Chapter 6: Upbringing

?-?-? POV…

"Report?" A woman's voice asked, leading with whirs and keyboard typing. The woman in question was standing around in what seemed to be a computer room, complete with a metal interior, wires hanging from the ceiling, and some running through the floor which is all connected to a rather huge screen. The woman had pale skin and hair with clothes similar to witch's clothing.

"Nothing to report, ma'am. Nothing in Lastation, Leanbox, or Eden. Huh…?" And after a little bit of typing, the voice spoke again. "You may want to look at this!"

The woman then leaned over to look at the screen, which is showing some sort of video. There she sees, from a bird's eye view, three people. One with turquoise hair with a black suit and turquoise tie, who was walking in the most stiffest way possible. The second one was a young girl with blue hair and with a rather peculiar choice of clothing (at least to the woman's understanding). This one was holding a scythe with one hand and the other was holding someone's hand. That person was someone she instantly recognized, where she asked the person on the computer to zoom in on that person. Red hair tied into twin tails, a single yellow eye, an eyepatch over the right.

"CFW Magic…" The woman muttered melancholy as she looked at the young girl. The face looked a bit different, but it was still her. "You were once the leader of the Four Felons… But… Ever since you left… Ever since you revealed yourself to the whole world… A 'CPU partner' of Planeptune… Did you ever worry about the people that surround yourself?" She asked herself. "Did you have any regrets about leaving us? The people who took you in? Did you…" She suddenly stopped herself before her lips curled into a smile and her eyes darkened. "Did you remember that I made you who you are? Do you remember what happened to your eye? Do you!? Do you!? Do you!?" She then turned away before shaking her head before sighing to herself, returning to her melancholic state.

"U-Um… ma'am?" The person on the computer spoke up, catching the woman's attention. They suddenly stopped typing for a few minutes. "The Planeptune's CPU has already landed in Lowee. What are your orders?"

"I see… Send in the mechs towards her… no… one of them… send two of them at Lowee… Go wild… I'll be at Lowee to see this through." The woman then turned her back towards them. "Don't send in Brave, Judge, and Trick there… or anyone in that case… I want to test out something first… you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Yes… Understood. I'll do that immediately" The person said as they started typing again as fast and quick as possible. The woman ignored the typing and looked over her shoulder and trained her eyes towards the screen again to see the redhead looking rather annoyed at someone. "Lady Arfoire? Is there anything you need?"

"Nothing…" She immediately replied as she walked away and through a door frame. She then walked through a long corridor before stopping before looking back again.

"Filyn… Do you remember anything about your past?"

Sapphire's POV… (A few minutes later…)

"Yay! I won!" I said as I grinned very widely before putting the controller down before digging through the paper bag and taking out a lollipop before unwrapping it and putting it into my mouth. Me and Lite were just sitting on the couch while playing a fighting game in the office while Shift was watching while doing her work. We needed someway to distract her from going off somewhere.

"Boo! That's so dumb! This idiot has to be cheating!" Lite exclaimed as she was about to chuck the controller towards me.

"Lite. Please don't throw my controller at my friend." Shift spoke up, making her stop mid-throw. She was still wearing her pajama dress but she does look a bit better.

"Okay…" Lite muttered as she then put the controller down begrudgingly. "But! It's still not fair! She just beat me by spamming!"

"Haha… Well, if it makes you feel a bit better." I then looked over at Shift with a rather cheeky grin. "Your sister can trounce me in ten seconds! Hehe. I came to the point where my mind broke last time!"

"Um… I don't think it was anything like that…" Shift said with a rather awkward tone. "You just make it sound weird, Sappy…"

"Yeah, yeah… I know…" I said before we heard knocking from the door. Before it opens, revealing Mina in her pajama dress, which was white. She looked like she had a bad day, given by what was going on today. Messy light blue hair, squinting her eyes because she had no glasses, random bruises here and there.

"Phew… I finally made it… At least… I think this is the office…" Mina muttered as she squinted her eyes as she tried to look around, only to fall flat on her face.

"Ah! Mina!" Shift exclaimed as she immediately dropped everything, before she stood up and rushed to her Oracle's side. "Hey. Are you alright?"

I was about to stand up too to help her, but seeing that Shift got it, I sat back down and watched it all happen. Then Lite was about to stand up and grab the controller, so I quickly took it away before she even grabbed it and shook my head. "Stay. Or your sister might get mad at you." I said, seeing her pout before she sat back down as well.

"I'm okay, Lady Shift… It's just that… I don't have my glasses right now…" Mina said before Shift helped her up. When she was somehow able to stand up however, she was facing the complete opposite direction. "Thank you…"

"Um… Mina? I'm right here." Shift said, making the woman turn towards her direction. "Here. Let me help." She said as she then took her hand.

"O-Oh. Thank you again, Lady Shift." Mina answered, still squinting her eyes. "I'm sorry for troubling you again." She then looked around. "Did Lady Sapphire come by yet? And is your sister here as well?"

"Yeah! We're here!" I spoke up as I was about to wave my hand before realizing Mina couldn't see so I put it down. "So, are you two dating or something?" I jokingly ask, giving them a huge grin.

Shift just sighed before she then grinned. "Of course not." She said, crossing her arms. "But I think I have someone else who I'm interested in. Someone by the name of Miss Reaper."

"What…?"

And before I said anything else, Mina suddenly spoke up. "Lady Sapphire! Lady Shift!" She exclaimed as she frowned at both of them. "Please don't say stuff like that in front of Lady Lite!"

I then looked towards Lite, who was just confused. "Ah. Sorry about that~!" I said playfully while looking off to the side very awkwardly. "Hehe… Yeah… Should have known…"

"Okay… But, please don't say that again…" Mina then squinted her eyes towards somewhere else other than the direction where I was. "We do apologize for troubling you with this…"

"No, no! It's okay! Really! You needed help! That's all!" I said, waving both of my arms as I removed my lollipop before standing up and rushing towards Mina and Shift. "Come on! I know you can't see right now! You seriously need to rest! So let me help you guys out!" I said as I grabbed the Oracle's hand and pulled her along with Shift before I sat her down on the couch.

"Thank you again, Lady Sapphire." Mina said as she bowed towards us. She then tried to look towards Shift. "But Lady Shift, you should really get back to work." To which Shift nodded before she went back to her desk and started working again.

'Should I help her…? Yeah… Maybe I should… I'm sure that Filyn is doing my work… Filyn…' Then the redhead girl's morning wear flashed through my mind. 'No, no, no! Don't think about her! I have no chance against Shift!' This reassured me as I shook my head. "Mina? Can I help her as well?" I asked, seeing her nod at me, I also walked over to Shift's desk before looking at her work. She's obviously not really done with her paperwork yet. There's stuff that needs to be signed, stuff that needs to be stamped, and some requests here and there. "Actually… Uh… Do you need help with this?" I asked her, tilting my head to the side.

"Uh… no… I actually have everything under control." Shift said, looking towards Mina who somehow fell asleep, probably from how tired she was, before looking back. "But there is some paperwork I need to send to the Basilicom workers, so I think I can count on you with that." She then pointed towards the small stack of paper. "So uh… Could you start with the stack on your left?"

"Oh. Okay." I looked around on her desk for a little bit before grabbing the stacks of paper. "So I just need to take this to the Basilicom workers, right?" To which Shift nodded. "Alrighty! I'll get to it then!" I exclaimed as I was about to walk to the door.

"Hey! Miss Crazy Zombie Lady!" Lite exclaimed, making me stop as I looked at her. She was standing up with a rather suspicious expression towards me. "I don't trust you! Like at all! You look like a big dummy!"

Shift looked up and sighed before she frowned at her sister. "Lite… please stop it." She said very sternly as she stopped what she was doing.

"Wha—!? No way!" Lite exclaimed as she stomped her foot with frustration. "She has been saying some of this really confusing stuff! It's just… Argh! I just don't get it!"

"Lite…" Shift muttered as she was about to stand up again to try and stop her.

"Then how about you, Lite, watch me do my thing and you can judge on how trustworthy I am?" I spoke up, catching everyone's attention. I just didn't want to see these two sisters getting upset over me. Plus, seeing Lite reminded me of someone I knew long ago.

This caught Shift off guard before she then frowned at my direction. "Sappy… You know you don't have to do that." She said to me as she crossed her arms. "You're troubling yourself with too much and…"

"I know." I spoke up, cutting off Shift as I gave her a smile. "But, I figured your sister isn't going to let me go so I figured I'll do it anyway." I then fixed the stack of papers that were about to fall off. "Plus, I honestly don't mind it at all."

Shift just sighed before she sat back down. "Alright… Sappy…" She agreed but still had that same frown. "But… please keep an eye on her, okay?"

"Okay! Hehe." I smiled widely before I turned to Lite, who was staring at me with suspicion. "Come on then! You wanted to watch me, right?"

Lite then nodded before standing up from the couch before rushing towards me before punching me in the thigh. Even though it didn't knock me down, it almost made me drop all of the papers. However, my pained face said it all. "Haha! Your face looks weird." She exclaimed as she smiled.

"Sappy!" Shift exclaimed as she stood up again from her desk. She then rushed over to me before she looked at her sister. "Lite! That was rude! She's only trying to help." She tried to sound very calmly even though she sounded trying to edge her voice.

"I-It's fine!" I said with a pained smile before trying to fix all the stacked papers. "She's just a kid… A… very abusive… kid…" I then looked away for a little bit. "Gosh… Am I going to be a target for this kid…?"

The edge of Shift's lip turned into a slight frown before she then turned to her sister. "Lite. Please… I'm warning you… Don't. Hurt. Sapphire." She warned her with a rather cold tone.

This made Lite caught off guard as she looked at her sister with surprise, while I just looked at her with a straight face as I fixed the papers for the second time. "Shift. I know you're mad but please don't go 'I'm going to kill you' mode on your sister, okay?"

Shift then looked at me with a bit of surprise. "Uh…" She then looked down with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Lite… I just got stressed out…"

"It's okay, Big Sis! Oh and bye!" Lite exclaimed as she then smacked the back of my thigh and immediately ran out the door.

Shift then groaned before turning towards me. "I'm really sorry about her." She said, crossing her arms.

"Again. It's okay! I'll just go after her." I then turned to leave before looking back. "We'll come back, okay? So, don't worry about that. So uh… See ya!" I said to Shift as I then walked out the office door.

Filyn's POV…

Filyn started to groan as they were walking through Virtua Forest. She was walking from behind Venus and Crypto all the way in the front. Venus doesn't have her scythe in her hand because earlier, she herself tried to teach her how to put away her weapon in a very nicer way but it didn't work so Crypto intervened and decided to teach her. Of course, it worked but did it in a sort of way where she was a bit strict on the little girl, which is one of reasons why she didn't want to bring Crypto along.

'Seriously… Why is she doing this all of the sudden…?' Filyn thought to herself as she looked at Crypto with suspicion. 'Is she planning something or what…?' She then shakes her head. 'Or she's just a weirdo…' She then smirked internally before peeking over Venus's shoulder. "Are we there yet?" She asked, catching everyone's attention.

"Not yet, Lady Filyn…" Crypto said before she looked over her shoulder and smirked as she saw Filyn's lips frowned. "I always asked this but, you seem to hate being called 'Lady.' Why is that?"

"I just hate the word 'Lady.' There's nothing more to it than that." Filyn answered in a not so truthful manner. "Unless, you came to a conclusion 'because I don't act like a lady' or whatever those snarky comments you would say!"

Crypto just rolled her eyes and just kept on walking. While Venus just looked at her with curiosity before following Crypto from behind. After a few minutes of walking, they reached some sort of clearing that showed luscious green plains that were infested with a lot of Dogoos, blue slime creatures that have features of a dog.

"Woah! What are those things!?" Venus exclaimed as she looked at monsters that filled the area. "They all look so cute."

"Yeah… I wouldn't try to hug them…" Crypto spoke up, giving an unnerving stare as she looked at the Doggos. "Unless you want all of them to pounce on you and cover your clothes with slime… Like Filyn who had this problem for the fiftieth time in a row…"

'I'm pretty sure it was at least the millionth time in a row…' Filyn thought before she immediately shaked that thought out of her mind. 'Wait… Why did I count all the times I got slimed?' She shook her head again before turning to Venus, who was eyeing her with curiosity, and she laughed very awkwardly. "Haha… Don't ask…"

"Okay, Filyn." Venus said with a slight pout while having her hand on her hips. "So… No hugging… but, they still look cute…" She said, getting a chuckle out of Filyn.

"So? We're getting started, right?" Crypto asked, catching the two girls' attention. She had her arm crossed across her chest with a slight frown. "Unless you want to go back."

"Oh! No! I mean… Yes! I want to get started! Um… Okay! Miss Crypto!" Venus exclaimed and in a panic, she immediately summoned out her scythe. She then looked at it for a while before looking towards Filyn. "Um… I don't know what to do… Um… Help?"

When hearing this, Filyn's lips lifted with a huge smile. 'Finally! I get to use my weapon!' She thought as she eagerly summoned out her scythe. "Alrighty, Venus! Let me show you a demonstration!" She exclaimed as she rushed towards all the Doggos before doing a forward slash at the monsters, destroying at least ten of them. This got all the slimes' attention and started jumping towards her. "Heh. You all are coming after me, huh? Fine then! Let's see if you can survive this!" She exclaimed as her single eye started glowing with excitement as she twirled her scythe in front of her and started walking towards her, it felt like wind blowing in front of her. And now her scythe's blade started to glow magenta red. "Time for Psycho Tornado!" She exclaimed as she quickly took out half of the monsters, then seeing the monsters backed away from her. "Hahaha! See? See!? See!? I took half of the—! Ow!" She exclaimed as a pebble hit her from the back of her head. She rubbed her head as she immediately turned to see Crypto behind her with a handful of pebbles. "Hey! Crypto! What was that for!?"

"Lady Filyn. I thought you were doing a demonstration." Crypto said as she chucked another pebble at Filyn's head. "Instead, you went insane and started killing half of the monsters." She said as she chucked another one at her head. "Good thing I was prepared for this when I brought back this emergency pouch." She then chucked one final one at her head, making the red-head girl annoyed at this as she puts one hand off the staff part of her scythe. "So please do a better demonstration instead of going insane?" She said as she was about to chuck another one at her head.

"Okay, Okay! Fine!" Filyn exclaimed as she turned to Venus, who was far in the back while looking overhead. The young girl looked rather surprised by her actions earlier. "Hey, Venus! I will at least try to demonstrate my moves slowly and you should try to follow along, okay?" She said, seeing Venus nod before she started observing her, before turning to the Doggos. The monsters looked at each other before starting to attack again.

Filyn now started to take her time to do slow downward and upwards strikes and slices towards the monsters, trying to take them out one at the time. 'It's just like a dance… Just like Sapphire once said… Just like a dance…' She thought as she was forced to move rather simple but gracefully. This isn't Filyn's type of style since she uses a more violent style of attack. However, Sapphire taught her a less violent way to fight and it sort of just stuck with her. She then looked to Venus, who was trying to follow along with her moves, but was a bit amateurish and a lot slower than what she was doing. However, it was rather cute in a way. "Venus! I think it's time for you to come to the field! There's only about…" She looked back to counting the ones that stayed far away from her before looking back. "…twenty-seven more left! Is that okay with you?"

Venus just nodded her head as she clenched her scythe. "It's okay!" She exclaimed as she then scanned the field, seeing the monsters spread out before she frowned. "It's kind of a lot… but… I need some of the practice I can get…" Filyn heard what she thought she heard as the girl muttered before seeing her rush past her.

Venus did something similar to a forward slash at the monster while destroying it, somewhat to how Filyn did earlier. However, that slice made her lose balance at first before she was able to stand again. She tried to take another one out, trying to copy what Filyn demonstrated for her. But, it was still a bit clumsy and amateurish. Somehow, she slammed her scythe down on one of the Doggos, destroying it but got it stuck in the ground.

"Wha—!?" Venus tried to pull it out, failing to get it out. She then panicked before turning to Filyn. "Filyn! Please help me—!" She was then pounced on by a Dogoo, forcing to fall back, letting go of her weapon. After a little bit, more Doggos climbed on top of her, seemingly trying to lick her. She just laughed before trying to get them off, but more kept climbing on to her. "S-Stop! Please stop! I-I can't… hahaha!"

Filyn just sighed to herself as she looked upon the scene. "This is getting out of hand…" She muttered before rushing to help her before immediately getting hit by a Doggo on the right side, making her tumble to the ground. 'Damnit! Not again! And it's on my blind side too!' She then tried to tear it off of her before more of them climbed onto her. "Argh! Get off of me, you fu—!" Before another one hit her on her face, muffling what she was about to say.

Filyn felt like she couldn't breathe and her single eye was forced to close this entire time. She felt something was dripping into her mouth and her ears. Then she heard Venus yelling out something she couldn't make out, probably from the slime covering her ears. After a few minutes, she felt like someone was trying to rip the monster off her face.

She felt like her consciousness fade in and out, feeling like she was going to faint. It had been like a few minutes to her and felt like she was dying. Suddenly, she felt like there wasn't anything on her face. She slowly opened her one eye and raised up from the ground. She started coughing out the slime that was in her mouth. Her eyes slowly focus to see Venus, who was covered with slime, and Crypto looking over her with a very worried and frightened look on her face.

"Filyn!" Venus exclaimed as she tackled her in a hug. The putrid stench suddenly filled the redhead's nose. And another thing, she started crying. "Y-You weren't moving! Like at all! I-I… I'm…! I'm so…!"

"Woah! What do you mean?" Filyn asked, looking around confused as she wondered what was going on before paying the young girl's back. Venus acting that she had died or something. "I thought I was out for a few seconds?"

"No. You were out for a few minutes from now." Crypto spoke up, turning her attention towards her. She was crossing her arms and had a bayonet in hand. "I had to take out the rest of them before I did CPR on you… and even if you're a 'CPU,' your body is like a human…"

"Yeah, yeah… I know… I don't need a CPU's anatomy lesson from you…" Filyn before she looked down to Venus. "Hey, Venus? I can't breathe…"

"Oh!" Venus then moved away from Filyn to give her a bit of space, but she was still sniffling, probably trying to stop herself from crying even more, as she looked down. "I-I'm sorry… I… I… I… I didn't… I-I…"

"Are you sure this kid was prepared for this, Lady Filyn?" Crypto whispered to her with a bit of concern.

"I was sure she was fine. But I guess she didn't expect this would happen." Filyn whispered back before turning to Venus. "Hey! It's fine. Okay? We're fine now." Filyn said before patting the young girl's head while trying to soothe her. "This isn't really a very good first lesson for you though… But, at least you're able to fight, right? You should be proud of that."

"But… You got hurt because of me…" Venus softly spoke up as she started to tear up even more. "And I couldn't even protect you because I was…"

"Come on! Don't say stuff like that! Those are just beginner's mistakes!" Filyn assured Venus as she gave her a smile. "You just need to learn from it, okay?"

"O-Okay… but… I-I'm sorry… I-I…" Venus muttered as she buried her face into Filyn's chest before starting to cry again. After a few minutes of crying, she softly spoke up again, "Filyn… you smell weird…"

"Well… you too…" Filyn muttered to Venus while groaning to herself, making the young girl giggled to herself. Being a little upset was an understatement, to the point that a very devious idea popped in her head which made her smirk. "And now that you made me upset, you'll be forced to bathe with me…" She whispered to the young girl that was soft enough for Crypto to not hear her.

"H-Huh…?" Venus then looked up, registering what she just heard before her face suddenly flushed a light red color. "Wha—!? Y-You're joking… right…?" She cautiously asked, seeing Filyn grinned very widely as shook her head, making her face go completely red.

'She's really like her sister… huh…' Filyn thought to herself, finding it sort of funny that she and her sister have a similar blushing face though Sapphire is much cuter. 'But…'

Then, she looked at the young girl with a serious expression. "Venus… there isn't anything around this…" Filyn whispered into Venus's ear, still making it low enough so no one could hear. "The smell isn't going away… even if you bathe by yourself… plus…" Filyn then looked over to see Crypto, who was looking the other way, checking her phone before looking back. "I don't want your sister to find out about this… and blame herself for what happened to you today… And… I don't want you to see her really bad side…"

Hearing all of this, Venus's eyes widened a little before sighing as she slowly nodded her head. "Alright…" She agreed with a light blush on her face.

Filyn just smiled before she stood up, helping Venus up as well. She picked up her own scythe and put it away before picking up Venus's scythe before giving it to the owner, who also put it away before hiding behind her. She looked down at the young girl, seeing that she was still blushing which made Filyn giggle to herself. She then turned towards Crypto, who was still checking her phone. "Hey, Crypto! We're both gonna head back, okay? So, I'll let you report back to the Guild!" She exclaimed as they both walked past Crypto.

"Wait." Crypto spoke up, forcing them to stop in their tracks before turning towards her. "There's something I want to ask the both of you…" She then looked towards Filyn. "Filyn… where and how did you find this kid? And you…" She then looked towards Venus with a very cold stare. "Who are you really?"

"Ummm… that's…" Venus looked up to Filyn before then hid behind her even more. "It's… very difficult to say…" She then looked back at Filyn with a panicked look in her eyes.

"Uh… well… you see…" Filyn was about to explain more or make something up before hearing a crash behind her. "What the…!?" She immediately turned to look, her single eye widened with shock when seeing that multiple trees had been destroyed before glaring at the perpetrator. "Venus! Stay behind me!" She exclaimed as she stood in front of the young girl, trying to protect her.

A single gigantic mech with a purple body roses up from the wreckage. It stands about twenty-five feet to thirty feet tall. It had no face other than the small camera and had guns for hands and treadmills for legs.

"Filyn…?" Venus spoke up, confused about what was going on. She sounded a bit scared as she looked over from behind Filyn. "What is that…?"

"Model RPCS Ver. 0.0.19." Crypto spoke up, answering for Filyn as she walked to stand on her side while keeping an eye on the mech. "A mech made by ASIC… Weapons: Guns… Missiles…"

"Yeah! We can see that, Crypto!" Filyn shot back while glaring at the mech worryingly and anger as tried to cover Venus with her cloak. 'Why here!? Why now!? Damn it! And if I'm right about this… This specific model could scan someone if they're a CPU or not by their Shares… and be able to track them… I know this from Sapphire's reports… But as long as it doesn't see Venus and scan her, we should be good…'

"TWO SHARE SIGNATURES DETECTED. TWO CPUS DETECTED SHIFTING TO BATTLE MODE. MUST DESTROY CPUS."

"Two?" Crypto then glared at Filyn as she also frowned at her. "Is that mech saying what I think it's saying…?" She then looked down at the young girl before sighing. "No wonder you look familiar… It's almost too obvious for words…"

"Um… can we talk later please…?" Venus asked, looking like she's about to run away. But, her whole body was shaking while clenching Filyn's cloak. "W-We have to run … I-I don't think we can…"

Filyn just shook her head as she stood her ground. "No. We can't. Even if we run, it's going to catch up to us. Or just shoot us down before we even get the chance…" She watched the mech charging up the weapon before shooting out missiles, which were coming for both of them. "Move!" She then grabbed Venus by her body and tried to avoid the missiles from hitting them both. This made them topple to the ground where Filyn was on top of her. Then they then felt the shockwaves of the blast through her skin. They looked up to see a crater where they once were. Fortunately, Crypto was also able to avoid the blast.

'That was a close one…' Filyn sighed in relief before looking towards the huge mech. 'This isn't like Arfoire at all! She would send mechs immediately! Unless…' She then felt shaking underneath her. "Huh…?"

"F-Filyn…! Filyn…!" Venus sobbed as she clenched her hand on Filyn's cloak. She had her eyes closed with tears streaming down her face. "I-I'm scared…! I-I'm so scared…! I-It's my fault! I-It's all my fault! I… I… I…"

"Venus. Look… It's not your fault, okay?" Filyn said as she comforted the young and crying girl. The girl was still sobbing and quivering. "Please… open your eyes…" The girl then slowly opened her single eye, with them still filled with tears. "I'm okay! See? I'm still alive!" Filyn reassured her before suddenly hearing the mech charging up their weapons again. She could also hear Crypto calling out to her to move now while hearing bullets bouncing off metal. But she didn't care. "Just watch, okay? I'll show you why I'm called the partner CPU of Planeptune!" She closed her single eye before opening it up to reveal that it's glowing. "Release!"

Suddenly, the missile hit where the two were lying making a lot of smoke. When the smoke slowly dissipates, it reveals that no one was there. The mech was scanning the area, looking for two that were once there before suddenly…

"I'm right here."

The mech's body rotated around before revealing Filyn, while carrying Venus in a bridal style way. She was somehow floating high up in the air before revealing four processor wings on either side that were shaped like violet diamonds. She looked about the same with the same hair and style, though a little older and taller than before. The one major difference was that the eyepatch had no straps around it. Her attire consists of a violet red two piece bikini-like suit with two straps going across her stomach with skin-tight gauntlet and skin-tight boots to match.

"F-Filyn…!" Venus was the first to speak up. She is almost shocked or rather surprised about who she is looking at. "Is that really…? Is this your…?" Before Filyn's finger was placed on top of her mouth.

"Shush… my sweet little sugarplum…" Filyn spoke in a rather motherly and polite tone, giving her a warm smile before giggling lightly to herself. She then traced her finger down to Venus's stomach. "After we come home, you'll keep that promise, okay?"

Venus silently nods at this before looking away, blushing a little again. Filyn giggled again as she slowly put Venus on her back. "Hold on to me, Venus." She said in a very serious tone, having the young girl wrapping around her neck before turning to the gigantic mech. "Sorry, but you have to go. Like now." She said as she summoned a really large scythe with skull designs. "Hope you're fine with that!" She exclaimed as moved her weapon to her side.

'Focus… all my energy…' Filyn felt like her entire body flaring up, feeling like energy flowing through her. Her entire body started to glow a bright violet-red. 'And release!' She then swung her weapon, releasing all her energy, brightening everyone's vision. When the light faded, the top part of the mech suddenly slid off the bottom part before it exploded.

"Woah! That's amaz—!" Venus then notices digital particles coming off from Filyn's body. Filyn felt very tired for the reason she already knew when she transformed. "Filyn? What's wrong…?"

All questions were cut short as Filyn's transformation started to fail her, reverting back to her human form before they both fell down. Falling in breakneck speed, caused Venus to accidentally let go of Filyn's neck. Filyn could hear Venus's screams as she was falling but wasn't able to do anything. Before long, they both crashed into the ground with terrible pain.

Sapphire's POV… (A few minutes earlier…)

"And we're done!" I exclaimed as I stretched out my arms as we walked into the main lobby of the Basilicom before turning to the young girl with a rather huge grin. "So? Did I pass?"

"Hmph!" Lite immediately looked away from me with crossed arms, pouting at the fact that I did the job correctly. And she barely said anything earlier, probably because she was trying to find a hole or a mistake in the way I do things. Not that she would find much because I always do things very flawlessly.

'Wonder… How is she feeling now…? Maybe I should…' I then shake those thoughts off my head. 'No… I promise myself that I'll use my Soul Reading ability when it's useful. Not using it on some kid…' I slightly looked down as I frowned. 'Besides… that ability only causes more trouble than it being helpful…' I sighed to myself before hearing something rather strange. I then noticed the small blur of red before smirking at what it was. "You can come out now, Ninja Man!"

"Wait…! Ninja!?" Lite spoke up in confusion as she quickly looked around. She was confused yet a bit excited. "Where!? I want to chuck something at their face!"

Then immediately afterwards, that same ninja from earlier suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, catching Lite off guard. He stood up, seemingly shocked by what he just heard. "Wha—!? How did you know where I was hiding!?" The ninja exclaimed.

"Wow… if you revealed yourself that quickly, I don't think you should be in the Lowee Ninja Corp." I said as I crossed her arms, worried about who Shift probably hired. "And if you really want to know, I had a few run-ins with your corp." I sighed to myself before frowning. "Also, if you're the same guy I knocked out earlier, that's even more embarrassing since you were beaten by some girl."

"Of course I'm the same guy… I mean… Why you…!?" The ninja then pulled a kunai and charged towards me. "How dare you spat on the Ninja Corp!?" He chuck one at me, which I immediately dodge.

'Geez! This is so annoying!' I huffed as a summon out my rapier. 'Whatever… I don't have time to play with this idiot…' I sighed as I pointed my rapier towards him. "Alright! That's it! It's time to beat you up again!"

"Sappy?" We all stopped to look over to see Shift walking into the lobby with a stack of papers in hand. "Did you finish with the…" She looked up to see the two of us with our weapons out. "What's going on here!?"

"Lady Dual Heart!" The ninja then kneels down immediately towards her. "Excuse my intrusion, but we have an intruder in our nation." He informed Shift, who then looked towards my direction with confusion.

"Uhhhh… Well…" I tried to think of something that came from the top of my head before pointing my rapier at the ninja. "This ninja guy attacked me and he was… a bit annoying…, so I uhhhh… knocked him out in response. Hehehe… Oops?"

Shift sighed as she rubbed her before turning to the ninja. "I know you were just doing your job. But I can assure you that she's no intruder. She's an honored guest." She told him as gently as possible.

"O-Oh… I see…" I thought I heard ninja mutter before he hung his head in shame. "I'm truly sorry. I wasn't informed about this."

"It's alright. So lift your head up." Shift reassured him while giving him a gentle smile as he lifted his head up. "However, I'll have to report this to your superiors. Please report there immediately. Do you understand?" She asked, which he nodded. "You may leave now." She told the ninja who later disappeared in a flash.

'Gosh. She handled that situation very well… And much better than the previous CPU of Lowee…' I thought to myself as I crossed my arms. 'She seemed to have everything under control… But she did it so differently from her… sister…' I then shifted my head to Lite, who was stunned into silence. 'Well… almost everything…'

"Sappy." Shift spoke up, catching my attention. She had her hands clasped together and closed to her chest. She looked at me rather worryingly. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Ah! No. It's nothing!" I exclaimed as I waved my arms in a panic. I didn't want to worry her with my personal thoughts. "Don't worry too much about me! It's fine! Really!"

However, Shift narrowed her eyes before they softened as she looked down. "Y-You don't have to hide it… if you're thinking about HER… and when it comes to me… it's…" She stopped herself seeing that my eyes widened slightly. "I mean… SHE was well… something…" She muttered as shivered from the past.

"No, no! Don't think about HER, okay!?" I exclaimed again, feeling guilty for even thinking about trying to compare her to her sister. "It's just… HER and you… our past with HER and…" I looked at Lite, who seemingly got out of her silence and was now confused about what's going on. "Oh."

"Miss Zombie Lady! Big Sis! Who's this 'HER' you're talking about!?" Lite asked, looking back and forth between the both of us as she put her hands on her sides. "Come on! Tell me! Tell me!"

I looked at the younger girl with a shocked and traumatized look. 'Why is she asking about that!? Why her of all people!?' I felt my stress levels heighten. 'I don't want to remember… Just forget about it and move on… I didn't want this…! Just forget about it and move on… I never wanted this to happen to us…! Just forget about it and move on… I hate myself…! Terrible memories flowing in my mind. 'Just forget about it and move on…! My head hurts just thinking about it…! Just forget about it and move on…! I wasn't strong enough…! Then I noticed my left hand started to glitch before immediately covering it with my other hand. 'Just forget about it and move on…! I should have done better…! Just forget about it and move on…!' I was breathing very heavily as I started to tremble. 'But I can't because I failed as a CPU…'

"N-No... I don't I should tell you..." Shift spoke, breaking my thoughts before she then looked at me, who noticed my very traumatized look, as she shivered again before looking back to her sister. "You're a bit too young for that." Which Lite, in response, pouted at the answer. This made me sighed in relief from hearing that.

'Phew! That was a close one… I mean… she is a kid after all…' I thought to myself as I felt my stress levels went down. 'I'm probably just overacting… right…?' I shook away those thoughts before giving a bright smile as I put my hands behind my back. "By the way, I saw all of those announcements a few days ago! And I got to say… I didn't expect Kazooya to be in Mashing Ultimate! Also, that sequel to that open-world game trailer was so good! I hope those next trailers are just as great!"

"Yeah. But, we still got some trailers to release." Shift said as she gave me a smile, however, there is something secretive behind that smile. "Either way, thank you, Sappy! For all the help you did!"

"Come on! I didn't do anything! I just sent some of my trailers to you." I said as I shrugged it off before scratching the back of my head. I don't really want to take all the credit since those are games or trailers people were hyping up.

"What are you talking about now!?" Lite asked as she looked at both of us, still confused on what's going on. We both giggling to ourselves, probably for different reasons. My reason being that she's a bit cute when she's not chucking something. Though she's not as cute as my sister… and Filyn. "Hey! What's so funny!?" She exclaimed angrily as she stomped her foot.

Shift then ruffled her little sister's hair with a gentle smile. "It's nothing. I'll get around to explaining it to you." She said, making the young girl pout again as she stamped her foot again.

Suddenly, a panicked voice was heard behind us. "Lady Shift!" We all turned to see another ninja at the front door. He seemed to be huffing from probably running here. "W-We… We… We have an emergency!"

"An emergency?" Shift asked, looking at the ninja with confusion as she walked towards him. I too was just as confused as her because, from what I recall from earlier, I didn't see anything that should be reported. "Calm down. What's the situation?"

"There are two mechs that are attacking the southern part of the nation!" He informed us, catching all of us off guard. Suddenly, my eyes widened with disbelief and slight realization. I didn't want to believe it at all. There is no way this is happening.

"Mechs?" Shift looked at the ninja with surprise. She too seemed like she didn't want to believe it either. Since her nation was never attacked before. "Are they at least recognizable? And are they from our nation?"

The ninja just shook his head, feeling my heart drop to the floor. "No. None of them are recognizable." He spoke before he paused for a while. "However, they do have an insignia on them… One has a dolphin and another had a… citrus…?"

After hearing that, it didn't take me long to immediately rush out the front door and out to the city. I knew what he was describing, but I didn't want to believe it. 'Did Arfoire somehow snap and send these mechs to Lowee? Why?' I then saw a bunch of people running the other direction in a panic. 'She isn't the type of person that would make a ruckus for no reason… So, why? She wouldn't do it immediately, right?' I then stopped to see the destruction. "N-No… why…?"

The building has been destroyed, burning with flames while melting the snow. People were panicking, some of them were stuck under the rubble. It's almost like the apocalypse is just starting.

I kept on moving, while trying to save the people the best way I can. 'I have to save everyone…' I thought as I helped a man up, who tripped and fell to the ground, before telling him to run. 'I may have failed before… But that doesn't mean I won't fail now!' I kept on running faster, helping everyone, saving everyone, even trying to lift some rubble that people were stuck under. It didn't matter if I got hurt trying, all that matters was that everyone was safe. Then I stopped, clenching my hands into a fist as I looked towards the perpetrators.

There were two very large mech roaming around the city, trashing the place. The first one had a head and a white body and legs, carrying two large, curved blue swords and the right arm had a blue dolphin insignia. The other one also had a gray body and legs with spike balls for hands. On its left arm has citrus insignia plastered on it.

'Model Dolphin Ver. 5.0… Model Citra Ver. 5.1.1…' I thought as I gritted my teeth. 'Me and Filyn got those blueprints a while back from someone unknown. They were labeled as the CPU Destroyer Class… Underneath the CFWs… And if that's the case…' I glared at them with worry. 'I wouldn't be able to beat with sheer power alone… But…' I summoned out my rapier and a gun. 'I wouldn't let that stop me because…'

'That is my mission…'


That is all for now! Thanks again to decode9 for helping me with the dialogue again. And now onto the information!

The mechs' names I chose were pretty much the names of console emulators like Dolphin, Citra, and RPCS. Makes me wonder who's making these.

Filyn's HDD form is supposed to have some sort of callback to CFW Magic but I slightly changed the design. And yes, I know she's powerful, but I did give her a handicap where even though you have all this power but if limited by how much you can do with it. It's going to be explained in the next chapter or something.

Either way, that's all for now! Please Review and Stay Safe!