When life throws you down, you get back up and punch it in the face.

-Loweean 'proverb'

The new year had arrived with the usual festivities; IF spent the night at Planeptower just like the previous year, though only after attending a party with Compa and Hubert for a while. Staying with the CPUs was nice, seeing that she did not feel she should, or could, hide anything from them.

A few more days passed since the arrival of 514 and the year deigned not to throw any curveballs at her this time; she had her heart-to-heart with Neptune just a year ago, and had since not only gotten used to living on her own, but also risen to the rank of Maker.

5pb. had since moved on, though IF had taken a liking to the idol and they stayed in contact after that one day they spent together. The blunette was much more expressive via text or on the phone.

As of this moment, IF rode the elevator up to her deities' chambers. She had not heard from Nepgear ever since the new year began, which was decidedly odd; the purplette usually either posted on Chirper or threw a few texts her way even when busy. In fact, Nepgear did not check her phone at all; IF had tried to message and call her.

"Hey, Iffy!" The moment she stepped out of the elevator, she was already greeted cheerfully. Neptune lounged on the couch and waved, a cup of pudding in hand and otherwise looking perfectly at ease.

IF raised her hand in greeting and eyed her employer thoughtfully. "Is there any time in the day where I find you working?" Because, considering all her other visits over the last years, the purplette never appeared to be busy.

"Nope," Neptune chirped without missing a beat and snorted over the face IF made. "I only work nights so I get exactly that reaction. Yes, it's still funny, even after I've been doing this for about two hundred years." Then she broke into giggles while IF slumped her shoulders and flopped onto the couch's free end.

The human woman sighed and rubbed her temples, then stole Neptune's second pudding and began to eat it while her goddess was busy laughing. If she noticed, she did not reprimand IF.

"So," the brunette opened once two empty cups stood on the ground in front of the couch. "I haven't heard from Nepgear for a while; is she busy?" Neptune shrugged in response, though she did not even attempt to hide the weak grin the question brought onto her face.

"Kind of, something big is going down soon. Come on, I'll show you." With that, the purplette hopped up and held a hand out for IF, then pulled her along and toward the sisters' bedroom. Throwing IF a smile, she knocked once and entered, revealing her Candidate hunched over a small desk at the wall.

"Hey, sis. Did something happen?" Nepgear did not even turn around to look at them; she continuously tapped a pen against the desk, obviously in thought. Neptune grinned at IF as if this told her everything, then strode into the room. The human woman followed immediately.

"Nah, just checking how you're doing." The older purplette did not elaborate, and the younger one did not question it.

However, hearing two sets of footsteps made Nepgear perk up and turn around after all; her eyes widened when she saw IF behind her, the time spent in reclusion catching up with the Candidate. "Goodness, I completely forgot to talk to you! I'm so sorry!"

IF waved her off with a huff, all concern now gone. "It's fine. Though I would be pretty happy if someone could explain what's going on to me, and my glorious ruler is being coy about it." It was both a question and a proposal, accompanied by a look toward Neptune; the older CPU merely giggled and kept her silence.

Much to IF's confusion, Nepgear began to fidget somewhat and averted her gaze. "Um, that is a bit difficult. Give me a moment to order my thoughts." Then she turned back to her paper, crossed out a few lines of whatever she wrote, and took a deep breath. With that done, the young CPU rose to her feet and let herself drop onto the thick carpet with a dull thud. "I only now realise I haven't slept in six days. That's a little much even for me."

"Aw, don't be such a whimp," Neptune cheerfully teased her sister while nudging her with a foot. "I can do seven days no problem."

"Because you're the CPU proper!" Nepgear whined and rolled away from their beds, where her sibling had sat down. She grumbled a little while IF shook her head at their antics; it was still a little jarring to her as a human, no matter how often she was reminded of the matter.

After a few moments, her friend sighed and spread out her limbs on the ground. "Anyway, it's... Uni is coming over soon."

"Oh, so those are pickup lines?" She interrupted right between two sentences, causing Neptune to fall over laughing; Nepgear flushed, but did not show any other signs of being affected by the teasing.

In fact, the purplette cast a long look up at her before raising an eyebrow. "Remind me who took a long, romantic walk with 5pb. just recently?" She got her there, in a way, and IF found herself matching her friend's colouration. Neptune laughed harder in the background.

"I'll fight you on the romantic part, but you're right with the rest. So, are those pickup lines?" Now IF was actually curious, but felt it would be rude to just walk over and read whatever Nepgear wrote.

The younger CPU shook her head, though. "No, not really. I wouldn't need to think about something like that for five days straight." She cast a glance up to where her notes were and sighed. "Those are insults."

And just like that, she lost IF. The brunette blinked and, after considering her options, decided to sit down with her back against the wall. "Okay. I think I need a better explanation."

Her friend nodded understandingly and motioned for the small stack of papers on her desk. "It's, well, um... sis? Did we ever actually tell her about this?"

"Nope!" Neptune grinned from her spot, completely unrepentant and obviously unwilling to help her sister out of whatever explanation this was supposed to be. IF waited patiently, knowing that for all their banter, they would get around to explaining eventually.

Just as expected, Nepgear got back to it right away: "Ugh, goodness. We've been friends for three years and I completely forgot. I'm sorry about that," she added with a glance to IF, who waved it off. "It's just such a fundamental thing that I completely forgot humans don't really do this. You see, duels are a common occurence between us CPUs."

She gave IF a moment to ask questions, but the brunette decided to wait for the full explanation for now. Understanding this, Nepgear continued: "With Uni and me, it was only mock battles and spars until recently; it wouldn't have been fair while I had my HDD and she didn't, and after that we never really had the time."

"Why does it have to be you and Uni?" IF wondered if there was any significance in it being the Candidates who had to fight each other, putting the rest aside for now.

Nepgear eyed her as she answered, expression unreadable: "Because holding back on a fully matured CPU is an insult. The only one I actually forgive that is sis, for obvious reasons. I wouldn't forgive anyone else if they held back on me, not any of the other rulers, not Uni, not even you." Her voice held a certain edge that IF picked up on. She straightened her back and nodded, committing the information to memory; if she ever sparred with Nepgear, she would have to remember that.

"That said, because it is an insult, I will not hold back against any other CPU. And none of them will hold back against me, either. Uni is the only one who is roughly my equal, I might even die if I picked a fight with any of the others."

"Okay, stop," IF interjected; her eyes narrowed at both CPUs. "That's ridiculous."

Now Neptune chimed in, voice calm. "It is. And we aren't going to change it." When the human woman stared at her, she offered her a stern look. "This isn't a matter of convenience, it's a matter of pride. Our martial strength is what we need to protect our people; to hold back is to belittle our power, and by extension our capability as rulers." She huffed and nodded toward her sister then. "Believe it or not, all of us are proud to a fault."

This, however, was hard to believe. Nepgear was the least prideful person IF had ever met, even beating Compa on the matter. She worked hard and always had a smile for everyone, not a hint of haughtiness or anything else.

Except that her gaze was also stern in these moments, letting IF know that her impression had apparently been wrong. She did not realise what her mistake had been, to look for behaviour that matched pride in a human without considering she was dealing with gods.

For IF, it simply meant to change her worldview. So she did.

"Okay, fine. So this is a big thing because it's your first actual duel as adults?" Nepgear made a confirming noise, so IF continued: "Then what about the insults? What do you need those for?"

"First part of every proper duel is words," her friend replied tiredly; her eyes were shut and she apparently had trouble staying awake. "Even if the battle of strength and skill is lost, one can still have won the battle of wits. There are many ways to compete aside from straight-up fighting."

And suddenly, it all made sense. IF completely forgot how competetive CPUs could be, but the reminder made her understand what she missed. Not to mention that the idea intrigued her; bantering before battle was not something she ever considered, seeing that she did not spar on principle.

Sparring held too much risk to someone too insecure about her ability to hold back; she had practiced lethal takedowns all her life, which translated into an increased risk against anyone good enough to actually make a spar worthwhile. The moment muscle memory took over, she feared she would go for the kill and succeed.

"So to recap," she stated in an attempt to get everything clear. "You and Uni are having a duel." A nod from Nepgear. "If one of you is too weak, she gets hurt a lot?" Another nod. "And before you start cutting each other up, you have a round of insults?" A third nod. IF's gaze then went to Neptune. "I get that it works for you two, but how do Uni and Noire keep doing this with their... with how they are."

At first she wanted to say 'pride', but quickly corrected herself after the revelation that all CPUs were proud.

Neptune, in turn, grinned at her. "Because it's fun to punch your friends in the face, provided they can take it." She raised one hand and ticked off another point on each finger. "Not to mention that it is good to compare ourselves with each other, works as stress relief, is an excuse to visit someone, and forces everyone to stay sharp lest they get humiliated by their peers.

"But to answer your actual question," the old CPU continued cheerfully, "everything we say while bantering is forgiven afterward. We all know the lines we must not cross with each other, the rest is easy."

IF listened and found reason but also insanity in the given explanation. It made sense, but would also utterly fail with most humans; even she knew that much. Moments passed as she mulled over what her friend said, then the young woman sighed.

She had no words aside from something noncommittal, so IF was quite glad that Neptune kept going at that point: "Anyway, she would deny it if she could hear, but Nepgear is too nice to really insult someone. That is what she has trouble with; no experience for how hard she can go without crossing a line."

IF was about to remark that Nepgear could hear them, but then she noticed the Candidate lying still; she had fallen asleep somewhere during the previous explanation. Neptune crawled down from her bed and lifted her sister, who did not even react to being moved.

"But then again, it's Uni she's up against. I think her insult-game is stronger than Nepgear's, but she will be even less willing to say something hurtful."

IF nodded; she agreed with her friend's assessment on that matter, at least. "Isn't it pretty harsh to have these two fight with all the romantic tension in the air?"

Neptune snorted as she led her out of the room, then grinned slyly. "Well, maybe they end up tongue-fighting instead. Who knows?" Her remark made IF snort in turn, neither of them actually serious about the matter. Neptune giggled. "But really, they will do fine, both of them."

"I don't doubt that." IF sighed, still thinking that it would be rather cruel to do this. She shook that off and decided that Neptune knew what she was doing. "That aside, any chance they hook up this time?"

The only answer she received was a shrug.

. .

. .

Meanwhile, a certain room in Lastation's main Basilicom was filled with the echoes of steel impacting steel. New sounds of the same kind were produced so fast that they created a cacophony of noise; it went ignored by both women present in the room.

Noire's raven hair remained perfectly in place even through the most acrobatic steps she had to take to dodge her sibling, while Uni's locks were in disarray after the barrage unleashed upon her. Yet the younger sister held her ground, though not without grinding her teeth about being held back on.

The gap between them, they both knew, was insurmountable. Even if Uni had held enough power to truly challenge her older sister, Noire would have brought five centuries of experience to bear to crush her anyway. A Candidate could not surpass their own sibling, and rarely any proper CPU at all.

Uni knew as much, yet her pride did not allow her to do any less than tease out the very limit of her capabilities; all her speed, all her strength, every ounce of skill, she threw it at Noire with every new strike. To no avail. Wherever she moved, her blade was blocked or deflected with barely any motion. Kicks were sidestepped, jabs slapped aside without care.

Minutes passed like this until Uni finally relented and sunk to the ground with a sigh, having her weapon disappear in the same motion. "It's no use, I can't even scratch you."

They both knew this was to be expected, though Noire accepted the compliment with a nod of her head. "You are doing fine for your age. Though you probably want to get a handle on your hair." Her comment made the younger woman blink; Uni turned her gaze as far as she could, beholding some loose strands only barely in her field of vision.

A moment later, the entirety of her hair began to float and move around, turning back into her usual updo without any trouble. "Sorry, I even forgot about that."

Her apology was brushed off and Noire pulled her up from the ground. "It is good to see that you can still be so single-minded as to forget, but be careful. If you lose yourself in the fight, you might either not get back out or end up missing something your opponent does." She spoke from experience, Uni knew; her older sister was a bit of a battle maniac. Whenever she had a peer to fight, Noire became a different person.

Uni never considered being similar in that regard and still did not. "I don't think the first one will be a problem. You know I'm more of a gun girl." And sharpshooting took calm that Noire herself lacked, they both knew but did not say.

"I am aware," Noire finally allowed. Then she relaxed and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "But your swordplay is still excellent. You did well with that."

Her praise coaxed a bright smile out of Uni, who nodded happily. "Thank you! How about we go once more?" Her question was a mere formality, but they both knew that and were already stepping back.

Noire nodded as their weapons materialised, each of them carrying longswords this time. "I take it you are not going back to work?" She took a basic stance, mirrored by her sibling a moment later.

Their dance began slowly, giving them time to talk. Uni tested her sister's defenses with a few careful feints. "Not really, I need a break. Is it noticeable I am barely holding it together at the moment?"

Noire did not react and made a quick stab for Uni, who deflected the blade to one side while stepping to the other side, riposting immediately. "I noticed, but nobody else would. Nepgear?"

The Candidate's stab failed to find a target as Noire stepped aside as well; Uni quickly left her reach and brought up a guarded stance again. "Obviously. I think I'm ready to ask her, but is it really okay politically?"

Noire rolled her eyes and brought up her own guard for a moment, allowing her sister a moment of respite. "Of course it is. You love her, she loves you. Even if you were to get married, you would not tie our nations into one. The only ones who can't be together because of politics are Neptune and I."

Uni sighed sadly at the reminder. They rarely spoke openly about such matters, but this conversation had happened years ago already. When Uni was struggling with her budding feelings, Noire admitted that she fell in love with Neptune ages past. Planeptune's ruler felt much the same, even though she would never so much as mention it without prompt.

"I still don't get why you two can't get married. Miss Blanc and miss Vert would just do the same and equilibrium returns where Shares are involved." She never really brought up the topic before because Noire was obviously uncomfortable around it, but Uni had changed in the last year; she became more curious, even about things that might make her sister uncomfortable.

Noire, meanwhile, shook her head. "I proposed to Neptune ages ago and she refused me. I was somewhat selfish, and she was right in that the change in borders and culture that a merge would bring might be too much for our people. Don't worry about it."

Before Uni could respond to that, the older CPU lowered her stance and grinned at her. "Besides, all the happiness she could give me as my wife is dwarfed by what you gave me." Uni's eyes widened and in the moment of emotion, Noire disarmed her. Steel rested against her neck for a moment before dispersing, her sister's hand softly petting her head. "Had we joined our nations so long ago, both you and Nepgear may never have been born."

Uni mutely accepted the gesture and stepped in to embrace Noire; both of them smiled softly, happy with each other for the moment.

. .

. .

Three of the five most powerful people currently in Lowee sat in their lounge, a large room stuffed with flush carpets and blankets as per their own request. Broccoli and MarvelousAQL were both quite fond of bundling up and napping through their idle time, a practice which MAGES. did not mind backing; leaving them to that gave her a chance to read or ponder arcane matters.

This day however, all of them were wide awake and in the process of heading out for the day. They had to coordinate a little more and spread further for a while; MAGES. and Broccoli would go out to hunt while Marvy's duty for the day was to greet CyberConnect2 and fill her in.

Marvy sighed and looked at her friends. "Should we give IF a warning?"

Broccoli giggled; the not-child was busy absorbing Gema into herself, a practice that even MAGES. would rather not look at; her skin bulged sickly where the additional matter flowed through it. "It will be fine, don't worry. Everyone loves surprises."

The other woman just huffed and shook her head in exasperation, but did not argue the point.