The two CPUs let out sighs of relief as one as the last of the credits rolled and the screen faded to black. They had both been terrified that there would be a post-credits scene that would take things even beyond that final exchange between Neptune and Noire. At long last, with the anniversary special done with, Vert stretched her arms out behind her and let out a quaint yawn before standing up, her heart set on those cakes that she had stashed away the night before for whatever reason. Maybe this? Still seated on the couch, Blanc could only shake her head.

"That was originally going to be a single chapter? It was almost as long as all of Part 1..." The brunette pinched the bridge of her nose. For something that had been ultimately a waste of time, it had sure been a long waste of time. "I think I get why Neptune was so worried about retcons and spinoffs before this started now. Part 3 could be a lot further along if we hadn't blown over a month on this thing... It's not like anything that was that interesting came out of it..."

The CPU knew even as she spoke those words that that wasn't exactly true. She had enjoyed... some of it. Some of it, though, she hadn't enjoyed at all, but there had been a few things here and there that hadn't been so bad. From somewhere behind her, Blanc heard a faint giggle. It made her twitch. Vert thought that was funny, did she?

"My, I happen to like the idea myself. I'm surprised you aren't warming up to it even faster than I am." Resuming her place on the couch next to Blanc, Vert placed a plate of small cakes on the little coffee table sitting before them and bent over to tug it over. Blanc groaned at the obvious display of cleavage Vert was offering for anyone who might be looking by bending in such a way, and to her surprise, Vert suddenly laughed. "Oh dear, I would have worn something more flattering if I had known you would be staring so much, Blanc."

"Oh, come on, the thing is over! Isn't it? Can't we stop with the mind reading stuff already...?" Blanc's voice came out like a strained growl of sorts, to which Vert simply shook her head in amusement.

"I'm rather enjoying being able to be civil with you again like we were before the story started... Well, civil as the two of us can be." Blanc was surprised to see Vert actually smiling at her as she resumed her seated position, almost like... like Vert cared about her or something. All of her blood must still be in the wrong place from when she had bent over for her to have said something ridiculous like that. "Besides, we're still in a 'Special Stage,' so I don't see why we can't act like it. You're free to take advantage of that just as much as I am."

Sinking into the couch after snatching a cake off of the plate, sulking really, Blanc crossed one arm over her chest and began to munch on the sweet. She wasn't about to give Vert any more ammunition after that, definitely not.

"So why would I like this kind of thing again? None of this matters for us in the main story after all."

With that utterance, Vert's eyes lit up, as if Blanc had just said the magic words that would open the doors to the golden land. Instinctively, Blanc scooted over to the other side of the couch, already not liking where this was going and not caring that she'd thought that about Vert before. She would probably think that about Vert a lot before all was said and done between them.

"Blanc, think about it. While this isn't 'canon', what if, someday, we got something like it that was? That's the beauty of this medium of fanwork, is it not?" Smiling brightly, Vert took a cake for herself, innocently biting into it even though she was saying something completely absurd. "A 'what if' story here, a 'this happened while these things were happening' there... The possibilities are endless. If I were the writing type, I could write an epic love story about the two leads of When The Tsunderes Cry, then I could write another story that builds off of that premise but takes one of the leads and puts him with one of the minor characters instead. Doesn't that sound exciting? And it's only possible with fanfi-"

The CPU of Lowee had heard enough.

"So what you're saying is you'd rewrite this story to be one where everything happens just the way you want. How convenient." Now Blanc could see why Vert was so into this idea. Knowing Vert, it'd be some twisted version of the story where all of the CPU Candidates landed on her doorstep or something... Not that she could really complain, given one of the scenes they had just gotten through watching, but... That had just been a story. It hadn't been real or what happened...!

Vert held up a finger and shook it disapprovingly, clicking her tongue as if she were a teacher correcting a child's mistake on the blackboard... or a cocky anime character about to reveal something big. Either worked.

"Now now now, Blanc, you seem to be missing the point. As far as the hypothetical new spinoff of the story is concerned, it's not 'what anyone wants.' It's just what happened. All that matters to that story is that's in that story." Vert spread her arms out around them, as if to gesture to the whole world that they existed in. "After all, isn't that the case for even the main story itself? So one such spinoff story could be about, oh... Myself and Nepgear, for example! Perhaps she might wake up before I ever come to you and she and I are able to move things along naturally, without things like the issue of the nations to worry about. Or maybe some other turn of events will lead to her coming to me in a way that hasn't been able to happen yet!"

"Huh... This is unlike you. You know what's going on right now though, don't you? You don't have that excuse in the story, but now? Who's to say I'll really go along with your stupid plan by the time we have to actually get down to it?" Blanc shrugged nonchalantly, popping the last bit of cake into her mouth. As she swallowed, she couldn't help but give Vert a confident look. She always loved it when she got to burst Vert's bubble. Vert was getting rather arrogant here, wasn't she? "You're making a lot of assumptions about me, you know. As far as the main story is concerned, who knows? You and me? Really? Maybe you will end up with Nepge..."

Vert smiled broadly at her, victory written all over her face. It only took Blanc a second to realize the trap that she had just walked into.

Damn! She had walked right into that one too! Vert had wanted Blanc to be the one to suggest that! She could have just as easily suggested a spinoff where she and Blanc got together, implying that she and Nepgear would be fated in the main story and all of that crap, but by wording it that way, she'd gotten Blanc to be the one to say it this way... Oh, what a sneaky little...

"There'd probably be a riot if that happened anyway." Opting for a change in subject, Blanc pointedly looked away from Vert. "That doesn't explain why I would be interested."

There it was. The conversation change. The flag that the blonde had been waiting for from the start of this...!

"Oh please, Blanc. What happens will happen and whether I come to have a relationship with you or Nepgear or even Uni or Chika, no one and no riot can stop it. After all, I don't believe we ever made any claim as to who was to be 'paired' with who, except of course for dear old Neptune and Noire. Everyone else, everything else, except perhaps for those other side pairings that have appeared in the meantime, are fair game, now aren't they? I could even end up with... Mina, for all I know." Oh bother. Even that hadn't gotten a rise out of the smaller CPU. Well, seeing that Blanc was set on the subject change now, just as Vert had hoped for, she decided to let it drop, for she had made her point anyway, and continued. "Speaking of Neptune and Noire, though... Yours would be much easier. In fact, haven't we already had a scene talking about it? Just imagine this..."

Vert was quiet after that. Too quiet. Blanc didn't like the sudden silence from the other CPU. Just as she was considering turning around to see what the hell was going on, she heard it — felt it. The softness of a whisper in her ear, the tickle of that bimbo's breath on her skin...

"Imagine a story where you had spoken up instead of Noire, or maybe where Noire hadn't gathered her feelings quickly enough. A story where you had the chance to do what you've been regretting now for over sixty chapters now. A real one. Not one you wrote, Blanc... But a real story where you get to be the one to marry Neptune. Nothing else before that event changes... Just that you got to speak your mind first before Noire. Wouldn't you like that chance? Wouldn't you like to see something like that happen? Mmmm...?"

Blanc spun around, eyes wide, as Vert returned to her seat, practically skipping all the way before she plopped back down onto the couch.

"B-But... But Neptune and Noire..." For once, Blanc couldn't find the words. What Vert had suggested was so preposterous and so insane, yet so... enticing all at the same time, that she honestly had no idea how she could possibly react to it. "They..."

"Neptune and Noire would be none the wiser in that story, and neither would you. Yes, Noire might not be thrilled about it in that story, but you haven't exactly been enjoying yourself over what happened in this one — that is, the main one — now have you?" Vert was speaking matter-of-factly now, and unfortunately, being a hopeful writer herself, Blanc couldn't find a flaw in her logic. It was true. Even their own series was a perfect example of this kind of thing — their own remakes and reboots and spinoffs had all done the same kind of things, hadn't they? "In the 'main' story they would still be perfectly happy and you would still be a grumpy little elf, just like normal, and in this 'new' story, you would be Neptune's savior and all of that... Though I can't tell you if she would be as receptive of you as she was Noire, but it's not like this is actually happening, so for the sake of my example, I think that's enough." A beat. "Now do you see the appeal?"

"I..." Blanc couldn't deny it. Maybe she would like Vert someday. Maybe she wouldn't even end up with Vert for it to matter someday. It didn't matter. Either way, she did have to admit... That kind of thing... She wouldn't hate it. She shook her head, reaching for a piece of cake "I guess... Maybe?"

Vert sighed. They were never going to get anywhere if she couldn't be honest with herself. At least she wasn't as bad as Noire... Oh dear, imagine a story about those two. The busty CPU shuddered at the thought of what that particular trainwreck might be like. Though if she were thinking on such a broad scale... She wouldn't mind being with Noire all that much, she supposed... In fact, now that she was really thinking about it... Out of the three other CPUs, Noire would probably be hands down be the one that Vert would go for if she could only choose a partner from the three of them.

"Oh dear... Considering that's yet another thing I share in common with Neptune, maybe it's actually her I should..."

Snarling at the idea of Neptune being with Vert of all people over her — Noire she could deal with, but Vert? — Blanc tossed her piece of cake at Vert, hopping off of the couch as soon as she was sure it made contact with the crazy broad so she could see herself out.

"I'm going home!"

"Wait, Blanc, come back...! I wanted you to write my 'Vert and Nepgear get trapped on an island alone' spinoff for me! I already pulled some strings and have some animators lined up for the anime version...!"

"I'd rather drop dead!"

Vert sighed as Blanc slammed a door, signaling her exit from the scene.

"Honestly, that CPU... I don't see what the big deal is..." The blonde shook her head, a weary smile on her face despite the situation. "If you think about it, we're already going that route anyway, aren't we? Between these 'Special Stages' here and those mysterious ones coming up that will be put into another separate story but actually are canon to the main one, why, I'd say it's only a matter of time before there's a story about me being the one being saved by a knight in shining armor... Oh, I hope they're nice!"