Blowback did not bother to wait for long.

“Mr. Xan.”

“Yes, kid?”

Her motor functions stopped all at once.

“I can’t feel my legs.”

“Ah. I kinda lost feeling a while ago.”

She saw the sky grow further away, only realizing by how muffled Mr. Xan’s voice sounded that she had fallen on the ground. Even the sensation of rocky terrain on her back felt a million miles away. All she could really do was stare up at the sky before she heard Mr. Erin running towards them.

“Sweet whiskers. Sasha. Mush Head. When I said to take care of things, I didn’t mean to go this far.”

Mr. Xan let out a gruff laugh at that, one which Sasha joined him in despite all the soreness. Never before had she felt so equally broken and satisfied at the same time. After all the that trouble. All that fighting. They’d finally done. The three of them had saved the cosmos together. With a little help.

“I’m inclined to agree there, Sash.”

She felt a tinge a warmth at that voice. Though she couldn’t turn her head fully, she could see the face of Cici standing above hers. From the looks of it, Gabriella had done a decent job of patching her up, though she suspected most of the work had been her own cells working overtime. Cici always did bounce back a lot faster than most people.

“Shouldn’t you be calling me your hero or something?” Sasha joked.

To that, she gave her a light smack to head with her tail.

“My hero,” she said sarcastically. “I could have taken him. Just needed a minute or two to get my bearings.”

Though Sasha couldn’t move her body, she could still move her face somewhat. Enough to open her jaws wide and give the fox’s tail a bite. But Cici was quick enough to pull away, sticking her tongue out in victory.

“Soon as I get feeling again, you’re getting the claws,” Sasha said.

Cici put a hand on her hip. “Bring it, cat. You still owe me a real fight. And I’d be more than happy to knock you down for the umpteenth time.”

Sasha growled at that even if she felt all the happier to hear it. So she hadn’t forgotten the promise they made on Rutune. Now that the dust had settled, she finally had the time to check in with Gabriella. Cici helped her up so she could actually see where she was.

To her surprise, the younger girl’s blouse was completely gone, replaced instead by a white one-piece suit. Had she been wearing that the whole time? From the looks of it, the remains of her blouse had all been repurposed to use with bandaging. Though not the most useful healing equipment, it had stopped the bleeding. And Sasha could hear Iris’s steady breathing.

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“How is she?” Sasha asked when they finally came over.

Gabriella shook her head. “She’ll live. But with injuries like this…Sasha, I don’t think she’ll be fighting again anytime soon. I don’t think she’ll even be waking up for a while.”

She fixed her an apologetic look, one which both Sasha and Cici could only blankly stare at.

“Sure about that?” Cici asked.

Gabriella gave them a confused look. That was until she finally looked down at the wolf she’d been tending to. Who now had her eyes open wide. Gabriella could only stare back in surprise.

“H-how are you…”

Iris narrowed at the human.

“Easy on her, Sulky,” Sasha said. “It’s thanks to her you didn’t bleed out.”

Iris only rolled her eyes at that, the wolf at the very least not trying to get up too fast. Or maybe she was all broken up as well so movement wasn’t an option anyway. She certainly didn’t react to Mr. Erin coming over to join them, the weasel carrying Mr. Xan on his shoulders. With a bit of help from his wand, it looked like.

“You really oughta loose a few, Mush Head.”

“No need to be jealous, Twig.”

Sasha wanted to wave at them, but could only manage to smile in their direction. Mr. Erin sighed, Mr. Xan grinning at her. Now that all was said and done they could finally get off this legionnaire infested place. Something which Sasha couldn’t help but remember as she felt the signals writhing around them.

Ever since she’d dropped onto this world, she’d been half-expecting to be blind sighted by a thousand monsters at once. But they’d been quiet. Not even interfering with their fight against the Comet Man. Something she found herself wondering about even now as she saw them standing off in the distance. Watching the group of injured fighters, but not really approaching.

“What are they doing?” Sasha asked.

Mr. Erin thought a moment. “If I were to guess, it appears that they’re waiting.”

“For what?” Cici asked.

“For how things play out. That Light Binder was in control of all of them. And I’d imagine that control doesn’t end so long as that link isn’t severed.”

Cici nodded. “So unless he dies, they don’t go away, right?”

“Exactly.”

Sasha smiled at the idea. If she wasn’t so broken, she’d be more than happy to finish him off. But the way they’d left him, a simple blaster to the face should have done the trick. And she already knew just the wolf who’d-

A jolt ran through her body.

She felt her fur rise, whiskers twitching as new sensations ran through them. Something that she could see she wasn’t the only one feeling. Mr. Erin froze in place, Iris staring wide while Gabriella grew pale as a ghost. Only Cici seemed somewhat oblivious to it all. That was until the fox seemed to notice the rising heat around them.

“W-w -wha-“

Sasha could barely form words herself so she couldn’t blame the fox for stumbling.

All six of them could only stare at the steadily rising clump of signals. At the air starting to burn up around it, glowing hot like a fiery inferno. No. A burning comet. Sasha made the connection all too late as the massive ball of fire took form in front of them. As she found herself staring at a blazing star taking shape. And the man she could feel at the very center of it.

Like a slap to the face, she suddenly remembered all those cave paintings on Zamonia. The white creatures. The boat on fire. The Azonia Clan. Kairo’s words came back like the final piece in the world’s worst jigsaw puzzle.

The Light Binder came to us on his flaming ark to aid us in the Great Famine. His magic was so strong he brought life to our crops.

Her jaw tightened, the panther only managing a single phrase as everything sunk in at once.

“Oh…cripes.”