"Rainbow Road!"
Ivy knew enough of Lila's internal workings to discern her meaning.
"I can help." Lunae entered their Psionic link, her voice raspy and labored. "Go, Lila."
Both Ivy and Lunae held out their hands, encasing the Earthling in a pale blue field. Their combined effort was more than enough to provide practical invulnerability, however temporary. All that was needed from Lila was the tenacity to follow through.
"Shit!" Rena placed herself in front of Alia. "Hold on!"
There wasn't enough time to protect them both. A true conundrum, if only Rena wasn't committed to her partner.
"Hey!" Alia squirmed, her body shifting into a purple mist.
Lila crashed through like a wrecking ball, tackling Rena to the ground as a path of dust surrounded her wake.
"Sorry!" The Earthling peeped.
Lila shook her head, watching as a slight flicker emanated from Rena's ambience. That should have been the end of it. But a slight twitch from Rena's crumpled frame had something else to say.
"O-ouh," she brushed aside her pink bangs, discovering a wet mark on her cheek.
"Stay down." A bright shimmer of magenta coated Lila's fist. "Nobody has to get hurt."
Rena flinched as a web of Psionic energy pinned her to the ground. "R-really now," the girl croaked.
"Alia will be fine, I prom-," Lila froze in place, detecting a sharp pang in her spine.
She hadn't realized her protective barrier was gone. However, a quick glance over her shoulder revealed Lila's folly.
"Watch out!" Ivy's message came just a moment too late.
The heiress herself was preoccupied with Mina, scrambling to keep her staff held in place. Lila was somewhat surprised to see her bulwark of a partner falter, only to buckle under a new revelation.
"Worry about yourself," Alia spat, tugging on the roped knife embedded in Lila's back.
She had her suit and the Ambience to spare her from the bulk of the pain. Still, there wasn't much Lila could think of before Alia wrangled her to the ground with a mighty tug. Her attention, however, was still largely fixated on Ivy.
Weren't there only two twins?
Lila's blurry vision kept her from a solid conclusion. But she could have sworn there were two figures assailing her partner. An impossible notion, given Sonera was still locked in combat.
Or was it?
"Wah!" She squeaked, rolling around the dirt as a pair of dark legs wrapped around her neck.
Far away from the Earthling, Sonera had doubled her efforts, abandoning all notions of a peaceful resolution. There was nothing she hated more then a conspirator, let alone one that plotted against Lunae. It wasn't surprising then to see her blade run hot with the gilded symbols of the Consortium running along its sharpened edge.
"You," Sonera growled, striking Mina till her knees pressed against the sand.
The twin was running out of options, her forearms beginning to catch fire despite the frost that permeated the air. One Psionic trick was not enough on its own to hold Sonera at bay.
"It's her or us," Mina spat, catching Sonera in the eye.
A bold move, given her position. But space had to be made somehow. What better way than to take a kick to the chest?
Mina's ambience flickered. She was hardly durable when faced with the prosthetic strength of an already fierce Psion. But the twin was far from empty, nor was she fazed by the odds.
"We know what you are," Mina wiped her mouth from the blood that had erupted from her gut. "Monster."
Sonera was already beyond quipping and barking. She could have said something along the lines of "look who's talking", or "says the gunrunner", but nothing would satiate her true desire.
Mina could see that clear as day. Escalation, she figured, was the only way out from the start. The twin frowned once more before crossing her arms in what appeared to be a ritualistic stance of sorts.
"Hm," Sonera reacted. Even she was impressed.
Mina's figure erupted into a myriad of prismatic light, blinding Sonera for just long enough to shroud the emerging figure.
A second Mina.
The twin of a twin.
Her sister had already relied on a similar trick to contend with the heiress. But unlike her cautious friend, Sonera was only further enraged. It was as if she finally had the excuse to go all in.
Doesn't it feel good?
Not at all like those foreign meat bags.
These are your own kin.
Lunae crawled towards the assassin, sensing her swelling mania. "Sonera," she croaked.
It was practically a field day for the ghastly entity her mother called Neirophen. Lunae was injured. Lila and Ivy were in danger. Why not cut loose?
Sonera blinked at the duplicate of Mina, standing shoulders-width from its creator. "Fine," she huffed, grasping at the air with a clawlike grip.
Mina struck a proper flourish, much like a dancer. Sonera, however, responded with all the grace of a rabid beast, using her Psionic grasp to warp her blade into a curved mangle.
Her eyes spoke a thousand words. She wanted the fight. She needed the sweet release of a killer's validation.
A reminder that the world needed her talent.
"Come on," Ivy huffed, prancing about on one foot a few feet behind the assassin. "Come on."
She was pacing her efforts, using her entire arsenal to manage Dina and her Psionic duplicate. But that could only last so long.
"We only need one of you," Dina tried to intimate her. "Let me at that alien."
"Go to hell," Ivy cursed. "Give me another moment and I'll send you there myself."
Unfortunately, the process of mimicking her foes' rather strange abilities proved to be difficult, especially with her limited data. Ivy however was rather determined to learn regardless, her eyes flickering between red and blue.
Back to Lila, the spry little Earthling was trapped in a rather awkward predicament.
"Get off me!"
"Just go limp already," Alia barked, tightening her hold.
The dancer couldn't employ her typical means of strangulation on Lila, not after her promise to Lunae. So a set of thighs around the neck had to suffice. Only, they really didn't, not compared to the fantastical display of Psionic potential that raged on around her.
"No!" Lila retorted, activating her boots to slide across the sand with Alia in tow.
From where they lay helplessly, Rena and Lunae could only watch in disbelief as the two girls flailed about. Fortunately, only one of them was truly out of the fight.
"I'll be gentle," Lunae whispered to Rena with her Psionic voice. "I promise."
Rena didn't respond, simply turning away in disgust. Though her sense of disdain was directed mainly at herself.
"S-slow down!" Alia clenched her muscles.
"Uck!" Lila choked. "N-no!"
Round and round they rolled, propelled by their desperate struggle. It was quite the nauseating affair, all things considered. Thankfully Alia had seen worse.
Or at least, she thought she had. For just as soon as Lila went for another spin, the dancer nearly crumbled. Even the sounds of battle around her began to fade for reasons unknown.
"Lila!" Lunae cried.
The Earthling went limp, having accidentally exhausted herself. But Alia wasn't exactly faring much better thanks to Lunae. It took her quite a while to even discern the princess's technique.
"Y-you bitch," her teeth chattered. "F-fuck."
Lunae wobbled towards the dancer with a concerned expression. She wasn't exactly trying to exact a grueling blow against Alia, but when it came to the careful regulation of her airways, there was bound to be a side effect or two.
"H-hold still," the princess stumbled, summoning her crook.
Alia tried to crawl away, rolling onto her stomach in a desperate bid. But in the end, she could do nothing to prevent the inevitable.
"D-don't you d-," Alia gagged as a wooden crook nestled under her throat.
Lunae pulled her up like a fish from the river, carefully lacing a set of fingers across the dancer's mouth.
"Mmph!"
"You'll be fine," Lunae whispered, managing a caring grin. "I promise."
That was perhaps the only guarantee she could give. For with three vulnerable girls to protect, and in her state, there was nothing Lunae could do to stop Sonera.
"Strange choice," Dina whispered into Ivy's mind. "That partner of yours. Are you okay if she goes?"
The heiress cared little for the remark itself, for a quick peek around her shoulder had already confirmed the worst.
"Lila," Ivy worried, grappling with both assailants as they forced her against the wall. "Stay away from her!"
"One of you has to go," Dina huffed. "It's not personal."
"Who told you that?!"
"We can't take her alone. Yrix promised us a way out."
"W-what way out!"
Ivy felt herself kindred with Sonera in that moment. The mere thought of losing one of her family to something so preposterous as a back-ended deal practically drove her mad. Mustering her strength, the heiress released a Psionic blast, providing just the opening she needed to flatten her hand and attempt a vicious chop.
That was perhaps the first time she relied on the brutality of her design. With a single swipe, Ivy managed to cut Dina in half. Yet the twin's disappearing figure and lack of blood revealed the folly of it all.
Wrong one.
Somewhere in their duet, Dina had switched places with her copy. Not only that, she had infused its dying echoes with a storm of electricity that, upon release, assailed Ivy with devastating effect. The heiress soon collapsed with a violent scream.
"Ivy," Sonera whimpered in a low voice.
Now.
No one can see you.
Do it.