"I can't believe it..."

"Believe it."

"But how can anything be that one sided...?"

"I told you not to underestimate this, didn't I?"

"This is impossible..."

The the grueling battle between the Noire and Plutia characters in the mighty digital coliseum before them had concluded. Neptune had watched without so much as breathing during this epic conflict, knowing without a doubt how it was to end, but when all was said and done...

Noire was beaming. Neptune was staring.

Things had not gone as expected.

The word PERFECT was on display on the television screen, blinking on and off in front of the Noire character as she stood victoriously atop the fallen body of the Plutia character. It hadn't even taken her a full fifty seconds for two matches to do it, either. Nothing like it could ever happen in the real world, obviously, but as far as this virtual one was concerned... No matter how much the virtual Plutia tried, it had been the most one sided thing Neptune had seen since Planeptune's great Sonia Boom tragedy.

It had been magical, really. It had gone better than Noire could have possibly hoped it could have. She had thoroughly destroyed Neptune's past love... symbolically, anyway... and thanks to the ultimate and sacred power of video games, of which they governed over, now she had proven herself! Now, thanks to this trial, she and Neptune could go off and... and...

M-Maybe... they would eat a cup of pudding together... That is to say... They could eat one single... shared cup of pudding together...

... with just one spoon between the two of them?!

No, no no no, she still wasn't ready for their relationship to be taken to that level yet! It was so perverse! It was so bold! It was so... good... Truly, victory was as sweet as it was said to be!

"This feels... a lot more complicated than I thought it would..." At last having digested the shocking defeat of Plutie('s avatar) at Noire's hands of all things, Neptune finally admitted how she felt about things, much to Noire's surprise. Then again, Noire had gone from beaming to slipping away into a fantasy, so maybe anything would have surprised her at this point...

Shaking her head to return to reality, Noire gave Neptune a hesitant look. She really did kind of look a little thoughtful. Maybe... Neptune had really been made to think during that match, then? She didn't really expect much, but...

She found a soft smile threatening to spread across her lips.

Noire was a little proud of herself. She knew she would never be able to do that in real life. She knew deep down that in Neptune's heart, she'd never be able to do it either. Even if some miracles did happen, that's not how it worked... But this might still have led to a nice result all the same. If nothing else, she'd get to see Neptune doing the same for her shortly, so that wouldn't be so terrible. It had felt like she had... accomplished something, doing that to "Plutia." Even if it meant nothing for everyone else, she had that victory for herself.

"O-Oh?" The black haired goddess wasn't sure if she should push it. She wanted to make all kinds of comments, but just this once, she'd hold back. For her own sake, that is! For... For the sake of sharing a pudding with Neptune with only one spoon (someday) too! After all, if Neptune felt complicated seeing Plutia being beaten by Noire... Couldn't that mean that there were feelings in conflict too? Which meant that there were feelings for Noire at least in the running? In that case... In that case...!

"Yeah..." The smaller of the two scratched her cheek awkwardly, before giving Noire a goofy grin. She was even a little flushed! She might have been doing more than just thinking with an expression like that...

It was a sight that... Well, probably didn't effect most people, considering, but to the girl next to Neptune? Needless to say, seeing such a look directed at her, it made Noire's breath catch in her throat... if only for a moment.

"Well, I wouldn't'a made her look so life-like if I'd known you were gonna go all dominatrix on her! Just look at her down there... And you standing on her like that? Sheesh, Noire!" Unaware of Noire's thoughts, Neptune continued, her grin widening. "That perfect screen's enough to turn me into Vert over here!" She started to make some gestures with her hands. "And that fight! You really didn't hold back on her, huh? I should've had nepshots turned on for that one... No no, if anyone ever saw those, I might die for real..."

O-Oh... Oh... Ahahaha... So that's all it was? Mentally consoling herself, Noire felt her elation from her victory falling short after that. She should have really figured. This was Neptune she was talking to, after all, wasn't it? She had expected that. She had just told herself she hadn't expected much, and she hadn't. She wasn't going to ruin this nice time they had been having, was she?

Things were complicated indeed.

"A-Anyway! Now it's your turn, right? I wasn't the only one that was going to be doing anything here, remember?" Tossing the controller in the air and paying no mind to the confused CPU next to her, Noire crossed her arms, before crossing one leg over the other. Noire didn't even blink as Neptune practically danced in her seat trying to stop the controller from falling to the ground. She had gone from tasting the thrill of a flawless victory to feeling... fairly... grumpy. "Go beat up Kei for me, would you? You better not lose."

Right. Neptune still had her fight to win. That would make her feel better.

As she went through the motions of setting up the next battle, Neptune tilted her head. This had taken a strange turn all of a sudden. Noire had been so happy a minute ago too! Hadn't she wanted Neptune to be happy, seeing Plutia get all beaten up? That... was the whole idea, right? She had laid it on really thick, even though she knew doing so would probably cost her someday if Plutia ever found out, just because Noire had seemed so into it. And it had been a really good fight too! Nepgear always cried and gave up when they played against the computer that high, so Neptune knew that it had been no joke for Noire to pull that off.

Was it something she'd said?

She had chosen her words so carefully though!

Oh... Huh... Errr...

Neptune replayed their conversation in her mind as she selected the stage she would face off against Kei in. It had been normal enough for them... Oh, where would be a good place to fight Kei... The closest thing to an office she could find seemed like the best place. She'd win even when the opponent had the home field advantage. That oughta do the trick, right?

And as for what had gotten Noire so moody... She really just couldn't think of anything. Not a gosh darn thing. Nope! Noire must be being weird all on her own accord, Neptune decided.

Well... Whatevers! She had a more important thing to ask her buddyless buddy over here. That would get the ball rolling again.

"Can you say that again?" Neptune was grinning mischievously as she scooted a little closer. As expected, it took Noire just a little off guard. She didn't really want that, but she wasn't going to have any fun if Noire was sitting there in a mood... and she... did kind of feel like some kind of weight had been lifted seeing that fight, so she wanted to repay the other CPU properly. "'Cause I wanna record it."

Noire blinked. She didn't really grasp Neptune's meaning.

"Record it?" Had she said something? Was Neptune suddenly turning into the kind of girl who wanted to keep Noire's voice with her? Even Noire hadn't gotten to that kind of Vert-level affection yet... Not that she had talked to Vert about that sort of thing or anything after some of their cross playing, no, she had never asked about or shown any interest in Vert's secret mix tapes, and she'd never thought about what having her own would be like, that would just be...

"You saying you want me to beat up your Oracle. Imagine what kind of leverage I'd have with something like that. It's such a good idea, I scare myself!"

... infuriating!

Neptune gave Noire a devilish smirk. It was more fitting of Purple Heart, yet it didn't not belong all the same.

It worked like a charm.

"D-Do you think I'd do that again!? And after you tell me that..." Giving Neptune the dirtiest look she could muster, Noire turned to the screen. She looked the image of her Oracle dead on. "Kei... I..." There was a brief pause. Noire shot a glance towards Neptune. The CPU was still looking at her with that expression. That was all Noire needed to see to have her fire lit up. "Kick this lazy bum's butt or you're getting a pay cut! Do you hear me?! A big one too!"

Apparently the original goal of this match had been lost. Weren't they supposed to beat up their past loves for each other? That had been Noire's big idea... for whatever reason. Neptune still hadn't gotten that one, but then, Noire did a lot of things Neptune didn't understand.

And after Noire had done so well up until now too... It was a real shame. Neptune could only look at the other goddess with eyes full of pity, remorse, and regret now.

"U-waaaaah, Lonely Heart's gotten so lonely she's seeking love from a video game character she made herself... Soon you'll start drawing comics about you and them together and before long, you'll stop leaving your room... I feel so sorry for Uni, Noire..." Unable to stop herself, Neptune turned up her teasing to its highest level. For each shade of red higher that Noire's face went, Neptune found something inside of her get giddier and giddier. "Oh, hold that thought, I need to beat up your Oracle now."

"Y... You... I'll..." ... not actually finish that sentence, in the end.

Noire was soundly defeated. It was all according to Neptune's plan, which she would be quick to inform any onlookers translates to pudding in most cases.

Without another word, like a deflated balloon, Noire fell back into the couch and pressed her burning cheeks into her palms.

With this, Neptune felt like she had already gotten her win. Much as she loved games, it just seemed like she loved the reactions she got out of Noire more sometimes. But nevertheless, she had a real fight on her hands now! The game had loaded the avatars of herself and Kei into the office building she had picked at last, meaning it was finally time for her to show what she was made of. Now she just had to figure out a way to outdo Noire's perfect and she'd be set.

"Hmmm..." Neptune quirked a brow as she considered that new goal of hers. Was that... even possible, now that she thought about it? She looked at her companion, about to ask if the game had any better-than-perfect victory conditions, but found that Noire was still in no position to be answering questions. That just made her grin. "Oh well! I'll figure something out on my own."

When Noire finally spoke again, her head was still hidden away in her hands in an attempt to put out the flames her face had erupted into, but Neptune could still make out her words all the same.

"K-K-KEI, KIIIILL HEEEEEEER!"

For some reason, with Noire cheering for "Kei," Neptune just found herself even more motivated to win this.

It was strange, but she couldn't deny it. She was really looking forward to proving Noire wrong about this now. She knew that Nepgear and even Iffy both had more reason to want to than she did, but as her fingers started moving, it dawned on her that at some point — maybe even some point suspiciously recent — she had developed the strangest desire to break Kei Jinguji's nose.

And considering the previous fight, surely Noire wouldn't mind if she indulged herself, then, would she?

Neptune tightened her grip on her controller.

Lastation's Oracle better watch out, it's Neppin' time!