You can first tell us if Magic has any weaknesses!" Noire stated loudly, causing Braves head to shift toward where she and the other CPU's were standing.
"Yes of course I- ugh," Brave suddenly groaned as the lights across his artificial body began dimming slightly.
"Brave! Nepgear, what's happening to him?!" Uni demanded in worry.
"Uhm ah . ." Nepgear mumbled as she grabbed a tablet and kept fiddling with it for a few seconds before her eyes widened and then went to normal. "He's just tired. Since we threw his core in that stasis module, he's getting feedback from the stress it had been under up till now from when we um, pried it from his body and brought it here. I think he just needs some rest."
"Then rest is must be given, we still need to consider other options for dealing with CFW Magic, and as it is we only have five days until she claimed she would attack." Histoire stated much to the surprise of the CPU's.
"But, we need to see if he has in formation that can lead to ASIC's defeat, don't you agree Histoire?" Vert asked, sounding very annoyed about not being allowed to question him.
"Be that as it may, if he is too tired to stay awake, we cannot trust any information give in that state," Histoire countered simply as she turned toward the CPU's. "We shall speak to him tomorrow and question him then!"
"Well, if Histy says so, let's not argue gals, she'll get Pisty, and we still have pudding to finish!" Neptune declared as she quickly vacated the premises, with Histoire following after in annoyance.
"Ugh, stupid little, C'mon Uni, lets head up," Noire said with a grumble as she and Blanc turned and left the workshop.
"R-right," Uni said as she looked at Brave, his lights dim but not out as his head hung limply.
"Don't worry Uni, he's fine. I just checked, so let's let him rest." Nepgear said with a smile as she and Louise walked up bwside Uni.
"Yeah, and it's not like he can go anywhere right now, right?" Louise added as Vert waited for the three of them by the doorway.
After a few seconds Uni nodded with the barest hint of a smile. "You're right, let's go. . . we've probably earned a bit of rest. I'm suddenly feeling really sore."
"Yeah I too, Good night brave!" Nepgear said as they left the Workshop with Vert, leaving it as its lights dimmed.
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Hours later, after what felt like an eternity of being asleep, Brave's consciousness returned and her looked around. He expected to either find the workshop dark and uninhabited, or to find Uni working with the other, Nepgear was it?
Instead he found a light on, but dim and two people standing before him in the near darkness. One was wearing green and had blonde hair, the girl from before that hadn't said much, while the other was the small pixie like person whom he recognized as an Oracle by the reverence she was spoken to before he had fallen asleep.
Both of them stood there looking at him for a few moments before the blonde spoke up.
"We need to talk,"
"Um. Okay. You're . . .Green sister, the one who killed Judge, right?" Brave asked, recalling fragments of his 'death' and the images of someone devastating Judges body with his own blade.
"Yes, my name is Louise," Louise responded simply as the sprite moved a bit forward.
"And I am the Oracle of Planeptune, you may call me Histoire."
"Um, a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry that I-"
"Don't worry about apologizing again; we get it, you're sorry." Louise interrupted Brave's words with a strange sigh, not aggravation or annoyance, but something else.
"I see. . . .Why is it so dark in here?" Brave asked as he realized that the light was not actually dim, it was non-existent and the only glow in the room was coming from the Four Mascot discs that ASIC had been after floating behind Histoire.
"It is currently 3:17 in the morning. Everyone else is asleep and will be for many hours still," Histoire explained.
It was with that information that Brave suddenly became extremely nrvous. "You . . . Are here to kill me then?"
"No we are not!" Louise said seriously as she walked over to the nearby workbench and pulled braves sword up from the side so he could see it. Then, before he could even voice his surprise, she dropped a small but violent looking hunk of metal onto the bench that Brave somehow knew immediately. It was Judges own core! "We are here to talk about . . . a plan."
"That is, a plan to deal with Magic and Avert the destruction of Gameindustri by the return of Arfoire," Histoire added seriously as she pulled out a piece of paper and unrolled it in front of her so that Brave could see it, albeit just barely.
Glancing over it, Brave began Regretting that the metal case he was inhabiting could not show expressions, because he was sure what he was feeling would make them speak up before he needed to. "This is . . "
"The reason why we need your help," Louise said as she picked up Judges Core and walked over to Brave, holding it in front of her in the strange Mascot created lighting. It made her look like some form of evil villain from old kids stories. "This is the best plan we've come up with but, it's not without its own dangers."
"Precisely. While a good plan, ultimately it relies on whether you agree to work with us on this plan to make it succeed," Histoire said as she floated down to the around Louise' shoulder height.
". . . you could just force this, why ask me?" Brave asked after a moment more of looking over what was written, and realising that they were serious.
"Because it's only fair we ask you after what you've been through. And if you decided to, you could destroy us all with this if you wished to," Louise replied darkly.
". . . Will this even work?"
"The Mascot Discs and I have gone over it thirty three times and come to the conclusion that there is only an Eleven percent chance or catastrophic failure, and a twenty two percent chance of nothing happening," Histoire said analytically. "We believe it should work."
"I can Help Uni and the rest of you Fix this?"
"Yes,"
" . . . . What do you need me to do?"