Signals flowed through Sasha's body, her eyes shutting in concentration. She could feel it all. The changes in the air. The shifts in temperature. Her field flowed down her fur into the ground. Focus. Focus. GT held steady, slowly converting her output as she stretched forward. Gravity at the ready. The field rose, wrapping around the training dummy up to the clock atop its head. She gave a squeeze, ears twitching for the inevitable crunch.

There was none. She finally opened her eyes.

"I believe that's a success, Ms. Panther," Mr. Erin said.

She smiled, staring at the frozen digits of the clock. She didn't dare move. She couldn't. So much as stepping an inch out of line would have broken her concentration. But even as she struggled to hold her grip, she felt the field inevitably snapping back, the clock resuming instantly.

"Cripes, that's hard." Her fur relaxed. "How long was that, Training Bot?"

It rolled over to the dummy, an appendage shooting out to attach to the clock.

"Processing." It chimed. "Time Stop, 4.32 seconds."

"4.3? I-is that that good?"

"It could prove useful, Ms. Sasha," GT said.

"I wouldn't worry," Mr. Erin came in. "Just the fact you managed a time stop is good on its own. Now, can you do it, again?"

"I think so. Hang on."

She repeated the steps, letting her field return as she reentered her focused state. It was something she'd learned from, of all people, Mr. Xan. Given her knack for clock destruction, the panda had been brought in to give her a crash course on fine-tuning signals. Despite how he acted, the panda knew well how to make delicate changes to his output. It was how he managed to bend the winds without accidentally shredding himself or those around him.

She opened her eyes, her field having stretched out just as she'd done before. After doing it once, the second time was slightly less of a hassle. She needed only to give herself time to focus, and the rest came naturally.

"Well, look at you, Panther," Mr. Xan said, an arm falling over her neck. "Guess you're somewhat useful, after all."

Even if it was a backward compliment, it did turn her face a tad redder. It had taken enough broken clocks to fill up her bedroom, but she finally managed to pull off the time-stop skill. She could finally call herself somewhat of a time lord. Somewhat. It would still take a ton of practice to stop someone more than a few seconds. Especially multiple someones.

"Maybe I can actually keep up with you guys now."

"Oh, you've still got a long way to go," the panda said. "But I will admit. You're no longer a completely helpless damsel."

She groaned. "Since when am I a damsel?"

He only smirked back. Such a tail brain.

"I'm sure our enemies will have their hands full."

Mr. Erin came over to give Sasha a congratulatory pat, which she responded with a pur.

"But don't let it get to your head, Sasha," he went on to say. "Four seconds can be fast or short depending on how you plan ahead."

She nodded. Whenever Mr. Erin pulled off his time skill, people tended to freeze for a couple minutes. She wouldn't have that luxury. Between the gravity trap, the time stop, and her usual field, she had options to work with. The only issue was they couldn't all be used in tandem. Not without burning through her energy reserves and leaving her defenseless. No, she'd still need to rely on her zip-method fighting style, saving the other skills to use sparingly.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Maybe we could do some regular training, then," she said. "Gotta practice my reaction speed. Feel like sparring, Mr. Xan?"

"Gonna have to take a rain check on that, kid." He ruffled her hair, much to Sasha's annoyance. "We'll probably be dropping out of warp space soon, so I got a ship to land."

She smacked his hand away. "You could always let the bots fly, y'know."

"They don't have the sweet touch, Panther," he said as he was leaving. "No offense, TB."

Training Bot gave no response.

With a final wave, the panda headed into the hall, the door closing automatically behind him. Sasha looked to Mr. Erin instead. Between her time and gravity training, they hadn't had a decent spar in a while. She held out her hand, challenging the elder weasel. His response was a brow raise and a water jet Sasha barely managed to dodge. She landed on the ceiling.

"Hey! Cheap shot!"

She zipped towards him, her wand smacking title as the weasel dodged away.

***

Sasha had collapsed on the floor by the time Mr. Xan called for another landing. Her chest rose and fell, GT lying at her side while she struggled to so much as move again. Even so, she couldn't help but laugh. She'd actually survived the weasel's onslaught this time around.

"Definitely not a wimp," she said. "Maybe one day I'll actually land a hit."

He offered her a hand and a water bottle, Sasha taking them both.

"I believe you," he said. "It might take you a few years, but you'll get there."

She yanked off the cap, cool liquid quenching the desert in her throat. Signal use always made her overly thirsty. Her cells recovering, as Mr. Erin had put it. So long as she didn't overload her system, there wouldn't be anything to worry about. But then, she'd seen her liaisons in the infirmary enough times to know not to do something that crazy. She wiped her mouth, tossing the empty bottle into the incineration bin. With training out of the way, it was time to shower and get ready for work.

The planet was Zery this time. Everyone was already near the exit hatch by the time Sasha got done changing.

"You won't be needing that," Mr. Erin said.

Sasha's hand stopped, hovering over her helmet.

"Huh?"

"Zery is a Terra-level," the weasel said.

"Which is...?"

"He means it's breathable," Mr. Xan explained.

She nodded. At least she'd be able to smell things for once.

The hatch sprung open, Sasha blinking in the bright light of the moon. Her nose twitched, smells of foreign plants and unknown creatures drifting through her nostrils. So that what kheprian moths smelled like? She spotted a few among the colorfully lit streets they wandered into. A city covered in flashing signs and hovercars. And robots. Sasha had never seen quite so many robots planet-side, some droids even flying over their heads.

As usual, Mr. Xan had parked their ship somewhere inconspicuous. An alleyway. The bots stood guard outside while the trio began to investigate further.

"Graduate detected."

Sasha stopped in her tracks.

"Three graduates detected."

She looked at her staff. "T-three? That's-"

"Six graduates detected."

Her whiskers twitched, Sasha suddenly all too aware of the signals around her. Mr. Erin even seemed to notice, the weasel holding his wand close while GT continued to chime in Sasha's ear. Ten. Twelve. Twenty. Sasha couldn't believe it. The world they'd landed on. It was full of graduates!

"Um...Mr. Erin, should we-"

The words died in her throat.

"Sasha?"

She pushed past the weasel. And Mr. Xan, her nose twitching at the all too familiar aroma. The one she saw.

Standing across the street, a pair of amber eyes met hers. A girl whose pure white mane wasn't something Sasha could ever mistake for someone else's. Nor the scent attached. Like oaken flowers. GT dropped from her hand, Sasha barely managing to find her voice again. To call out to the wolf she saw standing in front of her. The one she'd spent so long searching for. Her long lost friend.

"I-Iris?"

The wolf was resting a hand on her rapier.