"Mr. Xan!"

Sasha screamed at the top of her lungs as she came plunging through the prison's barrier, knocking over several guards in the process.

"She's here!"

"Sound the-"

She knocked the remaining ones aside.

"Mr. Erin! Mr. Xan! Sasha The Panther is here to help!"

Her response was a flurry of sirens and flashing lights. Along with an assortment of drones flying her way. Gabriella raised her blaster to shoot them down, but Sasha stopped her with a hand. For some reason, the drones all flew out the opening in the wall she'd just created.

"Are they...deserting?" the human asked.

Before Sasha could question further she snapped to attention, throwing up a field as she jumped in front of Gabriella.

An axe bounced off her, disappearing and reappearing in the hands of one of the now many people charging towards her. As if the graduates of the AIC would be nice enough to try deserting too. She flicked her staff forward.

"Follow my lead!"

She plunged forward, finally letting her signals flare up around her. Enough to slam staff first into one graduate before bouncing off to hit another. And another. One grad tried to retaliate only to swing his empty arms at her, much to the poor guy's surprise.

Gabriella's eyes were flashing blue, his cutlass repurposed as her own to jump headlong into the sea of god tool users.

"Mr. Erin!" Sasha continued to scream. "Mr. Xan! Where are you?"

She dodged backward.

"I'm here to-"

A knife whizzed past her cheek.

It spun through the air, arcing like a boomerang before it finally landed in the waiting hands of the tiger who'd thrown it. Sasha's tail started lashing against the ground almost immediately, a hand coming to her cheek as she felt the cut open across it.

"You just couldn't stay away could you, Panther?" the smiling feline in front of her said.

She bared her fangs in response. Her least favorite Alexander had finally shown himself, his knife twirling in hand as he approached her, heedless of the other graduates trying to attack. Sasha didn't care much for them either. She leapt clear of a spear, sticking to the roof as her full attention landed on the tiger.

"Was kinda hoping the legion got you, tail brain," she said, before zipping away. Seconds before an inferno of flames could burn her alive.

"Alexander, stay on guard!" someone shouted. "The cat brought back- gah!"

Gabriella silenced whoever it was, the human quickly turning into a tiny assassin now she had a god tool that wasn't overly weak. At least by normal standards.

Alexander paid the warning no mind anyhow, strolling towards her as she fought her way to him. Between her newfound skill and laser focus, she managed to zip past them all, using a few as springboards to close the distance between them. Alexander's blade flashed in front of him, the dagger catching her staff mid-swing.

"Oh. You've gotten a little faster." His blade held in her place. "That all for me?"

Her response was a huff.

"Don't be stupid."

They broke away. Or rather, Sasha moved back, sliding against the ground.

"You're just another jerk that needs his face whacked."

Alexander laughed at that.

"And here I thought we had something special."

His eyes flashed, the tiger springing forward. But she was ready for him. When his dagger came she dodged clear, striking out twice with a hand. It didn't do much damage, but she could see the tiger register surprise a few seconds before attacking again. The blade slashed to and fro, Sasha trading a cut across the arm so she could jab her staff right into his chest.

He stumbled backward.

"Tsk. A lot faster, it seemed."

She smiled at the praise. After spending several hours a day getting blitzed by a punch-happy fox, she pretty much had to master the art of the dodge-strike. Something that she found Alexander to be lacking in.

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"You're actually a little slower than I remember," she said with a purr.

It was only for a moment, but she could almost see agitation in the tiger's eyes. Something that went away as he came in for another attack. Which Sasha was forced to zip clear of as she felt signals rising behind her. A bundle of spiked vines snatched at the air, one of the grads behind her cursing in turn.

Cripes, that was close.

She twirled GT to deflect Alexander's dagger, but the shield flying at her from above managed to smack her across the face, sending her sprawling backward.

Geez.

She shook off the hit.

Well, this isn't gonna work. Better switch tactics.

She looked across the field of grads, spotting her human friend still clearing house. To the point that Sasha figured she'd be more than fine on her own. As long as she had grads around, she was never defenseless. Sasha nodded to herself.

"Gabriella!" she called. "Split up!"

Her friend blocked several swords with a stolen lance.

"What?"

Sasha could only offer a wave before zipping in the opposite direction, avoiding falling knives and sharpened rocks in the process.

As expected, there were plenty of graduates who wouldn't let her escape so easily. One of them naturally being Alexander. The tiger threw caution to the wind as he started gathering signals around him, his vacuum attack finally coming into play.

"Not here, Alexander!" someone shouted, but he seemed to ignore them, air and debris gathering around the tiger.

The tornado he made here was much smaller than what he'd created back on Orion, but the pull was no less dangerous. To the point that several graduates fell back, throwing up barriers so they didn't get sucked in as well.

"You're not getting away, Panther!" he shouted from within the vacuum.

The tornado flew after her, Sasha turning the corner and taking off ahead.

***

Though she'd planned to lure a chunk of the grads away, the amount seemed to trickle down to the handful that could withstand Alexander's vacuum. All of which took every opportunity they could to attack.

Sasha jumped up as a pair of hands came out of the ground, the panther slamming down to knock out the attacking grad. But when she turned to keep moving, a burly hand was catching her face, lifting Sasha up like a ragdoll.

"Cri-"

She let signals flood her immediately, Sasha grabbing with her legs and twisting before she could get slammed. The ensuing snap set her free, but a wave of sludge sent her spiraling into a wall seconds later.

"Getting tired, Pather?" Alexander called, the tornado closing in.

It was true. Even with all her training, she was outnumbered and outgunned. Her body was feeling tense and rigid. Anymore and blowback would be the last of her problems. She zipped away in the opposite direction. She had to gain some distance. Regroup and-

"Is running all you can do, Panther?"

She stopped in her tracks.

"Go ahead and run!" Alexander shouted. "Run with your tail between your legs! It's all you're really good at, isn't it?"

She looked back at the tiger in the tornado. At the grads chasing after her.

"Do I really scare you that much? Frankly, I'm flattered."

Her tail lashed against the ground.

You really think...I'm scared of you?

She glanced down at GT, the staff seeming to resonate in her hand.

That was right. She hadn't come here just to run away from the likes of him. From the tailbrains of the AIC. From anyone in her way. She squeezed the staff at her side. All that training. All the beatings she took from Cici. All the times she'd helped Iris. She didn't come all this way just to keep running away. She didn't come here to flee the people holding her friends hostage.

She flicked her staff forward, her eyes staring straight ahead at the approaching graduates.

"That's it, Panther," Alexander said. "Face me. Like a real graduate."

She stamped her foot into the ground, the signals gathering around her.

She knew it might have been a bit of selfishness on her part. Nothing Alexander said really mattered in the end so long as she walked out with both her liaisons in tow. Even so. The thought of leaving that tiger's smiling face unwhacked left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. And there was only one way to really clear it out.

"GT," she said.

"Yes, Ms. Sasha?"

Her field rose over her fur, signals pouring power through her body. Through her muscles. Through her cells.

"Is it okay if I be a little selfish here?" she asked. "Just this once?"

The staff chimed in response. "I'd be surprised if you didn't, Ms. Sasha."

Though she wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, it made her smile nonetheless. She took a short breath for strength.

The tornado was closing in fast, along with a pile of sludge that seemed to gather around it. A giant vacuum that she could feel tugging on her fur. Calling her within. She didn't fight the sensation, though, jumping headlong into the pull of the tornado.

"Alexander."

Her staff made contact, the wind breaking apart as sludge and debris fell.

Sasha landed on the other side, both the signals and her field relaxing as she let out a calming breath.

"You're annoying," she said, "but you're right. Can't really be running away anymore. Not if I wanna see them again."

She looked down at her clothes, seeing a bit of sludge had gotten onto her. She sighed, making a mental note to invest in proper battle attire later.

Looking at her handiwork, she couldn't help but swell a bit with pride. Mostly because she'd hit Alexander straight on, all her signals focusing at once to smack him across the face. Seeing him lying on the ground now, she imagined his last thoughts had been something along the lines of 'Oh, crap'. She snickered at the image, turning her attention to his comrades.

The remaining graduates all looked to each other, Sasha flicking GT forward at the ready.

"Next?" she asked.

They seemed to panic at that, vanishing their weapons to flee in the opposite direction. She purred.

"Smart move, tailbrains."