It was as if everything was undone...
Bismarck clearly remembered she fought the H-39 at Ireland after she had killed both Odin and Tirpitz, but she reawakened back inside her office at Iron Blood. She wasn't aware that H-39 projected the World Tree, a supercomputer in a form of the mythical tree with its core on top of it. All she remembered was an extreme flash of light...and sudden slip to unconsciousness.
"Tir...pitz. You're here...in Iron Blood, and you're alive"
"Well...I am indeed in front of you and clearly alive? Is there something wrong?" Tirpitz lightly tilted her head
Not only Tirpitz was a part of Iron Blood again, it was if her mental cube wasn't completely destroyed. Bismarck kept a wide-eyed gazed, completely clueless to the complete change of events. There was no battle, and there was no enemy. This was the same scenery seven months ago before the key incident with Tyrant took place.
"Bismarck, why do you look so pale? Did you have a nightmare or something?" Tirpitz became worried
"It's because you never left Iron Blood, and you never died"
"Died? Why would I die?" Tirpitz blinked in shock
"H-39 killed you. I saw your mental cube get crushed to pieces. We were back at Ireland, fighting against each other when she showed up and destroyed your mental cube"
"What are you talking about?"
Bismarck tried to remind Tirpitz of what recently happened that completely changed all of a sudden, but Tirpitz expressed genuine cluelessness and ignorance in the entire situation.
"Tyrant. How about Tyrant?" Bismarck asked something else
"The black battleship who is working for the Sirens? What about her?"
"You don't know? She's-"
The fact that Tirpitz was clearly unaware that the Tyrant they faced was an alternate version of Tirpitz from the future. It was because of Tyrant that sent the events seven months ago in motion, but the chances that none of those events happened became clearer. Bismarck cut herself off before she could mindlessly confess that she was aware of Tyrant's identity.
"Odin. Is Odin here?"
"She's away investing something" Tirpitz replied
"Then she's alive too, huh" Bismarck took a step back
If Tirpitz's death was undone, then the same thing applied to Odin who was annihilated first. Rather than be relieved, Bismarck was thrown into confusion to what H-39 did in her last moments that caused a complete alteration in the whole event. The battle wasn't just undone, the "key event" never took place.
"What's going on with you exactly? You're acting...strange" Tirpitz softly asked
"Tirpitz, you never met the shipgirls from another world, right? You never knew my counterpart in the Kriegsmarine?"
"Who are you talking about?"
The entire event seven months ago never really took place since this Tirpitz never met any shipgirls from another world, especially the Bismarck from the Kriegsmarine.
"That damn H-39...turned back time? Is it really possible for a shipgirl like her?" Bismarck muttered to herself
"Bismarck?"
"I have to go"
Bismarck immediately stormed off the scene and left Tirpitz completely dumbfounded to why Bismarck was restless and confused, an unlikely behavior from her.
"What's going on here? Why am I back in Iron Blood as if nothing happened? Not just that - it's as if Tyrant never threw Tirpitz to another world"
No amount of walk cleared the utter confusion that threw Bismarck's organized thoughts into disarray. Everyone else went on their lives like they would always do. Although, among those particular people, there was someone who made her stop in her tracks.
"Eugen"
She saw the carefree and mischievous heavy cruiser quietly enjoy the shade while she gently swept and combed her bangs with her fingers.
"Bismarck? Do you want me to run an errand again?" It would seem Prinz Eugen was not in the mood for a task
"I'm not here to give you an order but to ask something instead"
"Okay...? What is it?"
Curious, Prinz Eugen straightened herself and crossed her arms in the hopes that it would be worth her bored afternoon.
"Do you remember what happened back at Ireland?"
"What's Ireland...?" Prinz Eugen tilted her head
"...?"
"Is that a city or a base?"
"Then, you don't remember scuttling yourself six months ago"
"I...scuttled myself? Are you perhaps mistaking something, Bismarck?"
Prinz Eugen scratched her cheek as her eyes briefly shifted somewhere else. Just like Tirpitz, Prinz Eugen expressed completely cluelessness about the previous events. Prinz Eugen never knew about her suicidal end or possibly the existence of another world of shipgirls.
"It's like everything restarted. What did H-39 do to perform something on a massive scale" Bismarck grew more restless
"Alright, what's going on?" Prinz Eugen was slightly concerned
(Wait, if Tyrant still exists and the whole incident didn't or has yet to happen, then could Prinz Eugen still be a secret spy for Tyrant?)
Before Bismarck could spill more details to Prinz Eugen, she remembered how Prinz Eugen secretly worked alongside with Tyrant for an unknown amount of time. She estimated Prinz Eugen had constantly leaked information to Tyrant even before Tirpitz was dragged to another world.
"Forget what I said. I'm just...really confused right now"
Bismarck then stormed away from Prinz Eugen and also left the latter dumbfounded to thr unusual question and sudden uneasiness. All she knew was that Bismarck muttered something to herself before she decided to leave the area in a hurry.
"H-39? Ireland? Well, this is interesting~"
When she was certain Bismarck had left the area, Prinz Eugen expressed intrigue to what she heard Bismarck clearly muttered to herself. As for Bismarck, she rested on one corner when she mentally exhausted herself after her restlessness gave her a headache.
"If Tirpitz and Prinz Eugen don't remember, then surely the rest don't remember as well..."
Rather waste time with the rest of Iron Blood shipgirls, Bismarck was already aware if those two had no recollection of previous events, then the rest wouldn't remember either. This placed Bismarck in a pinch as she was the only one who actually remembered the whole event.
"Bismarck" Graf Zeppelin spotted her
"Graf Zeppelin?"
"Is there something going on? Tirpitz said you look a bit...confused and anxious. I noticed it too when you suddenly stormed off after waking up"
(Right. I suddenly went away the moment I realized I was back in my office...)
Bismarck forgot that she left Graf Zeppelin in the office with no explanation of sort and just hurriedly went off aimlessly.
"What's going on? Have you been working for three days straight again?" Graf Zeppelin furrowed her eyebrows
"This doesn't feel real..." Bismarck sighed
"What do you mean?"
"This normalcy doesn't feel real. The peace I'm feeling right now doesn't seem right"
"You don't like it's peaceful?"
Of course with such vague answer, Graf Zeppelin wouldn't even understand with how she was clueless about the previous events that started seven months ago.
"I'm the only who remembers, and I'm sure of that. Everyone else is acting how they always do like the whole incident didn't happen" Bismarck let out a deep sigh
"Bismarck, what's going on exactly?"
"Graf Zeppelin, I think time itself had turned back...but I'm the only one who retained my memories. Maybe because I was right with H-39 before she activated an unknown object"
"What...?" Graf Zeppelin understood nothing
"Where I should I begin exactly?"
Bismarck took one deep breath and decided to give a more detailed explanation on what she experienced that no one around her experienced with how it appeared as if she lived at the moment before Tyrant triggered the set of events which started from Tirpitz's one month long disappearance. The most obvious detail was how the conflict back in Ireland never happened since Tirpitz was somehow alive and currently in Iron Blood.
"So you're saying this is like an alternate timeline to you, and the cause of it was a future version of you?" Graf Zeppelin went into deep thought
"That's basically it. H-39 was desperate and activated something impossible to explain. All I remember was trying to slash her a split second before a flash of light swallowed me" Bismarck placed her fingers near her temple
"Odin and Tirpitz are clearly alive, but I'm concerned about Prinz Eugen being a spy. If she's still a spy for Tyrant, then we should make the first move" Graf Zeppelin suggested
"I'm weighing on my decision whether to wait for Eugen to make a move or not" Bismarck was cautious
"What are you going to do with Tirpitz? Do you plan on telling her how the enemy who repeatedly almost killed her is none other than herself?" Graf Zeppelin raised a more important concern
"...I won't let Tyrant set the events in motion again. It was her who triggered Tirpitz leaving Iron Blood...so I have the chance to undo it"
"Then do what you must do. I will keep an eye on Prinz Eugen since none of us are sure if this one is backstabbing us or not"
"Scratch that. I don't need to wait for Eugen to make a move anymore. I must confirm my situation quickly"
If Bismarck returned to a time when Tyrant had yet to set the chain of events, then she had the chance to make it could never happen. Tirpitz said she had to leave Iron Blood since her goal was to ensure neither of them became Tyrant.
Meanwhile...
Tirpitz stood by the base's wharf, alone in an occasional moment of peace. She stretched out her hand and stared at her palm with slight thought.
"This day is a bit unusual. No, maybe it's because Bismarck is being the unusual one..."
About at least four hours ago, Bismarck's questions and mumbles were unusual for someone who also duty-minded and straight-laced. It was as if Bismarck was both confused and lost, but she provided no clear explanation.
"She mentioned something about me dying, but I don't really understand much"
Even if she continued to ponder about it, what Bismarck tried to ask her was beyond her comprehension. Tirpitz didn't understand the least about an untimely demise. What was more strange was how Bismarck was about to reveal something about Tyrant only to cut herself off.
"No use thinking about it. Sometimes I just don't understand what she's thinking. Well, it's not like I spend that much time around her to even understand her"
In the end, Tirpitz chose to give up and decided to leave the wharf. It was just useless when didn't have the slightest context on what Bismarck tried to say or tried to ask her. All she knew that Bismarck looked genuinely shocked the moment they looked at each other straight in the eyes.
"Tirpitz"
"Hmm?"
Just as Tirpitz left the wharf, Bismarck happened to spot her in her field of vision. The slightly curious Tirpitz turned to face her with one eyebrow raised. Just like earlier, it was like Tirpitz's presence was a complete surprise for Bismarck.
"Oh, what is it?" Tirpitz slightly sighed
"There's something I want to talk about with you, and I mean an honest talk" Bismarck walked towards her
(Why do I have a bad feeling about this?)
It somewhat surprised Tirpitz that Bismarck spoke as if she wanted a sincere discussion with her, both thoughts and feelings open to each other.
"You don't have to think of lightening my burden" Bismarck spoke first
"...What?" Tirpitz blinked
"You don't really speak out your mind all the time, but I want you to know you don't need to feel like I'm having too much burden"
Bismarck, what are you talking about?"
"Isn't that what you always felt?"
"...?!"
"I never really noticed it at first, but you can't stand seeing me carrying Iron Blood's burden alone"
Bismarck gazed at Tirpitz right in the eyes, both words and tone were honest and stern in a way. Of course, this took Tirpitz by surprise as she never thought the two of them would actually have this kind of conversation when they both only focused on their duties.
"...I suppose I feel that way because I am your younger sister. Not only that, I'm technically your successor once you're not the leader anymore - dead to be exact"
(So this is how she really felt since the beginning...)
"You are someone admirable, Bismarck. It doesn't matter if I'm in your shadow, so long as you continue to strive for our future, I will always be here"
The Tirpitz that stood right in front of Bismarck was oddly different from the one she knew before. This one was more open to her suppressed thoughts towards Bismarck, which is why the latter was briefly surprised. Tirpitz managed to faintly smile as she spoke honestly.
"I want to be strong like you and everyone else. To be specific, I want to be strong enough so you'll feel some relief from your burden. Bismarck, a leader who stands will result to nothing" Tirpitz continued
(Those words...)
"Perhaps in another moment of my existence, I'm someone who led the same way as the ship I was based on. Perhaps there is another me who lived a lonely career and grew bitter until the end"
"Then there would be another me who couldn't fulfill my sole wish, but my name was somehow engraved in history for generations" Bismarck added
What the two mentioned reflected on their ship's history within one of the countless timelines out there. In this timeline, Tirpitz learned to accept and express her emotions, especially to someone who she supposedly had little to no connection and interaction.
"Tirpitz, what if there would be a time when you would be forced to abandon Iron Blood the someone else's sake"
"Abandoned Iron Blood for someone else? I don't know...if I'm capable of something like that" Tirpitz didn't have a proper answer
"...In a dream, I saw you accept a Siren's hand when you were promised a means to fulfill your goal"
"That's...a strange dream" Tirpitz scratched her cheek
"Very strange indeed, but I saw you give up yourself because you felt like you had no choice"
"I don't know about the Siren part, but if it's someone who I see as someone important...then I'm willing to give up myself. At the very least, I want to be someone who tried rather than someone who didn't try at all"
"..."
"At the very least, I don't want to be someone who would just stand by and look from afar. It's just really tiring, and I don't want to have regrets...or something like that..."
"I never thought I would hear those words from you..."
Bismarck wasn't sure to what lead Tirpitz to emotionally grow, but she was relieved to see that her younger sister wasn't the distant and melancholic sister anymore.
"It may sound strange why I'm saying things like this, but for some reason I feel like I have the need to be open right now. I suppose this is what you call both an impulse and a hunch" Tirpitz briefly averted her gaze
"Then I guess I also went to talk about this out of impulse. No, it's probably it's because of what I saw somewhere else..."
"About earlier this morning, what were you talking about?" Tirpitz remembered
"...I had an unusually long dream where I walk up just as everything went to hell"
"Did that include my sudden death?"
"Something like that..."
In the end, Bismarck excused it as an unusual dream since Tirpitz would be even more confused and probably not believe her if Bismarck told her about the whole incident with Tyrant and how this lead to Tirpitz's separation from Iron Blood.
"..." Bismarck jolted and snuck a glance somewhere
"Bismarck?"
"It's nothing. I just thought I forgot something..."
"Right..."
Their moment was only interrupted when Bismarck's keen senses alerted her of a possible danger, but there was nothing for her to be worried. In fact, there was no one around them as of the moment. No one heard of even saw their whole conversation.
"Something's isn't right with Bismarck right now. Maybe I should tell Tyrant about this..."
The assumption that no one was present in the scene was actually wrong. Prinz Eugen overheard their whole conversation while she remained hidden since the moment they started the conversation. She immediately suspected of Bismarck's current behavior and had the need to inform Tyrant.
"It's odd how King George V and the others didn't notice anything strange. Maybe Tyrant is basing this on her instinct"
As Prinz Eugen left the scene before Bismarck could really suspect someone was present nearby, she muttered to herself about how she thought that Bismarck really did know something that even Prinz Eugen herself couldn't understand.
"It turns out what Tyrant said was true after all"
"So, you really are working for her"
"...!"
Bismarck caught the sly spy among Iron Blood's rank which was clearly been obvious to her. There was little to no chance that this Prinz Eugen didn't serve as an accomplice to Tyrant since the latter existed like she always did.
"Good grief. When did you have such sharp instincts?"
Prinz Eugen turned out and accepted the fact Bismarck genuinely caught her off guard. There was no point to make excuses since no amount of lie or sugar-coated words would work on someone like Bismarck.
"I already knew from the beginning" Bismarck revealed
"You talk like this happened before. No, I feel like this happened before..."
"I was waiting for you to make your move, and I planned to let you lead me to Tyrant yourself. In fact, I also planned to ask you directly, but I would have known anyway whether you're going to react or not"
"Even if you knew, what difference it would make?" Prinz Eugen crossed her arms
Bismarck was so sure that Prinz Eugen was indeed Tyrant's accomplice that Prinz Eugen was both impressed and curious to how Bismarck knew with no evidence whatsoever.
"I want to know about the possibility of undoing what already happened. A shipgirl is responsible for...all of this" Bismarck was straightforward
"Rewinding time. Rather, restarting is what you want to ask?"
"I don't know what happened, but it's possibly connected to the Sirens"
Bismarck didn't want to waste any more time and wanted to search for answers. She had not time be relaxed when her last memory was H-39's desperate attempt with an unknown goal behind it. She wasn't even sure to what H-39 really sought.
In an unknown location...
Somewhere on an isolated island, the very shipgirl who always targeted Bismarck and Tirpitz, Tyrant, enjoyed a peaceful moment by a rundown seaport. What was supposed to be a peaceful afternoon with no disturbances, was interrupted by a visit outside the regular schedule.
"Oh, so you really did come to me yourself...Bismarck"
The sister whom she saw die right in front of her eyes before now stood with little tolerance for Iron Blood's ruthless enemy. Tyrant, the one who died after she ultimately destroyed herself, stood right in front of Bismarck in full health as if she never experienced death.
"I don't know what's going on, but it seems you can answer whatever she's trying to ask" Prinz Eugen prepared to leave
"So you're just going to leave after leading Bismarck here? Even though I told you to play along with Iron Blood for a while?"
"You expected this already, didn't you? Don't act like you're angry that I let Bismarck meet you" Prinz Eugen was not in the mood for some reason
"Well, good work for proving my expectations were correct anyway"
"Whatever..."
Prinz Eugen scoffed and immediately left the two, so they can privately discuss why Bismarck even requested to meet Tyrant herself after their last unpleasant meeting which happened to be Tyrant's demise.
"Tyrant, so you really are alive again. After everything you did..." Bismarck never forgot her grudge
"I hate you as much as you hate me, but Eugen said you're blabbering the name of someone I hate"
"..."
"As much as we want to stab each other right now, fighting would be pointless. Why don't we set that aside to talk with no hostility just for today?"
As an act of genuine desire for a civilized conversation, Tyrant removed her sheathed sword from the side of her waist and tossed it about ten meters to her left. She briefly raised both hands to further prove her desire even if her expression remained dull and grim, but that had always been her default facial expression.
"Last time we met was back in the northern sea where I met my end right?" Tyrant chuckled
"You-" Bismarck took a step back
"Surprised? That's because I'm the same Tyrant that died seven months ago"
"I don't understand. How can you have memories when everyone else doesn't remember the whole incident..."
Tyrant's clear memory of the incident which led to her death genuinely shocked Bismarck since she believed she went back into the moment where Tirpitz had yet to be thrown by Tyrant to another world which triggered the crucial events.
"It's not just the incident, Bismarck. I'm well aware of everything up until the clash at Ireland" Tyrant faintly smiled
"That's not right. How can you know about Ireland when you're dead the entire time everything took place back then?" Bismarck frowned
"You didn't know? I left a piece of my mental cube somewhere not even the Sirens could freely reach. Although I didn't expect it was the original Tyrant who not only found my reforming mental cube, but sealed it within her mental cube as well"
"H-39...was keeping your mental cube?" This only confused Bismarck even more
"There's a place I like to call a dumpster of a dimension where an ordinary shipgirl would suffocate from the concentration of raw essence there. Only one being can survive there, and she's somewhere outside of this world"
The only way for Bismarck to understand the reason behind her sudden revival with complete memories of the whole event until the last moment back at Ireland, Tyrant recalled to the very place where it all begun.
"There is someone who is in disarray and all over the place, but there is really someone there. Due to my soul-crushing experience there, I left with a fragment of my mental cube missing. It turns out, that sin did so on purpose knowing how everything would turn out like how the Demiurge predicted it"
"What...?"
"The original Tyrant, H-39, was already dying the moment she returned to life. She was exhausting her limited energy trying to keep me from coming back from the dead since my mental cube was almost complete by the tine she found it. I was feeding on the energy there to repair my mental cube, but she intervened" Tyrant jumped further to another moment
"What was H-39 so desperate to accomplish?"
"She's trying to keep me from coming back thinking I'd screw over Iron Blood all over again, but as you can see...I have no interest with how the events turned out" Tyrant shrugged off her shoulders
"What do you mean?"
"Tirpitz got killed but came back from the dead"
"That's right. It's because I went back to the starting line" Bismarck looked at palm of her left hand
"That's where you're wrong. Bismarck, this is a timeline forcibly diverted by accessing a supercomputer where the laws of reality can't apply"
"Before all of this happened, H-39 brought out something...before a flash light made me fall unconscious" Bismarck recalled
"I already know that"
Tyrant may not be physically present throughout the battle, but she was aware of the whole event because H-39 sealed her mental cube before she could physically manifest within the dimension.
"The timeline is in shambles thanks to H-39 temporarily getting administrator access in the World Tree. Which means we're both stuck in this timeline unless we do something"
"Are you saying you're going to help me?" Bismarck frowned
"I'm helping for my own benefit, not out of my good will. Shouldn't that be obvious?"
"..."
Neither of them were in the mood to fight each other, but they can only barely tolerate each other's presence even with five meters distance to each other. Tyrant claimed she hated Bismarck, but it was the same Tyrant who died more than half a year ago, she never truly bore any grudge against Bismarck.
"Since you're glaring at me with such sharp eyes...Tirpitz never told you the truth"
"The truth...?"
"She should be aware about my true intentions prior to my death. It should have changed her path"
"She changed her path alright. It's because of the whole situation with you that she abandoned Iron Blood. Tirpitz joined the Siren Empress and caused all sorts of trouble in another world"
"I wanted her to avoid becoming...me. What she's doing is the complete opposite of it"
"What?"
"I lived a miserable life filled with regret because I was used by the Sirens to kill you. It was the very reason that drove me mad...until I blindly slaughtered Iron Blood and destroyed it entirely"
Tyrant begun to express the frustrations she suffered before she returned to her past in order to prevent a repetition of her miserable life. This took Bismarck by surprise since she never knew someone like Tyrant deeply resented herself more than she resented everyone around her.
"The Tyrant Code is shared between the two of us, so I'm the only one who can wield the power given to you when you secured the Coordinates...to the World Tree since that is where the Progenitor resides"
"..."
"I know I shouldn't be passing my Code to Tirpitz, but what choice do I have? She was dying at that moment. If she died back then, you would blame yourself and live the same hell as H-39"
"I'll become her, right...?" Bismarck clenched her fists
"Exactly. She should be dead by now since she exhausted the last of her mental cube's energy. That's why you should cross out revenge against her"
This Tyrant acted more carefree and casual even with her default grim expression, so Bismarck couldn't help but feel uneasy the drastic change in personality. It wasn't certain whether her new personality is due to end abnormal resurrection or due to how she was conscious throughout the whole incident.
"What would H-39 accomplish by killing Tirpitz and diverting the timeline?"
"She wanted to undo everything that happened. Using Tirpitz as a catalyst wasn't even her original plan. The existence of Tyrant wasn't deemed unnecessary...so she wanted to undo everything and start from scratch"
"This is difficult to process ..." Bismarck briefly lowered her head
"Honestly, there's a lot I have yet to explain, but I'll let Eugen explain the other details later"
The information the resurrected Tyrant added more headache to the already confused Bismarck. She understood this, so she decided to cut off their discussion for today.
"As much as we can't stand each other, cooperation is needed it we both want to return to how things were before all this jumbled timeline. If H-39 somehow comes back alive, she'd go after both of us...and possibly the amnesiac Tirpitz"
"A loose alliance with you, huh..." Bismarck bit her lip
"You can think about your decision after you return to Iron Blood. If you want to talk again, you'll find me here"
"This is a situation I never expected to find myself in. The person whom I saw as a despicable enemy...is going to be my ally" Bismarck turned away
"Look how the tables have turned. The two people who used to be at each other's throats...will have to work together to escape this timeline"
"...This is truly unbelievable"
Bismarck lowered her hostility towards H-39, but her personal hatred didn't fade away completely. Tyrant didn't care the least whether Bismarck continued to spite her or approve of her as she had her own interests, but that would be for another time.
"I forgot to ask something" Bismarck briefly turned her head
"What?" Tyrant sighed
"The shipgirls outside of this world. What happened to them?"
"They're still alive. Just like the shipgirls in this world, they don't remember encountering anyone from Azur Lane" Tyrant instantly replied
"...They don't remember. If that's the case, then can this be resolved without having them involved?"
"Hmm, I see. You want to finish off what you started...without involving them because they no longer remember about all of this" Tyrant smirked
"Yes. The conflict will stay in this world"
"What about Tirpitz? Would you let her forget her whole encounter with me?"
"...I don't know yet. Tirpitz is content the way she is"
"What makes you say that? For all you know Tirpitz might be as confused as you are right now"
"...!"
"Her memories weren't completely erased but might be suppressed instead. Don't freely talk about what happened or she might unexpectedly remember everything. It might cause a paralyzing shock, you know"
Tyrant warned Bismarck of the possible consequence if Tirpitz's memories were suppressed rather than undone like the rest. She lifted her finger and folded the rest as she wagged it.
"Oh, if you need any help feel free to count on Eugen like you always do" Tyrant sighed
"..."
Bismarck briefly paused in her steps before she continued to walk away from the scene all while the tension between them remained even after they parted for today. Tyrant was the only one who had a content smile while Bismarck left clearly upset, especially with how easygoing Tyrant acted after she came back from the dead much like H-39.
Extra
The shipgirls of the Maizuru naval district, who were also caught in H-39's last ditch effort to undo the whole event, blankly stared at a peculiarity in front of them. Bismarck, Hornet, Vanguard, Nelson, and Graf Zeppelin fixed their gazes on a certain greedy cat girl.
"I'm not a weirdo or anything. I'm Akashi, nya!"
Akashi flailed her arms covered by her oversized sleeves, visibly nervous with how both of her ears were folded and her tail between her legs. Five capital ships cornered her, so she feared for her own life as a lone cat in another world.
"Come on, you all met Akashi before. Why did you guys suddenly have amnesia, nya?" Akashi sweated profusely
"Hey, anyone seen this weird cat girl before?' Bismarck asked the other four
"Nope. I never met her before" Nelson crossed her arms
"I don't remember either. I mean little girls with actual cat ears...are impossible right now" Graf Zeppelin massaged her temple
"Same here. This little cat is a complete stranger to me" Hornet shook her head
"Vanguard?"
Bismarck then the three who replied all looked to Vanguard as she was the only one who didn't confirm nor deny the Akashi from the Sakura Empire's existence. In fact, she couldn't even hear them with how all of her attention were fixated on the nervous green cat.
"Have we met by any chance? I swear we met in some place, but I couldn't put my finger on it"
Vanguard bent down, so she and Akashi could stare at each other on the same level. She androwed her golden yellow eyes and analyzed whether Akashi was indeed familiar or not.
"Yes, yes, we met before! You were the first one I met, nya!" Akashi's eyes sparked hope
"I'm not mistaken. I met her before, but for some reason I couldn't really remember"
"This is odd. I feel like she is familiar too" Bismarck added
"What's going exactly? I heard something big happened in Ireland with a battle against the Sirens and Tirpitz, nya" Akashi raised her hand
"Huh? Tirpitz? What has my sister got to do with this?" Bismarck scratched her head
"Not that Tirpitz! The other one from another world. You know the one you met by chance seven months ago, nya" Akashi blinked her eyes in confusion
Bismarck and Vanguard sensed familiarity to Akashi, but none of the five shipgirls were familiar with another version of Tirpitz. The five looked at each other, genuinely unaware to who was the person Akashi referred, specially how not even Bismarck remembered.
"This cat says she's Akashi, then she says there's another Tirpitz?" Hornet scratched her head
(This is bad. Not only I'm still stuck here, not a single one in this base remembers me. What's going on? Everyone just disappeared all of a sudden, nya)
The green cat's anxiety reached higher we if felt like she was back to square one again. She had a chance to return home since the shipgirls of the Maizuru fleet were aware about the shipgirls from Azur Lane, but not a single one remembered. Akashi run in circles, unable to contain her panic right where she stood.
"Something fell, nya?"
When a solid object suddenly popped out from one of her pockets and rolled down the ground, Akashi stopped and shifted her attention out of curiosity. The five shipgirls present stared with a wide eye when a certain pitch black mental cube rested on the soil beneath their feet.
"What's this - huh?" Graf Zeppelin was about to grab it when someone stopped her
"Don't touch it so causally. I have a bad feeling about this" Bismarck grabbed Graf Zeppelin's arm
"Nya? What's this? This is a black mental cube...but it looks different for some reason, nya?"
Akashi was careful as well since a black mental cube was usually made by Sirens, and one can prove to be harmful even to shipgirls with immense strength. She grabbed the nearest stick her hand could reach and nervously poked the cube.
"What's with the glowing cube?" Nelson swallowed her breath
"Don't tell me that thing is radioactive?" Hornet backed away
"I don't know if it's radioactive, but it's bad to directly touch it. This thing can corrode flesh if touched for too long" Akashi warned them
"Alright, let's nuke it" Nelson immediately suggested
"It stores intense pure energy. Trying to externally harm it will cause spontaneous and highly explosive reaction, nya"
"Which means it goes boom if we try to smash it..." Vanguard understood
"Well, we can't just leave it on the ground" Bismarck placed her hand on her hip
"Yes, that's true..." A sixth shipgirl joined in
The five present shipgirls along with the Sakura's Akashi turned their attention to the battleship who walked into the scene with a faint satisfied on the lips and a deep gaze fixed towards the ominous black cube.
"Oh, Tirpitz? You're back already? Where have you been for the past two weeks" Bismarck greeted her
"Missions and other things. I've been busy ever since the whole ordeal with everyone suddenly forgetting" The Kriegsmarine's Tirpitz sighed
She slowly bent on one knee and reached for the black mental cube in the middle between Akashi and the other shipgirls. Her five fingers gently squeezed each four side of the cube and picked it up despite the danger Akashi warned the others about earlier.
"You might die, nya!" Akashi panicked
"Oh, don't worry. That's not going to be an issue"
"...!"
The moment Tirpitz stood back up with the cube successfully within her palms without consequences, she turned her gaze towards Akashi who stumbled on her rear out of sudden shock.
"Tirpitz, what are you going to do with that? It might explode" Bismarck warned her
"It won't unless you try to apply damage to it. Other than that, it's just a mostly harmless mental cube"
"N-nya..." Akashi stared at the black mental cube's glow
"Now then, little cat. I believe you owe us an explanation for this. First, we're going to have a long talk"
Tirpitz immediately grabbed the green cat from the back of her collar and lifted her off the ground.
"Where are you taking her?' Vanguard frowned
"To the cafe where I can discuss something with her in a good mood"
Tirpitz immediately left the somewhat puzzled shipgirls with how she just walked in only to take away both the black mental cube and the speechless green cat away within a minute.
"W-What's going on? You can't possibly be-"
"Let's keep this between us for the time being"
When Akashi was cut off, Tirpitz, placed her index finger between her lips and shushed the repair shop notorious for her talkative and curious nature.
"After all, you don't want them to be in any kind of danger, do you?" Tirpitz's smile was not a kind one
One after another, more twists unfolded in front of Akashi, and the most recent one was more terrible than the previous one. She can handle amnesiac shipgirls, but a person with a sinister smile was entirely different. Akashi had no means to defend herself as she was just a repair ship after all.
I've seen the end since the beginning, and only tragedy awaits them. I wonder whose life shall come to and end soon...