Pain rose across Sasha's face, the panther slamming hard into the wall. She immediately grabbed her cheek, both from pain and surprise. Iris only continued to fume.

"Are you insane, Sash?" she screamed.

The wolf was standing in front of her, fist still raised from what must have been the heaviest punch she'd ever thrown her way. Even back when they'd been practicing on Shiny.

"You idiot!" the wolf shouted. "We had him! He was right there! We could have ended the war! We could have stopped him! Do you have any idea how many people will die now because of us! Because we let him go!"

She rubbed her cheek, resisting the urge to cry over the hit. It and the wolf screaming at her was the best indication she could have gotten. This wasn't just another Sulky being Sulky moment. She really meant every word she was saying.

"Iris."

The wolf glared down at her. "What. What could you possibly have to say, Sasha?"

She winced at that. She hated making Iris angry. But it was already too late to turn back now. Their course had been set, and they were going to save her liaisons whether the wolf liked it or not. She looked straight at Iris, even if it hurt to do so.

"Are you done?" she asked.

That only made the wolf more furious. To the point she swung again, though Sasha didn't let herself get hit a second time. She ducked the blow, sliding past and using her tail to trip up the unsuspecting canine. Iris growled, turning to tackle Sasha head-on. They both collided into a wall, the argument quickly escalating into an actual fight within seconds. Yowls and barks echoed through the ship as the two wrestled and punched each other, Iris biting her at one point and Sasha clawing the wolf in response.

She didn't know when they'd noticed, but at some point, several robots arrived on the scene to pull the two apart. Training Bot held Sasha back, though she continued to hiss insults Sulky's way.

"Calm down, Ms. Sasha," she could hear coming from her side.

She didn't know when GT had shown up, but the staff seemed to appear at the same time Iris's rapier materialized.

"That best you can do, clawbrain?" Iris barked.

"Bring it, mutt!" Sasha yowled back. "Let's go!"

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The robots refused to let them go. And she knew they wouldn't. But she had no intentions of backing down now. Not until she'd beaten the stupid wolf across from her with every part of her God Tool. With what little calm she could muster, she hissed an order to the robots.

"Take us to the training room," she said. "We'll settle this there."

The bots seemed reluctant to do so. But Sasha made it clear she wasn't taking no for an answer.

***

Sasha took her usual spot in the training room, drawing a line with her foot as she raised GT at the ready. Several of the bots stood by to spectate. Or maybe they were there to make sure they didn't do any irreparable damage. All the same. Sasha had bargained for five minutes with the wolf. And she had every intention of taking advantage.

"Ms. Sasha."

She ignored the staff's voice.

Iris dragged her rapier along the tile, raising it in front of her face and finally pointing it out to Sasha. Neither said a word. They didn't have to. They both watched as Training Bot raised its arm. The minute it called start, they were at each other's throats.

Her staff collided head-on with Iris's barrier, the wolf using it like a shield while she tried to swipe, though Sasha zipped away. She bounced across the floors and walls, slamming down but missing her target as she fled. Not for long. GT bounced off her forehead, returning to Sasha's hand before she zipped away again. Iris shook off the hit, her body disappearing into yellow mist. She was getting serious. So would Sasha.

Sasha kept zipping about, staying mobile to avoid whatever sneak attack was to come. Her ears stood up at the ready, whiskers twitching for the slightest sounds. The slightest sensations. Her field shimmered around her, the panther waiting for the inevitable-

She whirled as a sword came slashing from above, blade cutting into her fur. It hurt, but she gladly took the hit so as to extend GT out to touch Iris. That's all she needed. Gravity pushed her away, pinning the wolf to the ceiling.

"W-what?" Iris pulled against it, to no avail. "Dangit. Gah! GAAAH!"

Sasha dropped to the ground, glaring up at the roaring canine. There were still a few seconds left on the clock, though she could feel her energy reserves had already dwindled to the low range. She watched as Iris continued to struggle. But as she did, the anger gradually fell away.

"Dangit. Why? Why can't I ever do anything?"

The wolf wasn't just pulling against the gravity. She started crying. Sasha immediately zipped over, using GT to change Iris back to normal. She dropped limp from the ceiling, Sasha having to change her again in midair so she didn't faceplant. Even then, the wolf didn't get up, her fist punching the ground.

"Why?" she asked. "You're not supposed to be the strong one. I'm supposed to be the strong one. You're supposed to be weak."

Sasha didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't even know if she was supposed to. Even so, she did know what her gut was telling her to do. So she did the only thing that came naturally to her. She got down beside the wolf and wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm supposed to be the strong one," the wolf kept saying. "I'm supposed to be stronger than this."

Sasha didn't respond. All she could think to do was hold her friend while she cried.