The main clone did not answer imdiately.
She only watched him across the ruined construction floor, her copied face half-lit by red ergency lamps and the dying glow of foxfire drifting through the dust. Around them, the corpses of the other clones lted into black residue, forming thin streams that slowly crawled toward her feet.
"Don’t start." He growled.
He could have stopped it, but it still made him curious.
The mont the first trail touched her toes, her body shuddered. One tail twitched, then another, as the streams flowed back into her body, strengthening her muscles, the mist floating around her ankles, and the flas overlapping her blade.
"So that’s how it works," he muttered.
The main clone smiled again, though hatred remained beneath it.
"Those failures were never ant to kill you."
"They were offerings."
The word made his gaze sharpen.
"No shit, I bet your master, or should I say creator, made you to test my current strength, in order to form the perfected version..."
"Eh?" Kumiko’s eyes widened with a gasp.
The black residue continued feeding her. Muscle shifted beneath her skin. Her wounds closed. Her five tails grew fuller, glossier, more vivid than before. She no longer looked like a cheap imitation, which made Nikolai’s stomach ache.
He wanted to rip off her head, and yet needed any information possible.
She was becoming more complete.
Nikolai flexed his muscles and extended his claws, and the concrete beneath him cracked.
"Franz really is a pathetic little parasite."
"Do not insult Father! He is the one who created us with love and affection!"
"Hah! Then why the fuck did he send you here to die?!"
"Lies... don’t lie!"
Despite her outcry, her eyes remained desolate as his words clearly struck deep into her chest. For a mont, she looked less like Kumiko and more like one of her clones... a little more youthful and naive. Filled with anger and desperation. It vanished quickly, but Nikolai saw it.
’Why is this harder than it should be?’
He took one step forward, and she dragged herself back through the rubble.
Terror began to spread across her face.
"Why do you flee after becoming even stronger?"
"...Because I am not stupid."
A low chuckle escaped Nikolai’s throat as he squatted beside her, pushing the clone’s head against the floor. "Well, I guess you’re smarter now."
Her tails spread behind her, but she didn’t launch herself at him. Instead, the pink mist gathered above her shoulders and hardened into thin, glowing spears. They trembled in the air, each one carrying the sa sweet scent that made his throat tighten.
Nikolai lifted his gaze slowly.
"So you can use them like this too?"
The clone’s lips twisted.
"I inherited everything they had."
"Then use it properly."
Her eyes flashed with hatred as the first spear shot forward.
Nikolai tilted his head, letting it graze past his cheek. It cut through the concrete pillar behind him and buried itself halfway through the stone.
The second lanced towards his abdon.
He slapped it aside with his claws, shattering it into pink sparks that burned against his fur.
The third spear did not aim at him, but struck the floor beside his foot.
Mist burst upward instantly, wrapping around his leg before he could step away. The clone used that mont to roll backwards, escaping from beneath his hand and sliding across the broken concrete with surprising grace.
"Not bad," Nikolai mumbled.
"I don’t need your praise, bastard!"
She lifted both hands.
Foxfire gathered around her palms, while the mist around Nikolai’s leg tightened. It wasn’t strong enough to hold him, but it slowed him just enough to make her next attack dangerous.
She swung one arm.
A crescent of foxfire tore through the air.
Nikolai raised his forearm.
The fla struck hard, bursting across his guard and lighting the cracked floor around him. Heat crawled through his fur and bit into the skin beneath. He growled, more irritated than hurt, then ripped his leg free from the mist with brute force.
The clone tried to back away again, without her previous look of terror.
"You’re getting better," Nikolai said.
"Shut up!"
She lunged at him.
But she’d lost the previous grace and elegance; instead, she just threw her anger at him, no longer pretending to be Kumiko.
She rushed like an angry child trying to prove she deserved to exist. Foxfire covered her claws, mist trailed behind her heels, and all five tails lashed outward to strike from different angles.
Nikolai bounced from left to right, dodging and avoiding her most deadly strikes, while letting her tails and weaker attacks brush against his fur.
Until she stabbed towards his throat with her tail.
He caught her in his grasp and yanked her forward as her eyes widened.
Her body flew toward him, but she twisted in midair and drove both burning claws into his chest. The montum of her attack sank deeper than before, creating several deep red finger marks.
Nikolai grinned through the pain.
"There you are."
He headbutted her.
The impact smashed her nose flat.
With a crunch, she stumbled backwards, blood pouring down her lips. Before she could recover, Nikolai stepped in and punched her stomach. The blow folded her body around his fist and lifted her from the ground.
She crashed through a stack of steel beams.
The clone coughed black blood, but pushed herself up quickly. Her arms trembled. Her tail’s shook. The mist around her flickered, unstable and wild.
"You think you understand ?"
"No."
Nikolai walked closer.
"But, it’s better to fight against the angry you than when you pretended to be my wife."
Her expression tightened, and she scread, "Stop talking!" Her five tails fluffed up as she held her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Look, how cute are you now?"
"I said stop!"
The clone scread and hurled every remaining spear at him.
One pierced his shoulder.
Another cut his side.
A third scraped along his ribs.
The clone tried to retreat, but his hand closed around her throat and slamd her against a half-broken pillar. The concrete cracked behind her back. Her tails thrashed wildly, striking his arms, chest, and face with desperate force.
"You’re not Kumiko."
Her eyes burned.
"I know that!"
"Oh? Then... do you have nas?"
The clone stared at him through furious tears, her throat pinned inside his clawed grip and her copied face twisted with humiliation. Her five tails kept striking him, but the blows had already lost their strength. They slapped against his arms, shoulders, and chest like wet ropes, leaving shallow burns and sars of pink mist that died against his black fur.
"N-Nas...?"
"Yeah." Nikolai leaned closer, his claws tightening just enough to make her voice rasp. "Did Franz give you one, or are you just another tool he planned to throw away?"
Her lips trembled.
The anger in her eyes crackled again, and beneath it, sothing small and miserable appeared. It was ugly to look at because it was too human. Not Kumiko. Not a wife. Not even a proper enemy. Just a thing born yesterday, wearing a stolen face, desperate to believe its creator loved it.
"Father... said..." Her voice shook. "Father said I was the closest."
Nikolai’s expression hardened.
"That’s not a na."
"He said..." Her tails lowered slowly. "He said I was almost perfect."
Nikolai didn’t find her tearful words moving. He had already killed too many things wearing the faces of won he loved. Whatever pity tried to rise inside him was crushed beneath the thought of Franz touching Kumiko’s blood, asuring her body, recreating her voice, and teaching this imitation how to hurt him with it.
"Almost perfect," he repeated.
The clone’s eyes widened slightly.
"No..."
"You don’t even have a na."
Her mouth opened, but nothing ca out.
Nikolai slamd her into the pillar again.
The concrete split wider behind her back, dust raining over her black hair and trembling ears. Her body jerked from the impact, and the foxfire around her hands went out completely. The mist around her feet scattered. Whatever strength she had absorbed from the others could no longer answer her.
She was done.
"Tell where Franz is."
"I... I don’t know."
Nikolai searched her face.
She wasn’t lying.
That made him angrier.
Of course, Franz would not tell his disposable daughter where he hid. Of course, he would fill her with pride, send her to die, and deny her even the dignity of useful knowledge.
"Then tell what he wanted."
Despite her struggle, she failed to escape, and her breathing beca ragged as she spat out her answer without a trace of the affection from earlier.
"You!"
"Be specific."
"Your blood..." she whispered. "Your real blood, not the fake one taken from your kin...."
"I see."
Nikolai released her throat.
The clone dropped to the floor, knees hitting the concrete with a thud. She coughed, clutching her neck with both hands, but did not run. She couldn’t. Her legs shook beneath her, and her tails lay limp across the debris.
Nikolai stood over her.
The difference between them beca absolute.
She looked up at him, hateful and broken.
"You bastard..."
"There it is again."
"I hate you."
"Mhm, the feeling is mutual."
He reached down and seized her by the hair, lifting her just enough that her feet dragged against the floor beneath her. She clawed weakly at his wrist, but her nails barely scratched his skin.
"You should hate Franz more."
Her eyes widened.
Nikolai drove his other hand into her chest.
There was no struggle this ti.
His claws passed through copied flesh, cracked fake ribs, and found the core pulsing where her heart should have been. It beat hard against his palm, hot and slick, full of the powers stolen from the other clones.
She gasped as if trying to beg him to stop, but it was too late.
Nikolai gripped the core carefully, feeling the runes crawl over its surface.
"Was I... close?"
"Hm, To Kumiko?" Nikolai stared at her.
The clone struggled to nod.
"Well, at one point I truly thought you were my wife." He smiled.
Her expression brightened as black fluid dripped down her cheeks like tears, and she smiled faintly.
Then crushed her core.
Black fluid burst between his fingers, and the clone’s body arched once before all five tails went slack. The copied face lost its borrowed warmth, its borrowed hatred, and its borrowed life all at once.
She hit the concrete softly compared to the others, then began dissolving into black residue and pale ash.
He watched until nothing resembling Kumiko remained.
Only then did he turn toward the red lights burning across the ruined construction floor.
"Goodbye."
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