The girl's affirmations were held over her head, similar to the way that she floated in the air above Tsubasa. No matter how strong her ideals were, those thoughts of resolving things peacefully would be overridden by the want to keep her only blood relative alive in her life. Her determination led to this release of the X-Drive's limiters, but as a tear streamed down her face, anyone could see that those two conflicting sides were eating at her ferociously. To stop unnecessary conflict or to fight out of a loved one's stubbornness, both ideas kept trying to take precedence in her mind. However, her mind couldn't help but bounce between them like a ping-pong ball.
She couldn't keep like this for long, especially in a battle against an opponent more experienced than herself. Any indecisiveness could be her head.
With a soft sniffle, she wiped that tear away, trying to steel herself. As contradictory as all her thoughts were, she had gone too far to just stop now. Even if it was a losing battle...
"Sis will...!"
The wings of energy spread open, her body pushing her forward to strike at the girl below. As her tail extended to attack, Tsubasa parried it with her sword, though it didn't stop Laya from rearing her fist back. Without much of a choice, Tsubasa whipped her head around, the punch intended for her getting parried by her luminescent ponytail. Laya was shocked at this, the sight of the idol using her hair as a weapon stunning her for a moment. However, the moment was enough time for Tsubasa to slash forward with her katana. Laya narrowly avoided it, seeing a couple of her hairs being trimmed off.
"Your sister means so much that you'll throw your life away for her!?"
Tsubasa swung her sword a couple more times, each strike missing their mark as Laya either deflected or weaved between them. Laya raised an eyebrow, as if to give an obvious answer. "Of course!" She spun onto her hands, kicking the katana out of Tsubasa's grip and landing a dropkick in her chest. Tsubasa remained standing, even if the distance that was made was by that kick measured in a few dozen feet. Once she regained her composure, she rushed for her sword, the tail Laya sent to catch it being too slow.
Throughout this sequence, Tsubasa would be the one to point out the issues with her philosophy.
"Then what's the point of doing that if you never get the chance to go back to her?"
Tsubasa understood what Laya wanted completely, her mind falling back to when she first lost Kanade on that ever-so-fateful day. That day changed her mindset, making her completely willing to discard her own life as a result of her actions, the same way Kanade did. However, the more she interacted with who would later be her friends, the more she realized how that self-destructive mindset didn't serve a purpose. For someone to protect those who they cared about and go back home to them, if they weren't able to go back to them, what was even the point of even fighting that battle?
The Ame no Habakiri began to light up with a bright blue flame, the blaze of her fire searing the ground as the sword came up to attack.
(Single Mowing Conflagration)
However, before the attack landed, a translucent spear obstructed the hit, "Kanade" blocking her off. Tsubasa clicked the tongue, though the more she tried to force herself through, the weaker she felt.
Meanwhile, Kirika and Shirabe continued to fight against their counterparts, each energy saw and curved blade being fended off in perfect unison of the copies. "There's gotta be a way to get past these guys..." Shirabe heaved, feeling much more tired compared to earlier. They weren't having this much trouble beforehand, but the longer the fight went on, the more drained they felt, even more than they usually would for fights. Kirika held herself up with her scythe, wiping her brow as she lodged her own complaint out, "But they're too strong, dess!"
Maria blocked off another wave of swords from "Serena", the smaller blades being engulfed by the white flames of Maria's whip sword. Once they were burned away, she was ready to retaliate, her resolve reaffirmed. It wasn't her sister, it was just a trick, no matter how similar their voices or mannerisms were. She dealt with this before, she could do it again, but when she got ready to leap forward, she felt her body weaken drastically.
"Wait, why did...?"
That part made no sense to her, she was used to fighting with the X-Drive, so she knew how much energy she was using for her attacks. However, she was more concerned about retaining energy over anything else, but somehow, it felt like she was launching big attack after big attack. She would only realize it when she noticed the way her flames were flickering.
Despite her phonic gain giving her Gear a flame-like appearance, the flowing of the attire seemed to be getting sucked into a single point, though it wasn't completely noticeable at first. If anything, it just looked like the flames of the X-Drives were just flicking into one direction a bit more than the other directions, but only when "Serena" had the flames of Maria's sword circled around her, she realized it.
Maria quickly turned her head to the Blades of Zababa, noticing the exact same thing as she squinted slightly, their energy being absorbed into the clones. Now, it all made sense. No wonder the fight felt more difficult, the copies drained them of their energy and grew stronger while they felt weaker. "Guys, tell me you see it too," Maria called out, pulling her sword back to try and cut off "Serena" from any more phonic gain.
When the Blades of Zababa realized that Maria was calling out to them, they tried to be more attentive to what she was asking them to look for. They saw her moves, noticing how Maria was now trying to stay as far away from "Serena" as possible. That had to be a clue to it, only realizing it when they narrowed their attention to their surroundings. Once they did, they could see the faint fluttering of phonic gain leaving their bodies, though instead of going into the air, it flew over to the copies.
Kirika was the first to realize, her body now invigorated to leap back and get distance while Shirabe did the same. Their copies followed, only confirming their assumptions. "They... really are taking our energy!"
"Kirika" raised her scythe, ready to cut down Shirabe, but as Shirabe exerted more output, she counterattacked. The saw in her hand came down as Shirabe dodged the strike, slamming it down into the clone's arm. However, until the previous times, the clone's arm shattered like glass, falling apart at the massive differential in strength. The copy didn't feel pain or strain, so once its arm fell apart, it simply picked its scythe up with its other arm, ready to attack again. It was nothing more than a doll, after all.
Maria watched as her friend's Armed Gear broke through the replica, so she tried the same thing the moment "Serena" came after her. Her output raised, the translucent saber on her gauntlet now charging towards "Serena", who manifested a triangular shield in front of her. However, within moments, the shield was shattered and "Serena's" arm was cleaved straight through. With an affirmative nod, Maria called out again, only this time, to the only person left on their team to mention, "Tsubasa! We found a way!"
Tsubasa, after recognizing Maria's words, took heed of the power being funneled to "Kanade", ultimately knowing what she had to do. If anything, that was what she was planning on doing from the beginning.
"Listen, you're right..."
Tsubasa shoved "Kanade" away, the copy's feet bringing up dust as Tsubasa raised her sword into the air. The Gear's output began to spike, the flames on her sword burning brighter and higher than ever. While Laya saw the Gear's output increase on Tsubasa's end, she could feel that the same went for everyone else, shining each of the Gears' respective colors in their areas.
Maria's gauntlet surged with energy, the wave of glistening flames now spiraling at the tip of her blade. As "Serena" raised her daggers to make another shield, Maria's attack seemed to be stopped dead in its tracks, but the higher the output went, the more the shield began to give. First, a crack. Next, the breaking of the shield. Once that shield had been bypassed, Maria launched her final attack on Serena, the pink blade bisecting the replica from the waist down.
(FLAME†PENETRATE)
As Maria's attack landed, Shirabe generated a tornado that cut off "Kirika" from the real one, the typhoon making it virtually impossible for her enemy to escape. With a swift wave of her hand, one of her energy saws burned a bright pink, the phonic gain within it rushing around in a manic state before she swung the maelstrom of energy down. "Kirika" could do nothing more than get hit by the attack, the magnitude of the power output eviscerating the clone and causing it to dissipate into nothingness.
(Final Sigma Style: Burning Slash Vortex Collision)
Kirika, after seeing this move to cut them off, made her move, the wings on her back creating a cyclone that engulfed her as she closed in on "Shirabe". With two slashes of Igalima, the marks of green split the copy's body apart, no resistance in the slightest as the whirlwind dismantled what was left of the doll mimicking her partner. Now that there was no Unison in play, it was much easier to pick them off one-by-one.
(Ultimate Flame: Dorothy)
Even if the clones took power, the increase would be too much for them to take all at once, which was what Maria's plan was from the start. They couldn't bridge that gap in a timely manner, so it was left up to one final person. With her katana now lit ablaze yet again, she used that same move that "Kanade" had blocked originally, only this time, with a much different outcome.
(Single Mowing Conflagration)
The flames darted and caught "Kanade", the body that mimicked her previous partner now cracking and falling apart the longer the flame went on. With as much energy put into that attack, there was no escaping that imminent demise. Before it could raise its lance to make a fruitless counterattack, the body fell apart, the energy of the clone returning to the air as Tsubasa continued. "I haven't been raised with the relationships with my blood that you have, but..."
With their individual battles won, the Receptor Children flew to the side of Tsubasa, standing by her despite their clear exhaustion. However, even if they felt like they wanted to fall to the ground and take a breather, they weren't giving up.
"Even if that's true, what I do know is that no matter what your relationship is, everyone wants to be heard."
Tsubasa's words hit Laya's ears, the energy of the clones collecting back into the wings of the brunette's X-Drive. While the group was ready to attack again once they saw that, something told them that there was no need to be on guard anymore. Amidst these events, Maria muttered under her breath, witnessing a side of Tsubasa that was rarely shown outside of a few fringe situations. "Tsubasa..."
Tsubasa put her hand out, her sword resting at her side without any intent to attack. If she wanted to show that they could be trusted, she'd start by laying down their arms, just like how Maria did in the forest. "We're willing to hear you out, to help you..." This scene stunned Laya, her mouth struggling to say anything.
"I..."
It wasn't enough for her to be in the situation she was in right now; the unlimited power of a weapon she barely knew about now fighting against two people she idolized and adored. She had always dreamed of taking the hand of Tsubasa Kazanari, but not like this. She wanted to go with them, but with Leia, she couldn't afford to do that. Ready to force out another lie, Nidhogg's voice spoke into her mind. "Laya."
That voice gave her pause. Did she really want to lie again? It was for Leia's benefit, that was the truth, but for the older sister to want to do this willingly...
"I..."
Her fists tightened as she bit her bottom lip, so hard that it caused her to bleed. Had she not wiped the blood from her mouth during her transformation, it would have been indistinguishable from the battle damage earlier. Before she could think of anything else, Nidhogg said one final thing, "What were those words that I said?"
And just like that, the waterworks began.
"I just want her to be safe..."
The Adapters were surprised at this display, tears rolling down Laya's face as she finally let out her true feelings. All the S.O.N.G. agents knew how she felt, but they couldn't force her to speak out. They could only offer their hands out to her, to reach out to her for her troubles. If she didn't want to be helped, then who were they to stop her? However, if Hibiki taught that group anything, it was to keep reaching out...
"She's... crying," Kirika questioned, getting out of her defensive stance while the other Receptor Children did the same. Laya kept wiping her eyes, though no matter how much she wiped, she couldn't stop the waterfalls.
"I have to follow her... I know how she is, so if I'm not fighting for her, if she is out there..."
The thought ran through her mind of what would happen had Leia disappeared. She didn't want to lose her mother and her sister. It was already one thing to lose her mother for half of her life, but to also lose the person she felt was the closest to her... her heart would be devastated. "Who else am I supposed to rely on when she...?"
The Gear users looked at her sympathetically, each of them having their own feelings about their situation like what she described. The Receptor Children only had somewhere to go because of S.O.N.G. after Nastassja's passing. Meanwhile, Tsubasa felt like the loss of Kanade was the biggest turning point in her life, lashing out and being solitude until a hand was extended out to her.
Maria followed Tsubasa's lead, extending her hand out to the crying girl. Out of the quartet in this heart-wrenching scene, she felt the worst out of them, outside of Tsubasa. Even though both could relate equally, the sight of this girl couldn't help but twist her heart, especially after landing that blow on her from earlier. "Then tell her that," she said, Laya's eyes looking up to meet the woman's, regardless of the tears in her eyes.
These people, they wanted to help her. She knew they did, but she was forced to combat such forgiving souls. Without a moment's hesitation, she leapt into the arms of the idol duo, though the tears didn't stop from streaming. Even if their hands were only out for a handshake, they didn't stop her from crying her heart out on their shoulders. Just like Nidhogg said before, she really had a hard time wearing her heart on her sleeve.
"Please... help me stop her from burning her life away!"
"This is..."
The cast had their arms up to their faces, the energy dispersing from the winds as the new transformation of the Noire girl was unveiled. Even by just the look of the form, they could tell this new version was dangerous, the wings behind her now flowing with a torrent of black energy. "What's with that," Chris asked, finally putting her arms down after watching Leia's transformation.
Hibiki and Miku didn't have an answer, but there was one person standing with them that was adept at providing explanations for situations like this. Elfnein had seen a build-up of alchemic power like this before, but when it happened last time, it was through a massive number of memories being burned away. However, this time, it was different.
"She's drawing power from not just the air, but the Lapis Philosophorum and her..."
Elfnein's mutters hit Hibiki's ears, the explanation starting to make sense based on their interactions. The Philosopher's Stone did contain enough power to remove the Gear's limiters beforehand through Saint-Germain's Spellcaster from their previous adventures, so it made sense. However, with added power from their previous attacks, having an additional transformation wasn't too outlandish of a thought.
The thing that did perk her up and drag her attention was Elfnein's final set of words. Trailing off made Hibiki question what else Leia was drawing power from, but judging from Elfnein's reaction...
"If she is, then I'll stop her!"
She knew what the worst-case scenario could have been, the Noble Red incident playing in her head once again. Their lives faded away after using Daedalus End on the Moon, so if this congelation of energy was anything similar, those connected lines felt much more smooth. Hibiki charged, her scarf fluttering in the wind as she became determined to keep Leia from bringing more harm to herself, but Elfnein put her hand up, calling out to her, "Hibiki, wait!"
With a reared-back fist, Hibiki closed the distance, face-to-face with Leia. She didn't move a muscle as Hibiki threatened to bring her fist down. However, before the fist could connect, a black sword appeared to catch the attack, catching Hibiki by surprise. It was strange, since Hibiki never saw her holding it in the first place, let alone bringing it up. It wasn't even obstructed with the cape Leia wore, so...
Hibiki tried to push down, but Leia was unmoved, her glare shooting up at her attacker. She was planning on counterattacking, but knew that exerting energy was not the correct thing to do here. At least, not after Hibiki ran straight in without thinking about what was going to happen next.
In that moment, a searing pain shot through Hibiki's hand, causing her to wince and scream out. Leia hadn't attacked yet, so there was no preparation for the damage that had come about.
"Agh!"
Without any time to spare, Elfnein jumped into action, launching the wires within Daur da Bláo at Hibiki. The wires wrapped around her, pulling her away from Leia to avoid any further close-quarters combat. "Hibiki!"
The trio circled around Hibiki, watching as she held her fist in pain. They wondered what caused her to have such a visceral reaction, only to gasp when they saw the Armed Gear on her hand. The gauntlet around her wrist was cracked, looking like it was falling apart at the seams. The bright whites and glittering golds now had a sheen on them that was unlike before, their colors dulling to a greyer shade of what they once were. Blood seeped from the arm itself, though they couldn't tell from where it came from.
"Gungnir, it's..."
Hibiki couldn't help but note the state her weapon was in, seeing it start to chip and crack. Chris was angered, the sweat on Hibiki's brow bringing urgency to the battle as she aimed her Armed Gear at Leia.
"Idiot! Why, you!"
She was referring to Hibiki as the "idiot", but she directed that anger at the alchemist with black wings. Hibiki didn't assess the situation before rushing in, which was typical, but now that she had gotten hurt from it, Chris didn't want to extend the fight any longer.
The bullets were fired, but with each blast that entered Leia's range, the attack began to disintegrate into a white light. As they became energy, the light flowed into the girl's wings, assimilating with the void that existed on her back. Elfnein was entranced, watching the deconstructions of their attacks unfold. She could gather now what had happened when Hibiki got blocked, the cracks and dullness of her fist now making much more sense. "Even the blasts from Ichaival are fading away..."
Leia lifted her arm, pointing the black blade at the S.O.N.G. Adapters. Resting near the hilt of the blade were four studs, each one lighting up with a different color before an Octave appeared behind Leia. Then, a second...
Then, a third and fourth.
The four elements of alchemy spread out in a row of alchemic circles, each firing condensed energy of their respective elements at the users that they were forced to dodge. Elfnein already had Hibiki locked in the wires of Daur da Bláo, so pulling her away was easy. Chris and Miku shot upwards in the air as well, the destruction being wrought below them by the powers that were reconstructed in quick succession. Amidst the fractures of earth caused by this attack, Miku's question came out in a surprised exclamation.
"She's back to four Octaves!?"
Miku was usually reserved, but with an attack like this, the tensions were higher than usual. Chris was next to ask a question, though it would be through gritted teeth and frustration at the situation. "She's choosing to burn her memories again?"
It seemed like a logical conclusion to draw, considering how much energy was needed to do that at once. She backed off from burning memories, which drained her attack power, but now, that power was back in full swing. However, Elfnein was able to confirm the answer to Chris' question, but...
"No, this isn't that..."
She could tell that no memories were being burned here, the remnants of Carol's memories allowing her to differentiate the hereditary technique from other alchemy. It was how they were able to deduce everything before they got to fight Leia for the second time. But where was this energy coming from? It couldn't just come out of nowhere...
She originally thought it came from Chris' attack, but it only took Elfnein a moment to see the ground around Leia was being weathered away. The debris before her from her previous attack and the earth below her feet were following the same pattern as Chris' blasts, turning into a bright white and being drawn into the void of Leia's wings. It was no wonder why her power had increased so much, the energy conversion of the Faust Robe now going into overdrive compared to before.
"Everything around her is being assimilated..."
The power funneled into Leia's grasp, though the taste of iron in her mouth was ever-present. No matter how much she wiped her mouth or spit out blood, there was always that sour taste in her mouth, but she was used to it at this point, even before getting a Faust Robe. She was ready to give her life to stop them from interfering, so there was only one logical choice for combating the power without limits...
And that was to break past her own limits.
Leia finally uttered some words, looking down at her free hand. The power was flowing through her body as it was absorbed by Nidhogg, replenishing the energy she used to activate this form. "A transformation like this..." She had no knowledge that this would happen, but after the alchemy condensed to such a point, it seemed like Nidhogg itself transformed her. If she made it out of this alive, she'd be sure to get an explanation from the Relic, but until then, the best she could do was acclimate herself to the situation.
Before she could continue marveling at this form, Nidhogg made its presence known. "Be wary that this cannot sustain itself forever," the dragon informed, its attention on Leia's power reserves. Even if the transformation was able to recuperate the energy she wasted to activate it, she would use more energy the more she fought, at least, until she got used to it.
She knew this, but with the way this ability worked, she gathered that it wouldn't need to be active for long. The information she had gotten from just the past few moments alone gave her everything she needed. Even if her adaptability wasn't as prominent as her sister's, it wasn't a problem.
"I'll need sixty seconds, at most."
The girl's wings extended, two different Octaves of earth and wind appeared at each end of her wings. Maelstroms of energy fired from the source, but unlike last time, these attacks were vastly stronger. Miku brought her mirrors up and Chris sent out her reflectors, but the stream of earth alchemy was too much for them to handle, breaking past their barriers and slamming straight into them, taking them down from the sky. Meanwhile, Elfnein used her free arm to swing more wires at the wind alchemy, but they were deflected rather than cutting through the cyclone.
Seeing this, Hibiki pulled back her other arm, one that wasn't affected by Leia's Faust Robe. She tried to punch through the tornado, but as expected, it was too overwhelming. Thankfully, Elfnein's quick thinking erected a barrier of silver alchemy to minimize the damage, though it didn't stop them from being sent into the ground with a crash.
Despite having X-Drive, the four were ill-prepared for deconstruction like this. Yet again, Leia fell back to only two Octaves, but in exchange for the number of elements she used, she simply struck harder with the ones she kept, increasing their power output exponentially. There wasn't anything they could do that was practical to match the strength, but they still had tricks up their sleeves that gave them an edge. Chris looked back at Elfnein and Miku, calling them out as everyone got to their feet.
"If we have a shot, it's with you two."
She knew their strengths, with those strengths being something that completely countered Leia. The Shénshòujìng could erase Relics, while Elfnein could convert the alchemy that was being fired at them by burning memories. They had two different ways of dealing with every aspect of Leia's arsenal, so they had to try, as if they had any other option.
"We can try our best, but..."
Elfnein sounded a tad apprehensive as she sat up, but Miku followed it up with enthusiasm. "We'll make it work!"
The group got ready to attack again, but Leia wasn't fazed at these events. Even if they were yelling their plan to each other, she already knew all this information, but that entire time, she had been scrutinizing everything from the air around them to even the leverage of her sword swings.
"I've already analyzed where your weaknesses lie," Leia advised, watching as Miku's light traveled from her multitude of mirrors to hit her. However, it wasn't just her strength that was increased, the speed differential now making the once-fast light now look like it had the consistency of molasses in comparison. Weaving through the blasts, she aimed her sword at the girl, activating the Octaves of fire and wind to attack with.
The spirals of elements combined, creating an even larger attack as the elements fed into each other, but Elfnein put her hand up, catching the attack. Burning some memories, she converted that energy into a blast of yellow energy at Leia, hoping that it'd do some damage. "You're funny if you think you'll be able to get a single attack past me," Leia mocked, slashing through the alchemy with her sword. Just like before, the dredges of energy got taken in by her wings, but Chris wanted to take the girl off her high horse.
"Oh, yeah!?"
Chris put her Armed Gear in front of her, the phonic gain from her wings rising as she manifested a giant figure behind her, very similar in appearance to her. That manifestation had its own weapon, pointing it in the same direction Chris was as their blasts charged. Pulling the trigger, both versions of Chris fired, the beams of phonic gain on track to hit Leia.
(FIREWIND GLINT)
"Yeah," Leia responded, her sword being pointed at the attack as it reached her area. While the attack was too large to be dismantled all at once, she was still able to cleave the beams in two, channeling some of her energy through her sword to cut through.
"I can already see it now. Even in a thousand, no... a million different scenarios, your chances of winning this fight..."
She channeled even more energy in her sword, this time, the Octaves that she activated were all directly applied to the blade itself. The elements all flowed at once, a cacophony of earth, water, fire and wind all spiraling around the blade as she swung it down, launching the attack at all four users.
(QUINTESSENTIAL REVERENCE)
Even when the group dispersed in all different directions, the singular slash gleamed with a spark of silver alchemy, a massive whirlwind of all five elements engulfing the fighters aside from Leia. Once the smoke cleared, the S.O.N.G. Adapters were revealed, reeling from that last attack being so unexpected. It was the first time Leia had dealt damage to them in their X-Drives and respective Faust Robe power-ups, that previous power differential now sinking back farther in her mind as she declared her superiority.
"...barely qualify as a worthwhile percentage against this Fixation."
She had given the form a name, one that she thought was appropriate to the dress she wore. The power of her alchemy setting in a transformation that rivaled the X-Drive, it felt like there was no obstacle she couldn't overcome. Even if it meant burning away her very life itself, as long as she was able to win...
"Even if that's true..."
While the others remained kneeling on the ground, Hibiki stood up, clenching her fist tight. She couldn't let Leia fight further, especially after the words Laya said to her before they split. This action caused Leia to seethe, the same feeling that she felt against Maria now being translated to Hibiki. Standing up even when absolute power is in opposition, how could someone make such an idiotic choice when the outcome should be clear?
"You're still fighting," Leia questioned, her knuckles white as she tightened the grip on her weapon. Hibiki flashed forward, the boosters on her back advancing her towards Leia with her good fist, attacking her again, regardless of the damage to Gungnir.
"Even if that's true...!"
Leia saw the attack coming, shutting off that attack that would have come straight for her face. Despite the block, the ground behind Leia shattered, large sheets of rock rising up as Hibiki got stopped dead in her tracks. Leia knew that the Godslayer would be impulsive, but after what happened last time, it should have been obvious how this was going to go.
The cracked gauntlet of Gungnir began to fracture even more, the Relic breaking apart as Nidhogg's wing continued to convert everything in the area to energy. However, before any more damage could be done, a glowing light emerged from Hibiki's bloodied hand. "There could be a million scenarios..."
The light shone brightly, the energy around them now converged, but it wasn't towards Leia's wings. Instead, that power started to get fed to Gungnir. Hibiki pushed her back, Leia's feet bringing up debris as she slid backwards. Her feet stood firm, not tilting her over, but Hibiki could continue to speak while she continued to have this power struggle.
"...but no matter how many there are, there's always one where we succeed!"
This angered Leia, seeing Hibiki not give up in the face of absolute fact. Leia knew someone who always believed in that philosophy, a miracle appearing out of nowhere to completely turn the tides in their favor. She hated the way that person thought, but...
Why did she...?
Leia tilted her sword slightly, slashing upward and creating distance between herself and Hibiki. If the Godslayer continued to stand in her way, then so be it.
"If that's the case..."
She held her sword up, pointing it at Hibiki. If she was going to believe in this philosophy, she'd want to see it firsthand. "...show me that one-in-a-million outcome."
With a final huff, she narrowed her glare at her, anger rising in her eyes as she let out another declaration. "I'll tear it from your grasp right before you can even reach for it."
We're still on the final fight (I'm dragging it, I know, but I guess me visualizing the fights in grave detail and putting them to words says more about the creative side of my brain, since I'm spending multiple chapters on them), so good job making it this far! Stay tuned next week for the penultimate chapter of the prologue arc of the twins!