“Listen up, Vargr.” Kyouko had once told him a long time ago, a few months after they had first met. “You know what makes or breaks a machine? The way it’s built and the flaws in it. Now, there are two kinds of defects, an intentional one and a natural one. Intentional ones are simple, they’re designed to prevent it from breaking further, but they’re also the most rare. In most cases, the thing that breaks a machine is the result of carelessness. A part of the design that was overlooked, and when pushed in one specific point will cause the whole thing to go boom! And it’s not just limited to machines either! Everything humans do ends up like that!”

“Is that why my arm is burnt?” Ash had replied flatly. His partner had laughed in response before apologizing with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Nobody can predict and account for every single variable and weakness. Especially computers, because they’re only operating off what a human tells them to take into account. The little flaws add up until everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. But that can also be a good thing.” Kyouko gave him a vicious grin. “As long as you can find something’s weakness, then all you need to win is to just rip it open and exploit the hell out of it!”

It was something he, now she since the Valkryie Gear activated, was thinking as she fought Shizuka in the middle of the forest. The amount of firepower Anemone’s lackey was wielding was frankly absurd. Especially when one took in the fact that despite the vast variety, Shizuka was proficient in every single weapon that she pulled out. The living armory’s extreme offense became a sturdy defense that made it hard to get any good hits in, back when Ash was facing her with just his Vintrkind abilities.

“Unfortunately...” the white haired girl began, winking as she pulled out a pair of tonfas that actually sparked and crackled. Her blows clashed powerfully with the opposing Valkyrie. “That’s no longer going to cut it sweetie.”

Loptr. Ash had no idea who this mysterious Einherjar she was borrowing power from was, but she had become well acquainted with its abilities. It was not the invincibility of mighty Achilies, or whatever Pythagoras did. Instead, it came with a far simpler, but more useful, ability. Along with all the advantages that a Phase One valkyrie gave, at its very core what Loptr gave her was ‘variety’. Her weapon was fluid, one that could shift between melee and a firearm. Was it mere shapeshifting then?

Not quite.

Shizuka grit her teeth, quickly flying backwards to get out of Ash’s range. But in response, Ash gave the girl a smile as her tonfa let out a mechanical whirr. Static filled the air, and ash pointed one tonf in Shizuka’s direction. What followed next was quick as lightning, literally. A blinding flash, burning through Ash’s retina’s as it raced towards Shizuka. The attack ripped a corridor through the atmosphere before colliding into the armored valkyrie, only to vanish with a clap of thunder, leaving only the wafty smoke rising into the air and scorched black metal. Shizuka was fine, her Valkyrie Gear keeping her uninjured. But from the way she paused to catch her breath, this wasn’t a blow that she could just shrug off.

“I can’t see how much shield she has left but that probably took out a fair amount.” Liesa commented in Ash’s head. “This time you’ve gained quite the interesting bit of weaponry. How does it-”

“Heavy Ion carbines,” The white haired girl answered with her mind as she rushed to take advantage of the moment.

“And you know how that works?”

“Don’t be silly. Of course I don’t!” A rush of laughter burst forth from her chest. “You’re the one whose pretty head understands this stuff. I just go with what the Einherjar gives me.”

This was Loptr’s unique ability. Every time Ash was faced with a new weapon, it copied and created a new one for her to use. From the base pistol that she had been given, the twin axes of the Valkyrie she faced, Magnolia’s lance, etc. And it wasn’t just a simple copy either. No, this was an entirely new weapon generated from the data that she had gained. The more Ash used it, the more it grew and changed alongside her. Or in other words, Shizuka, who relied on her vast variety of weapons—

“If the weave of fate were any different, I would’ve gladly gotten to know you better,” Ash spoke as she transitioned into her spear. Magnolia’s lessons drilled into her as she struck at the weakened valkyrie. “But sadly, there is no red string between us!”

—was faced with the worst possible match up. The two continued their fight, seconds blurring together but each moment worth its weight in gold. Any advantage the black haired girl had was quickly counteracted as both Valkyrie trainees rapidly pulled out new weapons to match the other. Faced against the vintrkind’s ever growing bag of tricks, the only thing that Shizuka could usewas her own skill. But eventually, even that wasn’t enough.

Ash flew from view as a hammer smashed down where she had been a moment ago. With a quick wave of her arms, misty frost engulfed the battle field, obscuring her opponent’s vision. Her helmet didn’t show her facial features, but from the way it was rapidly moving about in the mist, Ash had a good idea of what the girl was feeling. It was just unfortunate that the moment she saw through the wintry air, it was already far too late. A warm smile sat on Ash’s face even as the pistol she spun in her hands let out a frosty chill. “It was lovely having a match with you. Sadly, I’ll have to cut our little date here short. Hailstorm Blizzard!”

The wrath of wrinter made manifest ripped forth from the barrel. Ash’s vintrkind abilities enhanced the weapon even more as the full force of a hailstorm crashed into her foe. Shards of ice rained down upon Shizuka as a deathly chill sunk into her very bones. By the time the mist had cleared, what remained of the battleground was more similar to the lifeless world of snow outside Yggdrasil’s walls than the forest the Arena had been trying to imitate. There was a brief moment of silence before the black haired girl stood back up on her feet. Ash tensed up, only for her gear to shatter in a burst of light.

She sighed before smiling. “Cold isn’t it? I’d offer to warm you up, but I’m on a tight schedule.”

“I’m used to it.” Shizuka replied, bangs covering her face as she silently began to walk away only to pause. “...It’s something I have to do.”

“Hm?” Ash blinked in confusion.

“You asked why I’m following Anemone,” she replied. “I have my own reasons. If that’s what it takes, then there’s worse fates out there.”

That wasn’t even remotely close to an answer, but she had already begun to walk off through what remained of the forest. Well, it wasn’t like Ash was particularly interested in chasing her down for her life story at the moment. Whatever Shizuka wanted, now that she had been eliminated from the match it wasn’t any of her concern. That was that, and this is this after all. With a shrug of her shoulder, the white haired girl blasted off on swift wings, wind whipping in her face as she navigated her way through the wreck of a forest.

“I would advise you to keep a low altitude for now,” Liesa spoke up. “Miss Mimosa has taken up a guard post at the very middle of the field. If she spots you-”

“I’d get hit by another one of those sound attacks huh?” That was something that she couldn’t afford to take at the moment. Even if she came out of her fight with Shizuka relatively unscathed, she was still only the weakest link of the bunch. Quietly, she dropped down before the bright red pillar that came into sight and placed her hand on top of it. There was a brief moment of pause before Ash sighed in relief. “How’s Magnolia doing?”

“So far Anemone and Miss Magnolia are evenly matched, but the red team leader is clearly trying to exploit Achilles’ weakness. One slip up on her end and you’ll be the only Valkyrie remaining.” The Alfheim girl let out a breathless sigh. “But still, to see two Wing Candidates going at it is amazing!”

“Aren’t you a Wing Candidate yourself?” Ash replied with a wink, though she wasn’t sure if her operator could see it. “You shouldn’t sell yourself short. You’re beautiful in your own way as well.”

“Oh! Um, many thanks for the compliment but, um-”

“If you’ve got time to flirt, then get a move on,” Magnolia growled through what was apparently the team communication line. “Ash, there’s still one unclaimed node up on the field. Get to it!”

“You’re so rude even though I’m the team leader.” Unofficially. “But if you want to take charge that’s fine by me-”

“Move.” And with that Magnolia shut off her end of the communication line.

Ash let out a laugh that rang like a bell as she flew back into the forest. “She says she’s gotten used to it but she’s still as flustered as ever, huh?”

“I would advise against teasing Miss Magnolia at the current moment. Her situation requires as much concentration as possible.” Liesa let out a nervous laugh. “But knowing what state transforming puts you in, that could prove to be quite difficult.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t have any intention of dragging her down,” Ash replied. “For now, all we can do is focus on the things in front of us. Liesa, what are Mimosa’s movements?”

There was a second of pause before the green haired girl responded. “Miss Mimosa is patrolling the air, though she doesn't seem to be going on the offense just yet. Why she wouldn’t go for the nodes on our side of the field is… Given what Anemone said, it’s probably…”

The vintrkind had no idea what it was that the enemy leader had said, but she could still make a guess. “They’re focusing on keeping me away from Magnolia?”

“Anemone appears to be using ‘manpower’ as the foundation for her strategy,” her operator agreed as Ash approached the final, unclaimed node. “I cannot say I can deny her choice of tactics when the results are self evident. In a domination match, if the field transitions into a 2v1 then-”

“Don’t give up on us just yet, Liesa.” With a touch of her palm, the final node turned blue. “If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. The results won’t be clear until the match is over.”

All seven nodes had been claimed. The results were now 3-4, in favor of the Red Team. Both teams had lost one Valkyrie and the time had already reached the halfway point. Despite this fact, Ash couldn’t help her bright smile as she brushed a hand through her hair. “Now then, it’s time to hunt a wannabe wolf.”

Even if she was a romantic at heart, the Vargr of the Backstreets wouldn’t deny their savage nature.

---

Mimosa hunted in the sky. Unfortunately, with her bright pink hair and her Einherjar’s distinctive style, this made her a walking target as energy blasts suddenly shot towards her direction. With quick reflexes, she ducked around all of the shots before whipping around to face her attacker. Ash knew that with the senses of a Valkyrie Gear, the distance between the two meant nothing. The user of the Big Bad Wolf could see her the vintrkind plain as day. She didn’t mind making a show of charging up her pistol, as Ash spoke over the public channel. “Hello there, darling.”

“Ew.” Mimosa scrunched up her face. “Like, don’t say that kind of stuff. It’s weird. Weirdo.”

“Well, that was rude.” Ash replied, placing her hands on her hips before sighing. “Sorry, force of habit.”

“Gross habit.”

The vintrkind’s eye twitched as she stopped spinning her pistol. “You aren’t just going to let me pass are you?”

“Nope.” Somehow, despite speaking with their minds, the bubblegum haired girl managed to pop the P. “Anemone would get mad at me. Not that it would even change anything, you dorks are going to lose anyways.”

“So you say.” Dorks? Seriously? People actually talked like that? With a sigh Ash stopped spinning her pistol. “Oh well. It’s not like I planned on just fleeing from you anyways. An all-out attack is more my style.” The white haired girl shrugged. ”Still, it is a shame. Perhaps it’s just the splendor of Asgard, but you’re quite easy on the eyes. Even among gems-”

“Even among gems I still dazzle?” Mimosa raised an eyebrow before scoffing. “The Goddess in the Clouds, right? Yeah I’ve read that one. It was garbage. If you’re just going to quote romance novels at me, at least pick a good one.”

“...Alright, that’s it.” With zero hesitation, Ash pulled the trigger. “You’re dead.”

She was already in it to take revenge for Kyouko, but that was the last goddamn straw.

Mimosa’s wolf ears twitched. With frightening agility almost too fast to see, she wove through the blasts that were quickly replaced with chunks of ice. Brandishing her claws as in a flurry of swipes, she tore through all of them. A low growl left the Midgardian’s lips as she rapidly chased after the other girl, attempting to close in the gap as the frigid chill of winter rampaged through the air. Her opponent remained uninterested, almost bored by the turn of events as she opened her mouth and let out another shout. “I’ll huff and I’ll puff-! Awooo~!”

The sound reverberated throughout Ash’s body, sending her flying backwards into the sky. Every chunk of ice instantly shattered with a loud crack, not that she could hear it through her deafened ears. In a single instant, their position of offense and defense had been reversed. Mimosa charged in, her diamond claws glistening under the light. It was only thanks to the constant beatdowns courtesy of Magnolia and the winter flowing through her veins that Ash was able to regain her poise. Quickly summoning her spear, she used it to defend against the furious rain of blows. No, what the Asgardian was doing couldn’t be called that. They were so close to each other. Ash’s vision was nearly eclipsed by Mimosa’s face. That’s why, her expression was as visible as the sun in the sky. And all it served to do was piss her off.

“Why the hell do you look so bored?!” If she wasn’t transformed, Ash would’ve been able to keep her cool. But as it stood she couldn’t deny the fiery anger rushing up from her chest. The words were snarled before Ash even realized she had opened her mouth. A mistake that cost her, as the wolf wannabe unleashed a beam of sound straight into her face. It collided with her shield, knocking her backwards and taking off a few digits as Ash quickly pulled out her pistol and returned the fire.

Still, despite the chaos, Mimosa showed no expression of investment. It was like her body was merely going along with the motions. Her eyes were dull and tired, and with a blank expression she sighed. “There’s no need to go along with foregone conclusions, is there? It’s just a futile waste of energy. Just let yourself get eliminated so we can both get on with our day. Loser.”

“Sorry. You’re pretty and all but that’s a request I refuse to abide by.” The vintrkind grit her teeth as she swapped to her sparking axe. It was tiny in size compared to the tonfas and spear she was using earlier, but that didn’t matter much. Instead of rushing in towards Mimosa however, Ash tossed it straight at the girl. Without even glancing at it, the wolf girl stepped to the side, only for Ash to yank her hand back. A crackle of light tethered her hand to the weapon, turning the axe into a flail that slammed into the wolf girl’s shield. Despite its size, the impact clearly made a dent as Mimosa was sent tumbling through the air. “This is something I can’t just let go of after all!”

"Stubborn." Mimosa clicked her tongue. “So we pulled a prank on you and you wound up in the infirmary. What about it? You guys weren’t even in there for long. Stop making a big deal out of nothing. You’re probably just in this for the points.”

“That’s only a bonus.” The axe snapped back to her hands, handle striking her palm with a loud thwack. “Even if my goal is to become an A-Rank. Even if Breaker wasn’t permanently injured. What pisses me off is simple. People who think they can just get away with anything… Are the ones who I want to tear into the most.”

At the same time, they unleashed another bombardment on each other. Both wolves howled, but only one of them held any real heat in it. A gnashing of fangs filled with freshly thawed wrath. Ash didn’t even try to keep her cool any more, getting swept away in the embers of emotion as her eyes sharpened into daggers. The scar on her neck throbbed with phantom pain long since forgotten. Mimosa was only a lackey of the one who she really wanted to hunt, but it was the look in her eyes. The gaze that held nothing but disinterested in this whole affair, which caused Ash to sharpen her claws. Quite literally, as she pulled out her own version of the faux wolf’s claws.

“Ah, it feels good to have one of these.” The vintrkind could already feel the ice seeping into the weapon. “Now I can really get up close and personal.”

“Gross~” Mimosa drawled, before tapping her valkyrie gear. In a burst of light, her bright hair was hidden by a red piece of cloth that obscured her facial features. Only the wolf ears of the einherjar and her eyes—now faintly glowing—were visible. “Hood Mode.”

“A mode change, huh?” Ash hadn’t witnessed this since her duel with Magnolia. As fast as she could, she rocketed forward, aiming to prevent whatever Mimosa was preparing. “Shame it hides your face though!”

“Granny what big ears you have.” Her voice came out in a sing song, like a nursery rhyme. “All the better to hear you with.”

“Wha-” Was all that Ash could manage to get out before her trajectory came to a screeching halt. Noise roared in her eardrums, causing her to clutch at her head. Mimosa’s voice suddenly whispered and howled from every direction all at once. Even Ash’s own thoughts were drowned out by the cacophony of sound around her. But that just made her foe’s voice all the more piercing as she continued.

“Granny, what big eyes you have,” she continued. “All the better to see you with.”

Suddenly, Mimosa was everywhere. A copy of her utterly surrounding the white haired girl everywhere she looked. They all brandished their claws in unison, and Ash’s head quickly spiralled into confusion as her eyes began to swirl.

“Granny, what big teeth you have.” A Mimosa, the real Mimosa? Ash lost count as they all suddenly lunged directly at her. Her eyes and ears were both completely overwhelmed as the claws of the phantom wolves all sunk into her. The vintrkind couldn’t even tell where the pain was coming from. All she could register was the flashing of her gear’s HUD as her shields ended up taking a massive hit. “ALL THE BETTER TO EAT YOU WITH!”

“Ash! Ash!” Liesa’s panicked voice shouted, all of her usual politeness thrown out the window. The operator’s voice was like a buzz in the back of her mind, drowned out by the unceasing outside sensations clawing at her head. “A sound attack was dreadful enough but a sensory assault?! You need to get a hold of yourself, Ash! She’s directly taking advantage of the enhanced sensory input that the Valkyrie Gear gives!”

“That’s… easier said than done,” she replied. Or at least she thought she replied. With a wintry breath, the vintrkind turned her powers inward. Ice seeped through her veins and though they made everything around her sharper, it was a temporary numbness to Mimosa’s bombardment. Speaking of the girl- In the midst of the now countless clones that dotted the sky Ash had lost track of where she had gone. “Cheap trick.”

“Whiny~” She replied straight into Ash’s head, which meant Mimosa’s voice came from no direction at all. “Game’s over now. You’ll never be able to find the real me. Forfeit please, ‘cause I don’t wanna be here for the rest of the match.”

Yeah, that wasn’t happening. “Liesa, are those clones real or are they just an illusion?”

“Please pardon me for a moment” One excruciatingly, agonizingly, completely, utterly, painfully long second later the Alfheim girl reported back in. “Aha! This is a mere visual trick! By analyzing the footage, I can only see two shadows cast down upon the ground! Now I only need to calculate the trajectory of the light and… Oh.”

Ash didn’t need to be as smart as the Alfheim girl to know what made her pause. There were just too many copies of Mimosa. They almost seemed to be multiplying to the point where they blotted out the skies around Ash. Not to mention the speed at which they mixed and blurred together. It was impossible to simply calculate where the valkyrie was based upon her shadow alone.

“Why do you even keep trying?” Her voice reverberated throughout Ash’s head. “In this world, there are some things that are monolithic. Unchanging, unbreakable. Some people you can’t touch. There’s no point in even trying.”

“I can get you the general location of where she is!” Ash’s HUD began to flash as a reticle manifested in front of her. “But you’ll have to deduce which one is the true Mimosa by yourself! And quickly at that! If she’s charging up another attack again-”

“Then I’m screwed even if I win this fight.” The vintrkind muttered to herself. She didn’t know if her shield could take another one of those blows. At the very least, it would put her in critical condition. In no state to join the fight against Anemone. The ice at the tip of her claws grew just a bit longer as frost permeated from her exposed skin. “I’ll find the real her, no matter what.”

And with that, following the arrow Liesa made for her, she rocketed forward. The cluster of Mimosa’s vanished on impact, her claws phasing through the air. The vintrkind desperately searched through the identical pairs of dull eyes. The sharp tinge of winter enhanced her senses as she searched for even a hint of difference. Mimosa continued talking, her thoughts tinged with a latent melancholy. “Thinking something will happen just because you're angry is childish innocence. Instead of crying out, you should just turn your eyes away from the things you don’t want to see. That’ll make it all easier. ”

“...Will you give it a rest already?” Ash shot back. “Who are you even trying to convince with that crap? Nothing in this world is unbreakable.”

There was always a weakness. There was always something that could go wrong. That was what Kyouko had taught her, and something Ash had first hand experience with. It was impulsiveness, a knack for breaking things that she really shouldn’t, and a bit of plain old bad luck that brought her to Valhalla after all. But despite everything that had gone wrong in her life, succumbing to the harshness of winter would do her no good. She didn’t want to live like that anymore, living in a sunless world. It was the desires of her heart that kept her warm, a flame that pushed her back on her feet. That drove her to take a step forward towards tomorrow.

It was then, thinking about his old friend, that Ash remembered the words that she had left the arena with. “ ‘Remember how you had my back when we became Valkyries? Now I’m finally paying you back.’ ”

Her eyes glared daggers in the direction of the arrow. If Ash focused her eyes just right then… “Liesa, Breaker modified her equipment before we entered the match, right? Just what exactly did she do?”

“Well according to the logs…” Liesa quickly explained just what exactly Kyouko had added to her arsenal before they had deployed. The more Ash listened, the more she couldn’t help but laugh. Goddammit, of course she would. And her hint even mentioned it twice! The valkyrie trainee threw herself into the fray once more, but this time her eyes only focused on her prey.

“Ugh!” Mimosa groaned. “What’s with that creepy smile?!”

“You’re the one who has given up, Mimosa,” Ash replied as she swapped to her pistol. It was all clear to her now. From this distance, there was no way she could miss. The real wolves lurked in the shadows. They hid and waited where you never thought to look. And with one careless action they lept up to tear you apart. Mimosa may have been using the Big Bad Wolf, but it was clear that she was the one who had been devoured long ago. Turning her eyes away from even the chance of their victory, that she couldn’t help but be careless. Happy endings didn’t matter when it all ended the same way. “And when you’re dealing with Breaker, there’s only one way that things could end!”

Ash pulled the trigger. She only needed to do so once. The blast directly struck her target, Mimosa not even bothering to dodge. The one difference that separated this Mimosa from the rest of the clones around her. Hidden on her back, between her shoulder blades. In the one place that she couldn’t see, was the sticky bomb that Kyouko had planted with a slip of her finger. And with one shot from the white haired girl’s pistol, it detonated. “Something always explodes!”

A loud explosion roared in her ears as Mimosa was engulfed in a bright light. Heat rippled through the skies, dispersing the various copies. Only the true Mimosa was left, staggering out of the smoke, unable to recover from the sudden blow. Ash didn’t hesitate for a second as she pulled out the claws the girl had given her and lunged after the weakened false wolf.

“My name is Ash Whitelund!” The vintrkind howled, feelings rushing out of her body in a burning summer heat. Winter infused into her gauntlet, growing the claws to tremendous size. Viciously, Ash tore into what remained of the girl’s shield. “I will become a Wing! I will prove myself to the One Eyed Queen! I will hunt those who lurk in the shadows! No matter what stands in my way, I’ll just tear it to shreds! I’ll do so now and forever more!”

Ash would no longer turn her eyes away and live frozen in winter. She would never give up. Not until the end came.

With one strike, she shattered the girl’s shield. Mimosa crashing face first into the ground. She struggled to get back up, but in the end her Valkyrie Gear collapsed. Both fighters took a moment to breathe in silence. Ash’s breath was heavy as she let the adrenaline of the past moment wash over her.

That felt… Good to get off her chest. The emotion was tingling through her, a hot feeling that warmed her heart. It was something that she could perhaps, never say as her regular self. At least not as shouty, if at all. It was only the relief from the winter that her valkyrie transformation provided that allowed her to speak her mind in such passionate words. To think that the thing that had been embarrassing her so much until now could come in handy like this was just hilarious.

“...Weird!” Mimosa suddenly complained as she finally found the strength to pull herself off the ground. “You’re so weird. You won’t be able to defeat Anemone with just that you know? Even if she’s the last remaining team member, she’s still going to win this. She’s the best of me and Shizu after all.”

“Maybe so, but-” Ash looked around before spotting a certain red monolith. Thankfully, the node wasn’t that far from where they had landed. With a flourish of her hands, the white haired girl slammed her hand down onto the pillar causing it to flash blue. “-That’s not as set in stone as you think.”

“Hmph.” Mimosa scoffed, though this time there wasn’t much disdain carried in it. “You’re weird and gross but… I can’t say I completely hate it. Just don’t screw up now, got it? I’ll cringe watching that after everything you’ve said.”

The valkyrie smiled before gesturing to herself. “But you will be watching right?”

“Ugh. Yeah, yeah!” The bubble haired girl began to stomp off without waving goodbye. “La~ter!”

Ash watched her disappear in the distance before flying off the ground. “Liesa-”

“I’m already devising coordinates that’ll lead you to Miss Magnolia.” Her operator let out a laugh. “But to think that we’re finally going to turn this around! I know the match isn’t over yet, but I can’t help but smile!”

“Same here Liesa.” The Valkyrie moved forward, finally venturing into the territory of the Red Team.

The match was 4-3, in their favor. Victory was already in their grasp. All they had to do now was either eliminate Anemone, hold out until the timer ended, or claim the remaining nodes, and they’d win this match.

Finally, the winds of fortune had begun to blow in their favor.