“Your eyes?” Sasha asked. "They're..."

Gabriella didn’t respond. Her blue gaze lingered, the pupils holding a light hue as the little girl stood by the bed still continuing to plead with her eyes. And yet. Sasha could feel something resonating off her. Signals that felt so familiar but that she couldn't remember ever feeling in the little girl. Or anyone else, for that matter. Sasha rubbed her wrists, her senses all too aware of the enclosed space she'd found herself locked in.

"Please, Sasha," Gabriella said. "I don't want to force you. But I will if I must."

Sasha rubbed her wrist. “Force me? What the heck is going on?”

A jolt ran through her. She whirled at the door, the steel bars showing no signs of fading.

“Wait," she said. "Is this about my liaisons?”

Gabriella didn’t respond. Nor did the bars move. Sasha growled.

"Gabriella,” she said. "Gabriella!"

No response. The girl continued to stare at her with those crystal blues of hers. But any mind Sasha had for playing with her went out the window the minute she trapped them both in the room. Especially if those two were the reason why. Her claws unsheathed.

“Open the door,” she demanded.

Gabriella finally answered, one hand extending.

“I can’t,” she said.

Her palm opened, a line of blue materializing in front of her. Sasha's fury folded, the panther staring as a weapon appeared out of thin air, a metallic sheen gleaming off the long blue object. An object so sleek and slender. That resonated with signals Sasha only then realized why she recognized. The staff in Gabriella's hands felt just like her own.

“W-what the- How…”

Gabriella gave her a somber look.

“You’re not the only one with gifts, Sasha."

She raised the staff, the weight of the air growing tense around Sasha's body. The ground jerked away from her, the panther soaring back until she landed with a hard smack against the wall, knocking over a pink scarf hanging against the wall. Sasha's head rang. She dropped to the ground, the hit sending her mind into a brief delirium. There was a chime in her head.

“Ms. Sasha, something's wrong.”

She shook off the damage. "G-GT?"

"Ms. Sasha, I can't find you. I can't reach you."

She flicked her hand, but nothing happened. It felt like the weapon was right there, but it refused to appear in her hands. Sasha looked to the staff in Gabriella's hands. Her body had become covered in a shimmering blue field.

"G...T?" she asked.

"I hear you, but I can't see you. It feels like something's in my head. I've lost control."

Sasha glared at Gabriella, who still pointed the staff in her direction.

“What did you do to them?” she demanded.

The little girl's gaze fell, but she answered the question anyhow.

"All Spirt Tools bend to my will," she said. "You may be a graduate, but Papa taught me how to deal with your kind.”

Gabriella twirled the staff like it was a third arm, Sasha's anger returning as the little girl showed no signs of relinquishing her weapon. She raised her claws, tail lashing behind her.

"It's not too late, Sasha," Gabriella said. "We can still go back to watching TV."

The only response she'd get was another low growl. She'd locked her in a room, taken her God Tool, and outright threatened to force her into submission. If that wasn't grounds for a swift kick in the teeth, Sasha didn't know what was. She angled her body low. GT or not, she wasn't going to let some human kid keep her cooped up against her will. Sasha sprang forward.

Her body sank like a boulder, Sasha falling flat on her stomach.

"Stay down," Gabriella said.

The little girl was in front of her. She hadn't seen her move, let alone attack, but the pain running down her back told her she'd been struck mid-leap. Sasha lashed upward, swiping at GT, though the staff disappeared. Gabriella stepped back, twirling and resummoning the tool like she'd had the thing for years. Sasha got to her feet only to be blindsided as the little girl made a step forward, appearing right in her face.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

GT thrust out like a lance, jamming into her stomach. Her neck. Her face. Sasha tried to move away, but the blows rained down so fast she could never see them coming. She managed to get her hands in front of her, but that offered little protection as the weight of gravity smacked against her, Sasha flying back and crashing into a dresser.

“Ms. Sasha! Are you alright?”

She groaned. Her body stung with pain, her limbs shaky and body wobbling with the effort to climb back to her feet. She had to use the dresser like a crutch, the fire in her legs screaming at her to get back down.

Was this really happening? Was she really getting throttled by a little girl? Gabriella didn't have a scratch on her, but Sasha was already smelling blood in the air. She narrowed at the staff. This is you, GT? The field continued to shimmer around Gabriella's body. Since when are you- Wait. This is what you're like when I'm not dragging you along, isn't it? Jerk.

She smiled bitterly. Of course the one time the stick wasn't useless was when an enemy had it. Such a little traitor. Dangit. I can't really kick her butt if she's got you. New plan then. She glanced around the room. Considering she was outclassed in power, there was only one other means of fighting she could think of. Perhaps not the most honorable, but it would buy her time. She edged to the nightstand.

“Hey, Gabriella.”

“Huh?”

“Think fast!”

She lurched forward, grabbing a stuffed pony and hurling it in the kid's direction. Gabriella ducked but then instantly turned, swinging GT towards the falling toy. A field appeared around it, the green creature's descent stopping just before it hit the ground. Sasha smiled as she watched the little girl in action.

“Phew," Gabriella sighed. "What was- Hey!”

Sasha ignored her, leaping over to a nearby shelf and grabbing a figurine. There were several toys made of glass or porcelain scattered around the room. She chucked them all as hard as she could, jumping around the place to grab anything and everything. The more breakable, the better.

"Hey! Stop that!"

As she screamed, Gabriella was twirling GT around creating field after field to try to catch her fallen toys. Sasha soon ran out of things to throw so she did the next best thing, grabbing furniture and pulling it to the ground. At once it had become her life's mission. Destroy the room as much as she could. The little girl would rue the day she trapped an angry panther with all her precious stuff.

The nightstand tumbled, Gabriella managing to save the lamp, though she almost dropped it when Sasha moved to the dresser, flinging clothes left and right. Shirts and sweaters littered the room. There was only one thing left untarnished. The monitor. Sasha grinned, leaping for the static image of Deliah Grace. The weight of gravity dragged her to the ground.

"Cut it out!" Gabriella screamed, slamming the staff into the ground.

Sasha's body fell hard, sticking to the floor like glue. She tried to move, but it was impossible. She couldn't so much as move her head, having to follow Gabriella with her eyes. The little girl pulled the staff off the ground, storming Sasha's way with tears running down her face. She gave her a hard smack across the cheek.

“You jerk!” Gabriella shouted. "What kinda animal are you? I try to be your friend, and you wreck my room? Are you insane?”

Seeing the girl cry made Sasha feel a tad guilty, though that was overshadowed by the pain coursing through her veins. The gravity around her hadn't just magnified. It was continuing to. She felt the air constricting around her as if someone was sitting on her back and gradually pressing down.

“I'm done playing with you,” Gabriella said, wiping her eyes. “You're gonna behave, or I'll crush your bones right here and now.”

Sasha bit back the pain. She looked to the door, which suddenly felt miles away. Her breathing grew more and more labored.

"Promise me you'll behave, and I'll stop," Gabriella said.

Sasha winced. She looked Gabriella straight in the eye, dawning a nervous smile.

"I don't think I can make that kinda promise."

Anger flared across the girl's face. She raised the staff to give her a heavy whack when Sasha felt air return. She flung herself out of the way, landing with her back against the bed.

“Huh?”

Sasha looked down at herself. The sensation of being crushed was gone. She flexed her hands, the field nowhere to be seen. Gabriella stared at her in complete confusion. Sasha herself was just as curious. Gabriella still had the staff in hand, but there was no gravity field holding Sasha down. Or one surrounding the little girl.

It was only as a chime rang through Sasha's head that she understood why.

“Energy reserves depleted, Ms Sasha,” GT said. “Going into recharge.”

The staff disappeared from Gabriella’s hand.

"What?"

Sasha felt the signals fade away. Gabriella tried to resummon the thing, but nothing happened. A smile crept across Sasha's face. Oh my god. She grabbed her stomach, a small laugh turning into a bellow that made the little girl across the room even more confused. She tried to resummon the weapon again and again, but it was no use. For as much power as she had, she had fallen victim to GT's most potent design flaw. It’s terrible energy reserves. She'd blown threw them all with her gravity attacks.

"Wow," Sasha said. "You really are...the best God Tool in the cosmos, GT."

Gabriella stopped trying to resummon, the blue in her eyes melting away. She flinched, her pupils returned to their normal emerald green.

“So,” Sasha asked, standing up. “You planning on keeping that door locked, Gabriella? Or do I have to 'force' you?”

The little girl didn’t respond, though her skin turned several shades paler. Sasha cracked her knuckles, a purr rising deep in her throat.

“Alright then,” she said. “We'll do it the Shiny way, then.”

She lunged forward, Gabriella throwing up her hands much too late. Her fist met the girl's cheek dead center, the spot caving in as Gabriella crumpled. She sprawled into a heap, the kid out cold in seconds. Sasha nodded.

"Sweet dreams, Gabby."