"Word has become...increasingly delayed."
"You're allowed to complain. Teradex has either lost a significant portion of their satellites post the Consortium's invasion of Sol, or they're turncoats. I surmise there would be a bit of both at play, knowing them."
Algernon looked up at the stars through his office window. Grand as it was, the distraction meant nothing given his remote connection to the Tessellation interface. His wife, on the other hand, was quite busy fiddling with a monitor, her skeletal hands tensing up with frustration.
"Pasquinade is still online; it's merely ceased transmissions," the Mimic paused. Ivy's mother always felt a bit odd mentioning its name. "Should we consider the mission a failure?"
"No," Algernon remained stoic as ever, gazing up at the night sky. He could hardly see it through Calisto's fog. "I shan't expect it to prevail against their Arch-Flayer on the first attempt. As long as it's functional, Pasquinade can collect data. It will improve; find a time to strike. All is well."
"And Ivy?" Her voice carried weight. "My daughter."
"Her archival mind came online, yet I cannot confirm if she accessed it," Algernon mused, folding his arms behind his back. "Curious. Perhaps she too is growing."
"You say it as if there's a benefit?"
"Our daughter is strong. Foolish, but strong," Algernon's mechanical voice crackled. "Don't expect another update for a long while. Sol is a lion's den now. More of the Consortium arrives every day."
"How fortuitous we didn't have our family on Venus," the Mimic quipped in a feminine voice. "I hear they've run into a bit of rain."
Algernon turned his head. He wasn't ready for such an accurate depiction. Not even from his own creation.
"Yes," he replied sluggishly.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Hmm," Lunae purred. "How exciting."
Sonera and Ivy were still circling one another, waiting for the right time to strike. They had already scanned each other's minds by then - read the strategy play by play. The intention was for a swift incapacitation, ideally via a grapple of sorts. Something effective yet undoubtedly on the gentler side.
"Why not dress for the occasion?" The princess raised her hand, interrupting the tension. "Surely a skirt won't suffice."
Sonera looked confused. "When has that ever stopped us?"
"She wants us to be thematic." Ivy rolled her eyes. "Fine, what do you have in mind?"
Lunae snapped her fingers, encasing the two girls in a thin layer of Psionic energy.
"What the-," Ivy scoffed, staring down at herself as her outfit changed.
A shrug was all Sonera could produce. She had been in a one-piece before. It was Ivy who seemed rather offended.
"Excuse me?" Ivy pinched at the white latex. "A leotard? Me?"
"I got the colors right," Lunae clapped with a cheeky grin.
"And why is mine more showy!?" The heiress glared at the diamond-shaped window for her chest to breathe through.
Sonera, on the other hand, wore a sparkly orange and black leotard, with a completely concealed chest. Though not even she was spared from Lunae's design at her rear. Still, she was rather comfortable in the new attire. It wasn't all that far off from her ballerina look.
"I think you're pretty." Sonera's face lit up.
"Uh," Ivy blushed. "Y-you too. Nice figure."
That was the nice way of telling Sonera she was flat. But then again, Ivy had an appreciation for that. If only Lila could be there.
"Yay!" Lunae stood up to perform a twirl, transforming her own outfit to fit the theme. Though she, of course, wore the most revealing attire, with a slit for both her chest and stomach. She didn't even bother to hide her tail. "This will be so much fun."
"Glad someone thinks that," Ivy sighed.
The heiress had never seen where Lunae's tail connected to her body, and was surprised to find that it attached to the girl's spine from just above her rear.
"Let's begin," Sonera tried to grab Ivy's attention with a wave. "We should be productive."
She ignored Lunae's frown. As much as Sonera loved the princess, there was only so much time for leisure.
"Indeed." Ivy flexed her wrists, only to realize that Lunae's transformation had removed her glove. "Oh-."
"It's fine," Sonera held out her own mechanical arm. "See?"
The heiress practically beamed with appreciation. She nearly forgot where she stood. Though Sonera's stance served as a rather swift reminder.
"Now then," Sonera inched forward, her legs spaced apart evenly in a guarded step.
Ivy wasn't nearly as familiar with martial arts, preferring to study dance and fencing during her time on Calisto. She felt somewhat intimidated watching Sonera draw closer with clear purpose and form. But for a Mimic, perhaps such comparative deficiency was worth observing.
"Hm," Ivy huffed, keeping her feet closer together as she extended a single arm.
Lunae had sat back down already and begun kicking her feet with sheer anticipation. Despite her girly charm, she was keenly aware of what was unfolding before her. Such attention to detail nearly matched that of Ivy.
Though of course, an Infestare had their instincts as well.
She saw it before it even happened. Sonera feigned a simple punch before ducking low for a sweeping kick. Ivy raised her leg high above her head in response, proving both her speed and flexibility. Yet when she sent her heel careening back down towards Sonera's head, she was intercepted by a claw-like grip.
"Shit," Ivy flinched, trying in vain to find her balance with only one foot.
Sonera yanked the heiress closer, grabbing her throat with a second hand before tackling Ivy to the ground. Ivy landed hard on her back with a thud as the sand kicked up around her. Staving off Sonera's claw-like grip around her throat, she began to growl like an animal.
"Flexible," Sonera pushed forward on Ivy's leg, surprised by just how far it could go.
"Naturally," Ivy tried to smile. Both she and Sonera took pride in their physicality. "Let's see you."
Ivy kicked at the dirt, catching Sonera's metal heel as the assassin's legs split apart. Without proper traction, the pair were soon forced into an awkward position. Still, they both proved flexible enough to avoid discomfort.
"Hm," Sonera puffed with a modicum of respect.
She released her grip over Ivy's throat as the pair began to roll around in the sand. Viscously, they struggled, staring each other in the eye in hopes the other would see their steel.
"You fight harder," the assassin growled, pinning Ivy to the sand by her wrists.
Ivy grunted, feeling a sharp pain in the inner thighs as Sonera hooked her heels around her own. "I have to."
She couldn't break free, and Sonera knew it. The pain was only getting worse and worse as the heiress was stretched to her limit. Submission was not an option, however, not even in a simple sparring match.
"It's okay," Sonera spoke softly. "I see you."
"I-." Ivy gasped. "No. What if she-."
"She sees you. We all do. Pain will get you nowhere."
Sonera felt like a hypocrite saying those words. But if she could assist another, then why not spout what she herself had failed to learn countless times. She couldn't look back at that moment, but Lunae was nodding.
"Ah!" Ivy grit her teeth. "F-fine!"
Sonera relaxed her legs, allowing Ivy to finally breathe a sigh of relief. She had won their little exchange. But something told her it wasn't going to get any easier moving forward.
"Do you need a-."
"I'm good," Ivy picked herself off the floor. "Again."
She had taken note of the spread Sonera used against her. Their equal flexibility meant the assassin could come up just short of her limits and exploit them with the right hold.
"Very well then," Sonera put her hands up.
Ivy kicked off her heels, much to Lunae's amusement. She needed the traction. The sad irony was that Sonera herself could do no such thing, even with her superior training. Her metallic heels were quite literally grafted on.
"Go," Ivy clenched her fists.
She moved quicker than before, intensifying her footwork before slicing at Sonera's chest with a flattened hand. The assassin pushed Ivy's hand aside before retaliating with a strike of her own, though it was deflected just as easily. Lunae watched with widened eyes as the pair engaged each other in a flurry of strikes and kicks.
Like dancers, round and round they went.
Awash in the sweat of their own ambition.
Sonera kept her eyes peeled for the same blunderous offensive she had seen from the heiress before. Yet it never came. Ivy had explicated the situation and begun to adapt.
"Quicker now," Sonera thought to herself, resolving to keep her composure instead of pressing desperately for an advantage.
That cold look in her eyes gave nothing away. She couldn't afford to tell the heiress how tired or how impatient she was getting. But the heiress was quite a bit more expressive.
Frantic, even.
Sonera probed her defenses with a forward kick before retreating with a spinning backhand. Such an acrobatic flourish was a habit of hers after so many sessions in the Martian Bratva. For that reason alone, Sonera's composure nearly broke as Ivy managed to replicate the same maneuver in response, forcing her into a hastier retreat.
"A Mimic," she thought to herself begrudgingly.
With her back against the wall, the assassin had anticipated a crushing assault. Ivy was no doubt full of tricks by then, saving them like a hidden arsenal. Sonera could already envision countless ways to stifle the momentum and turn it in her favor. That was how it usually went, after all.
Only, the attack never came. Ivy instead stumbled for the briefest of moments, her left leg twitching as it pivoted off the ground. She had halted her advance as her breathing became ever-so off-kilter.
Sonera saw right through the rouse. Ivy's weakened stance was genuine, yet also clearly a trap of sorts planted in hopes that Sonera would press forward with the full brunt of an arrogant soon-to-be victor. Even Lunae was beginning to lose herself in all the mind games.
Choosing to instead press Ivy into the corner, Sonera regained ground with a careful crab-like walk. She could practically feel Ivy's desire to push back. But the heiress wasn't in a position for offense, not with her increasingly sluggish footwork.
The sense of doom was all over Ivy's face. She had to make a move and fast, or risk being pummeled into the corner. Planting her feet in the ground, she reached for Sonera with an open hand, falling straight into the assassin's claw as she grabbed onto Ivy's wrists.
"Huh?!" Sonera finally squeaked, her mouth opening as her stoic face came loose.
Expecting Ivy to fall apart, she wasn't at all prepared for the heiress to suddenly double her strength and pull Sonera in with her own grapple. By the time the assassin tried to correct the situation with a jab, Ivy had already twirled behind her, still clinging to Sonera's arm. She was trapped in an arm lock.
"Ivy," Lunae gasped.
Sonera shifted her legs, expecting to be tripped to her knees. She wasn't at all expecting Ivy to swiftly abandon her hold on the assassin's metal arm, choosing instead to wrap her hands around the waist.
"Huh!" Sonera wheezed, her arms flailing in the air as she suddenly felt herself leave the ground.
The resulting suplex shook the ground, sand spitting into the air as Sonera fell onto her head, legs bent over her shoulders in a devastating position. A scraggly moan left her mouth before her arms went limp.
"Oh my," Lunae pressed a hand to her chest. She knew exactly how to feel once she saw Sonera's rear jut into the air. "Couldn't it have been me?"
"Got you!" Ivy clenched her teeth as she bent backward with all her might.
She fully expected Sonera to struggle. Yet instead, all she could feel was a twitch as the assassin's soft breath began to hitch. The fight was over.
"U-u-uh," Sonera's head ached as her senses became fuzzy. "G-give-."
"I know," Ivy had already relaxed her hold by then, standing over the assassin with a gracious smirk. "Here, let me help you up."
Sonera might have been there all day otherwise. She was well and truly planted in her precarious spot, having been throttled about like a rag doll. Ivy started to feel remorseful given the stipulations of the fight.
"Hah," Sonera wheezed as Ivy helped her into a lying position. "Y-you got me."
"Hardly," Ivy shrugged. "Wouldn't have worked if you had your Ambiance on."
"N-no," the assassin nodded in respect. "You did...well, Ivy."
It was always amusing for the heiress to see her friend become more talkative. Buried beneath all that silence and stoicism was a girl yearning for connection. It was indeed that phenomenon that had bewitched a princess into falling in love.
"Are you okay?" Lunae rushed to her side.
Sonera nodded once more. She hadn't exactly sustained any worthwhile damage. It was simply a surprise to be laid out so heavily.
"Is it weird to say you sound hot when hit?" Ivy quipped, kneeling beside Sonera.
"Sure, that isn't Lila talking?" Sonera smiled.
Lunae tried not to giggle. She didn't want to ruin the scene between the two girls. The admiration they had for each other was what she lived for.
Every second of it recorded in her mind.
Ivy loomed over Sonera, staring at her face from above. The assassin looked right back. Even upside-down, the heiress was quite the sight to behold.
Lunae clapped her hands as the pair touched foreheads in silent acknowledgment. They shared a few moments before the princess finally spoke up.
"Me next."