A part of her wanted to just stay in that moment forever. Hugging her liaisons while being suspended in the air. But there was still the problem of the giant horde of monsters, her injured friends, and the wanna-be god trying to kill them all. She finally managed to compose herself after a while, wiping the tears from her eyes. There’d be plenty of time to catch-up after the cosmos stopped being on fire. Assuming all went well.

“I see Elisia wasn’t exaggerating,” Mr. Erin said. “This does look pretty bad.”

At the mention of her goddess’s name, Sasha turned back to the two universe killers. The same people she’d reluctantly been given the task of taking down. The Reginald guy had his sword at the ready, the Comet Man watching them curiously. Whether Elisia really believed in them or not, it seemed no one else was showing up anytime soon. So that meant the three of them now had the task of taking down the cosmic threat.

“Well. In one hole and out the other, eh?” Mr. Xan said with sigh. “Any bright ideas, Twig?”

Mr. Erin narrowed on the duo, his gaze going from them to both Sasha’s friends. Fortunately, Gabriella seemed to think ahead, already moving to collect the fallen Cici. As the very least they wouldn’t have to fight and protect at the same time.

“To put it bluntly,” Mr. Erin said, “I sincerely doubt we can beat them both in a fight.”

Sasha deflated. “Could of at least lied and said we had a chance, y'know.”

The weasel smiled. “I never said we don't. But it's a slim chance at best.”

He raised his wand, the tip glowing. At the same time, Mr. Xan pulled out his hammer, Sasha lowering her staff.

“Think you two can handle the swordsman?” Mr. Erin asked.

“Probably. What are-”

Before she even finished, they were both jumping in the frey, water jets splashing on the scene before getting blow apart by swirling winds. It didn’t do much, but it was enough to get both the human’s attention, hammer meeting sword while the Comet Man dodged backwards. Sasha cursed, jumping into the frey as well. Despite how fast things turned chaotic, she couldn’t help but feel a little excited to be fighting with her liaison guardians again.

“Thanks for the warning, tail brain,” Sasha snapped as she came zipping into a staff smack, knocking Reginald backwards.

He managed to recover just in time to dodge a blade of wind slicing him in half, Mr. Xan blowing another his way only for it to be deflected completely. So he’s not a total pushover, then, huh? Sasha stepped back as the sword came lunging at her, the panther put on the defense only moments before Mr. Xan knocked him away.

“Gotta keep the enemies on their toes, kid,” the panda said with a grin. “Now let’s hurry up so we can go help Twig.”

As he said this, Sasha glanced to the weasel in question, looking just in time to see the Comet Man’s chains wrap around his neck. Hard. He immediately shot a water jet to break the hold, the weapon disappearing as the human dodged away. Even so, it was way too close a call for Sasha’s liking.

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“Agreed.”

Reginald was drawing a line in the ground, the man ready and waiting when they came in for another assault. His sword slashed across her staff, sending her back a bit though she recovered to zip in for a quick kick, Mr. Xan following through as she jumped away. But even with their combined attacks, Reginald wasn’t going down easy.

He stumbled backwards, sword still in hand. Stance wide. It hardly looked like they’d done any damage at all, though Sasha wouldn’t let that stop her from attacking with all she had. Mr. Erin was counting on her. So was Mr. Xan. No way she’d let the likes of one human slow her down. She let her field flare up for a moment to gain a quick burst of speed. Enough to dodge a slash clear, leaving herself a brief enough opening.

She’d take it.

GT slammed hard into the ground, signals traveling ahead and locking in place. Directly onto the foot of the unprepared Reginald. She smiled, her gravity trap activating to force the human on his hands and knees, the sword dropping along with him.

“W-what is thi-“

A hammer smashing into him knocked the man flat into the ground, his body still in the small crater Mr. Xan had created.

"Phew,” the panda stepped away, giving Sasha a quick nod. "Nice timing, Panther."

Sasha beamed, her field retracting to save what little energy she had left. A chime from GT put it at 30%. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. Their attention shifted to Mr. Erin just as he was defending the Comet Man’s sickles, his barrier being the only thing keeping him intact. And it was full of cracks.

“Cripes!”

She reacted on instinct, GT used as a javelin to bounce off the Comet Man’s chest. It didn’t look like it hurt much, but it got his attention. Her zipping into him did the rest.

“Hands off the weasel!” she screamed, staff reappearing to smack away his sickles. Or at least she attempted to. When she made contact, it felt like her GT suddenly hit a brick wall, freezing in place. The Comet Man eyes rose to meet her own.

“Sasha!”

Her body flew back against her will.

Huh?

A bundle of fur caught her before she could hit the ground, Mr. Xan holding her in his arms. What had just happened? Was she pushed back? She didn’t even see him move! She snapped out of her thoughts as she saw the human launch on the offensive, targeting both her and Mr. Xan in tandem.

“You.”

The sickle came down fast. Much faster than they could break apart. Mr. Xan tried to block, but it only resulted in them both being knocked to the ground, Sasha wincing at the impact as they were forced to separate.

Cripes. So this is the guy the AIC couldn’t touch. Or Cici.

She tried to shake off the damage, ignoring pain to get back to her feet. When she did, she could see the Comet Man’s attention falling on his unmoving ally. Considering how hard Mr. Xan hit him it was anyone’s guess whether he’d live or not. Something Sasha wondered for a moment if the human was considering.

Just a moment. It fled as the Comet Man looked back to them, a small smile forming on his lips.

“I take it you’re stronger than those other two,” he said. “Am I right, Panther?”

She flashed her fangs, Sasha suddenly remembering her vow to smack him to oblivion. But as she did, she noticed Mr. Xan giving her a knowing look. As did Mr. Erin, who she could see making preparations a few ways off. Her eyes lit up. That’s right. When in doubt, there’s always that trump card, isn’t there? She let her fur relax, instead focusing on regulating her signals. Letting her field rise over her as she augmented her body.

She wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. Not with her cells still recovering from that big attack with Alexander. But she’d hold on long enough. That’s all she needed to do. A look to Mr. Xan told her he’d be doing the same.

With a mutual nod to each other, they went back on the assault, the Comet Man’s chains rattling to meet them.