When we get our referee back, we’ll go at it for real. Deal?

The words came back to her all at once.

I’m supposed to be the strong one. I’m supposed to be stronger than this.

She felt her blood running cold, what little restraint she’d had faltering as the world around her seemed to fade. All the voices. All the signals. She couldn’t see anything else at that moment but the portal in front of her. The two people in the universe she’d crossed whole galaxies to find again. The sight of a blade carving through flesh and fur.

In that moment, she barely registered the little girl trying to shake her arm. She barely even registered the goddess trying to talk to her.

I…I…

The sensation on her hand was the only thing she managed to cling on too. The feeling of the staff resonating in her hand. And the voice that chimed back at her.

“Ms. Sasha. Ms. Sasha. Ms. Sasha!”

She managed to regain some semblance of feeling again, the weapon’s voice bringing her back long enough to notice.

Through the view portal, neither of the two assailants were looking at Iris any longer. Their attention was on the girl who had a small pebble floating in the air. Sasha’s breath caught, the tightness in her chest elevating if only slightly as she spotted the movements of her tail. The smile she levied despite only managing to lift her face off the ground.

“Hmph. Who said I was done with you, huh?”

The fox’s voice came out much hoarser than Sasha expected. But at that moment, she didn’t quite care.

Cici. You…If you’re still kicking then…

Her fur rose, eyes locking on the fallen wolf. The Comet Man and his lackey.

Cripes!

Her senses came back all at once, thoughts mixing with instinct as she remembered the little girl at her side. The whole reason she’d come here. The reason she’d gone rogue in the first place.

The Goddess had been right. She was a terrible, selfish, horrendous excuse for a graduate. She had no right to bear her will. But she was still a girl with a mission she had every intention of completing. And that mission wouldn’t be finished until all of her friends were safe and sound. All of them! She whirled on Elisia.

“Send me down there!”

The goddess frowned back at her. Even if she knew it sounded harsh, she’d attempted to phrase it as more of a request than a demand. Which she quickly went to clarify.

“You said this mess is all my fault, right?” she asked. “Well then send me down there so I can clean it up! And if I can’t do that, let me die with my friends at least!”

The goddess only gave her the same hostile gaze. Sasha’s tail lashed, the panther glancing to the portal as she could see the Comet Man moving on Cici. Her window closing fast. She knew it was possible. The gods came and went all the time. They had to have some way to send others. What did she have to beg? She was seconds from dropping to her knees when the goddess finally spoke up.

“That portal works both ways, you know.”

She blinked.

Elisia seemed to realize her confusion, floating over so that she was directly in front of the portal. And then she simply stuck her hand inside. Something that made Sasha gape as realization hit.

***

She didn’t know how long it took. In the space in between, seconds fell like minutes. Or maybe it had been minutes and she was too late. But she didn’t let herself think like that. Not when she had GT squeezing in her hand. Not when she had Gabriella being dragged along behind her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

A world of blues flashed before their eyes, Sasha recognizing it as she’d made the jump so many times before with a ship. But this felt so much faster. And more painful. They both clung onto each other as they were hurled through warp space across missions of light years. And then spat out on the other side sometime later.

Sasha marvelled, arms spreading out as the pain subsided. As she felt the signals of numerous legionnaires coalescing around her. And as she realized they were falling. Right above the heads of two confused-looking humans.

“Gaaaah!”

Gravity stopped them from a hard plummet. Sasha sighed, giving a silent thanks to her reflexes before dropping completely.

“Cripes. GT, status report?”

The staff chimed.

“Reserves holding steady at 48%, Ms. Sasha,” it said. “Consequently, you have fallen into an active war zone.”

She tensed, once again remembering her big rescue mission. And looking up to find her eyes locking with the man currently laying siege to every planet in the cosmos. His lackey gave her such a displeased frown she wondered if he and Elisia were related in some way. Like it really mattered. Her first priority was alleviated when she looked behind her, fur relaxing.

“Good, I made it,” she said. “Cici! You alive?”

The fox just stared back at her. Was it the dropping out of the sky or her presence in general that surprised her? Sasha didn’t have much time to dwell on it. She was zipping away before anyone could stop her, falling immediately to Iris’s side.

“Cripes, she’s worse than I thought.” She ripped off parts of her shirt, putting them over wounds though it didn’t seem to help much. “Gabriella! I need you!”

The girl was hesitant, but her eyes flickered, GT appearing to her so she could make the jump as well.

Seeing as how Iris was in the process of bleeding out, first priority was containment before resuscitation. And Gabriella had a sash around her blouse they could use to make a decent enough bandage. Sasha worked with focus, though the entire time her ears were listening around her, whiskers twitching at the ready.

“Sir, it’s that Panther girl.”

“Yes, I realize that, Reginald. Small universe indeed.”

She knew she wouldn’t have enough time to finish, her senses already preparing for what came next.

“Shall I stop her?”

“Oh, by all means.”

She was up with GT before the sword even moved.

With a quick turn her staff blocked the blow, the Light Binder’s lackey suddenly in her face. And not a bad face, she noticed. For a human at least. It was harder to see through the view portal, but his smooth features and focused gaze would have drawn her focus in any other circumstance.

But this was the same guy who’d just struck down her best friend in cold blood. So she had no qualms in taking him down.

With a quick pivot, the sword diverted, dragging down along the length of her staff. The human retracted, trying instead to thrust but she blocked those as well, spinning and managing to push the human back with a quick kick. One that earned her a whistle from the Comet Man. She hissed in response, driving her staff into the ground.

“Gabriella?” she asked.

The human was still tending to Iris. But that was fine. This was fine. So what if she was staring down two guys who a trained intergalactic army, her best friends, and even several graduates stronger than her couldn’t take down. She was fine. She’d be fine.

Cripes. Why is this never easy?

She flicked her staff forward, looking between the two humans. Considering how fast they took out Iris, she hoped she’d at least last a few seconds. A minute maybe. Enough to not make a complete fool of herself after talking a big game to Elisisa. She watched the two carefully, eyes flicking between them. But neither human was moving.

In fact, neither were even looking at her. Had they written her off alrea-

“Sasha!”

Gabriella drew her attention away, the girl frantically waving and pointing to the sky. Sasha’s brow furrowed. Now what? She finally looked up. Along with everyone else, it seemed.

In all the commotion of her rescue attempt, she’d completely missed what the goddess had been telling her. And in turn, she hadn’t noticed the two other non-legion portals opening up after she’d come crashing down. Her staff almost fell out of her hands, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared up at the sky. At the translucent barrier now housing two tall figures.

Then you’d best be prepared to live by those words. Sasha the Panther.

The smaller of the two waved, the larger clearing his throat.

“Uh. Hey there, kid,” an all too familiar voice called to her. “Need a ha-”

He barely got the words out before she was zipping up to him, her arms wrapping around the giant panda's stomach. She couldn’t stop herself, yowls mixing with purrs while she nuzzled herself against him. Burying her face in his fur.

"Uh. Guess that's a yes, then."

She felt arms wrap around her, Mr. Xan squeezing her back. As she was crying, she felt a hand on her head.

"Good to see you too, Ms. Panther," Mr. Erin said, making her yowl even louder.