"And that was how I found out that I was the bad guy…" Ale had thought that Beatrice would speak about many things, how she was better than the rest, how she was misunderstanded…

Hell, she even half expected to listen to the insufferable brat complain about Alexa, not that it would be out of place, she wouldn't tolerate it and use it as a chance to explain why double standards were a thing, but to listen how she found out that she was in the wrong, and what she was doing to fix it…That was a new one.

"I thought that because Alexa was from the Class of The Elite, she was a bad girl like the rest," Beatrice continued, "I mean, she was wearing gold-gilded clothes!"

"That is a fair assessment, yes," Ale said nodding; she had seen the memory recordings that Alexa made for them where she posed the uniform in front of a mirror, "If I saw someone wearing gold gilded clothes, I would also think that they are rich."

"I know right!" Beatrice nodded furiously, "But it turns out, that Alexa earned the right to move to that class! She didn't start there! Or well, she did earn the right to start there, but she decided to start from the bottom, not even I am in the F class."

"What's with those?" Ale asked, "As far as I know, the letter is only there to differentiate the classrooms."

"Oh, you went to a normal school?" Beatrice asked, surprised, "The Saintsworths endorsed education system uses meritocracy as an excuse, but it's closer to imperial meritocracy…or so Mom says."

"Imperial meritocracy?" Ale asked, "Is this another of the asshole's brilliant ideas that wouldn't work if not for him throwing money at the issue?"

"Yes!" Beatrice nodded, "Mom says the same too!"

Ale wasn't sure what to think about it, "So? What's that?" Ale asked, sighing, "Imperial meritocracy."

"I dunno, Mom says that is a lie and the whole system is set up to amuse the blonde weirdo," Beatrice said shrugging, "They sent me there because it is the best school, but told me to not worry and only study."

That…seemed like a good advice?

What would Ale do? She wasn't sure, she had never really been in that situation did she?

"Are you in a normal school? What are they like?" Beatrice asked jumping up and down while walking, did Alexa look like this too? Ale didn't have a good metric to compare.

Most of the kids Alexa's age had been from the Class of The Elite, and the assholes there didn't act like kids; they acted like weird adults stuck inside kids' bodies. And the kids from class F had been mind-controlled by Meli-Meli, so they weren't a good metric either.

"Not really." Ale answered with a shrug, "I am technically in a Saintsworths endorsed school too."

Not that Ale actually went to classes, it was Alexa the one to go, perhaps she could go to school too if they set up a good timetable, but that would mean burning the afternoon, since that was Ale's timeslot. Morning for Alexa, afternoon for Ale, and nightlife for Alexandra.

They had set up a good division, even if Ale felt that both Alexa and herself were consuming most of the day, Alexandra had barely between six to seven hours of activity. While Alexa had from morning to afternoon…Actually… wasn't Alexandra the one with more free time? Alexa was the one that burned time showering and doing homework in the morning.

Ale burned time preparing both breakfast and setting up their day-to-day…Alexandra's schedule consisted of dancing, drinking, and fantasizing about Sam… She then arrived half-drunk at their apartment, where she just dumped their body into the bed for Alexa to wake up a couple hours later. Oblivious to whatever Alexandra had done or planned to do.

Or that was what they had set up anyway, not that Alexandra was doing that often lately; their latest night had been filled with either maintenance or planning, and they were still trying to fix Main Core to something viable. The stupid thing still didn't react or move the same as before.

This was worrying in more ways than one since it meant that Alexa had given a SEED to Main Core from the very beginning, probably on her own creation. From when she went from being P4 to Alexa.

That was…That meant that Main Core had been some fundamental part of who Alexa was from the beginning, unlike them…

"So, what do you think I should do?" Beatrice asked after a few seconds, "Should…should I apologize? To Alexa I mean."

"What did your parents say?" Ale asked as they moved further into the sewers, still moving to the last known location of Body and Soul.

"Mom says that I should apologize, Mother says that I should double down." Beatrice said, sighing, "Mom thinks that I was in the wrong; Mother says that I am in the wrong, but that I still should fight for what I think is right, even if it's wrong."

That… was a very asymmetrical way to see the world.

"Why do you have two female parents anyway?" Ale asked, sighing, "I would only apologize if I could get something out of it, but I don't think that is the answer you want. What do you want to achieve by apologizing?"

"Because cool girls have two mommies." Beatrice said, nodding as if it was the truth of the universe, "I don't know if I have a papa; Mom only spilled her drink whenever I ask, and Mother laughs every time that happens and refuses to elaborate."

"And what do you want to achieve with your apology?" Ale asked once more.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"...I don't know?" Beatrice said sighing, "It feels correct, it feels like if I apologize we could be friends, that Alexa could help me in some way…It is weird, I think it's my core power telling me to do it, I don't feel like this about the other members of the classroom of the elite, only with Alexa."

"So it's a calculated move." Ale said nodding, "I can respect that, if your Core tells you to move like that, then maybe you should do it. Our [Cores] know us best."

Ale wasn't sure how to feel about that, she hated what Core had done to Main Core, but Alexandra had said that it was truth, even if it was harsh truth. They still hadn't found a way to ensure that Alexa wouldn't refresh her blueprint just for the sake of doing it. And the little girl still was obvlivious to what Core had done.

Ale….knew that Core truly meant the best for Alexa, even if that didn't include them.

"So I should apologize?" Beatrice asked once more.

"If you want, this Alexa girl sounds like a reasonable girl." Ale said, almost bursting out in laughter, Alexa…was many things, but reasonable was NOT one of those, even if Ale liked the girl. That girl was anything but reasonable, if she thought something was one way, you could not convince her of it being other way.

"Do you think she will forgive me?" Beatrice asked in a smaller voice, deflated as if all the valor and braveness she had shown were an illusion.

"I don't know," Ale said shrugging, "Perhaps bring some Mango Candy to bribe her?"

Was Ale really giving advice to other people about how to manipulate Alexa? Of course, it was the right of the older sister to make problems for the younger one, even if that said little sister was herself, in a more childish setting. It only made it more funny if anything.

"Why mango candy?" Beatrice asked, confused, "Do you like it?"

"I am more partial to mint," Ale said shrugging, "But I heard some kids love mango candy."

Was it perfect excuse? Probably not, would it work? Probably yes.

"I see," Beatrice said, nodding, "I don't see it, but I'll try. Thanks anyway."

Hook, sink and liner.

The world was a weird place, Ale hadn't given much chances for that to work.

[Probability of working 5%.]

As stated, not much chance of it working, thank you probability machine that can't fricking do his work as needed, Ale was still annoyed at that stupid thing, she refused to call it Main Core, it wasn't. So far, it was mostly a program made out of remnants of what they remembered of Main Core. Whatever Core had done, it was too effective, the thing had obliterated Main Core at his basest form, not even trying to recreate the original Ai Core had worked.

All it had done was make a servant to the Saintsworths, and that was not something they wanted within their body, or within Alexa's area of activities. So, it remained as a simple program that could answer some simple questions, Ale was not a programmer, and Alexandra definitely wasn't either. So, till they could fix that issue, it was what would be around.

"Just be honest with that kid and everything should work out in the end," Ale said sighing, "We all could have less issues if people was honest."

And Ale honestly wanted more of that in her life, like, would it hurt Core to be honest and tell them what the issue was? Would it hurt P4 if it just said what it wanted, Ale wasn't even sure if P4 and Core were separate entities or not at this point, because it sure as hell didn't look like they worked together, till they worked together.

What was the deal with that? Ale didn't understand, but for now, she would just move as it was, follow the plan and hope for the best, because that was the only thing she could do.

"Okay," Beatrice nodded at her, "I'll trust in your advice. Mom always said that a good girl knows when to listen to the people who know more and also that I should always listen to cool heroes because they were right."

"...I am not a Hero," Ale said stopping in her tracks, "I am cool though."

"Yes," Beatrice nodded at Ale, "So, what's the plan? My Core power seems to think we will soon find some action."

Her Core Power did that? What kind of Core was even that? Ale had stopped because she had detected some mana wavelengths coming from the next turn, and was wondering if there was something in the next turn. Also, she was thinking about how to go about getting some data on that without exposing her powers.

But this girl just got info like that handed out to her?

"What does your Core says to you?" Ale asked, if the girl got data, then she would milk it out of her.

"It doesn't work like that," Beatrice said shaking her head from side to side, "I get inklings about fights or some stuff like that, like I got an inkling that stopping you would help me, I thought it was because you were a villain, but it turns out it was because you would help me!"

"So you jumped on me…on an inkling that it would work for the best for you?" Ale asked, aghast about the…sheer stupidity of what Beatrice had done, she was lucky she hadn't been gutted in half by Ale's [Arm-mament]! "You are very lucky…"

"Mother says the same!" Beatrice beamed at Ale while saying that, "And Mom groans everytime Mother says that, she even uses the secret name that they don't want me to know!"

"Secret name?" Ale asked, confused, "Didn't you know that they are villains and Hero already?"

"Not that name! Their secret pet names!" Beatrice said, giggling while moving closer to Ale, "She calls her Onee-chan! Like as if they were in one of those weird animated series that they don't let me watch…"

"....I have no idea what that means or why it is important, relevant, or something you needed to bring out before a possibly big fight," Ale said, sighing, "But fine, whatever. So…your Core power tells you that there is a big fight coming."

"Or something that will affect many people, or will become relevant." Beatrice said nodding.

"My…Power tells me there is probably either too many people in front or a couple very strong ones," Ale said giving another read to her sensors, it still said there was a huge concentration of mana in the next chamber, she didn't have good enough sensors to detect if it was someone she knew or not, but she knew there was something big or multiple smaller things in the next area they were about to get into.

"So that means with two Core Powers working together, we know we are about to walk into an ambush!" Beatrice said nodding as if it was the obvious outcome, "That means the sidekicks that asked for rescue are in reality minions! It was a trap all along!"

….Was she always like this? Ale thought she was different, but as it was, she was just another Alexa.

"That or the sidekicks are fighting against an ambush and we are to arrive to rescue them." Ale pointed out, "Something that was very possible from the beginning as I got called as reinforcement even though they didn't want us to work together."

"I was told to stay away from the minions since they were a bad influence, too!" Beatrice said, nodding, "That is why I am as far away as possible from them while making sure no one else gets in contact with them."

"I am a minion." Ale pointed out.

"You don't count, you are a super secret spy agent working for the Heroes," Beatrice said dismissively, "Your Soul tastes like righteousness."

…That was a very ominous thing to say offhandedly. Also, how did a soul taste? As far as she was aware there weren't souls or anything like that on this world, not that Alexa or Alexandra had found anything like that so far, and Ale, of course, also hadn't found anything like that.

"Right…" Ale said sighing, "Anyway, I'll go forward and you will come from behind as my backup."

Ale kneeled into the ground and shifted one of her arms into the [Arm-mament] configuration, using the claws to draw on the floor, "You will move from behind and attack whoever gets into my blind spot, do not. And I very seriously repeat, do not move unless prompted or unless someone gets into a position that would allow them to strike me from behind." That seemed like a simple enough plan, hardly any way it could go wrong.

Or that was what Ale thought, at the very least.

"Right, so when do I start go in Justice bashing heads?" Beatrice asked, nodding seriously, "And what move should I start with? I am already in my superhero form. Do I untransform and transform again for the camera?"

The heck was she talking about?

"Command, is this being recorded? Besides the security cameras embedded within the approved minion armors?" Ale asked confused, as far as she was aware only some Lieutenants and high responsability minions had those cameras on their armor.

Ale qualified for those, but she was monitoring the feed thanks to one of the lesser AI Cores they had built.

"None as far as we are aware, if there are recordings they must be from the Saintsworths but we don't have any reports of any Saintsworths site within the sewer system." The communication minion answered.

"The Beacon Of Justice just spoke about a camera." Ale stated, "What is she referring to then?"

"That camera!" Beatrice pointed to an empty point in front of Ale, if this had been some kind of televised or viewed scenario Ale could imagine Alexa pointed and saying something stupid as "Wave at the camera they are seeing us!"

....

"Disregard the previous statement," Ale said sighing, as far as her sensors were aware, there was nothing there. And if something was there, something that was capable of affecting her, who had been proven to be less affected by twisting reality core powers and mind core powers, then well...

"It may have something to do with her Core Powers, please take it under advice from the sidekick in question." The communication minion said.

"... Don't expose your secret identity unless needed, we aren't sure what type of adversary we will fight, as far as I am aware Meli----sandra is not dangeros unless you are her target of hate, and so far that has been only one." Ale said making sure everything was in order, "If your Core Power tells you that you need to do whatever transformation you refer to, then do so. For now...Prepare for combat."

Ale sighed, she wasn't sure how much she would be able to achieve, but at the very least, she would do her best.

It was, as Alexa liked to say, time to boogie.

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