The thunderous impacts of the brawling women rippled through the stadium, creating tremors and quakes in their wake as the building's very foundations were shaken to the core. With every clash of their weapons, a torrent of wind surged from the icy dome, cracking it as it struggled to contain their fight. Anything unfortunate enough not to be hunkered down was swept off the floor and flung high into the air.

  Debris of furniture and broken rubble rained down under the force of the shockwaves, slamming against the floor with enough force to pulverise the objects into dust. Amidst the chaos of the battle, Lola and Co booked it away from the main stage, running between the few rows of seats that managed to avoid the shockwaves' grasp.

  At the back of the group of kids, Lola rolled around in her furball mode, a low murmur in her movement as her momentum slowed and small spurts of green keither[dense particle-like energy] escaped her fur. She clung to her legs, wrapping her arms around herself as she huddled up in a fetal position, mulling over how it should be her fighting the masked attacker.

  In her mind, Lola sat atop one of the many pale pink clouds within the sea of clouds that sprawled out endlessly before her. She lowered her gaze to a bundle of clouds beside her before reaching out a hand to squeeze it. The cloud's texture was nothing short of the taste of cotton candy transformed into the sensation of touch. The texture was almost too soft to the touch, overpowering Lola and momentarily freeing her from any form of thought.

  "I suppose this makes three failures now...," Lola murmured meekly, her voice barely audible even in the silence of her Azuregate. Giving the cloud clump one last squeeze, Lola savoured the softness of the cloud before tossing it away, along with any hope she might've had for a cool boss fight. She followed the small clump, watching it slowly drift away with a pang of shame in every atom of her body.

  "Geez, save some self-loathing for the rest of us," a snarky voice teasingly chimed in, breaking Lola's focus and replacing it with shock. Startled, Lola staggered to her feet, darting her head around in a panic. She searched for the voice, her mind racing from the sudden voice and how eerily identical it was to her own.

  Eventually, Lola's eyes snapped onto the small cluster of clouds, drawn to it with how they stuck out like a sore thumb against its fellow clouds. Unlike the other clouds, these were of a pale green hue and emitted a deep azure glow, drawing Lola's attention further in with their unsettlingly mesmerizing light. The sight brought Lola a strange sense of comfort, filling her stomach with a fluttery sensation, one like moths swarming to life under the light of a lamp.

  As she huddled beside contrasting sight, the pale green clouds began to wobble and jiggle like gelatin, their movements precise, almost sentient in nature. With each passing moment, the cloud's movements became increasingly human-like, rising up as its form slowly changed. The pale green clouds condensed and morphed, shifting into a humanoid shape and one distinctly identical to Lola.

  Lola stood in surprised bewilderment as the pale green cloud's transformation took final shape. Her surprise was only heightened by two spheres of dark blue flames popping out of its face, mimicking the semblance of eyes. Although mesmerised by it, she was torn between overreaction and questioning the cloud silhouette of its origins. The Cloud Lola raised its hands to her hips and swayed her four cloudy kitsune tails back and forth, finding the look on Lola's face gleefully delectable.

  "What's with that dumb look, Loulea, cloud got your tongue?" Cloud Lola remarked cheekily, the contours of her cheeks rising into the silhouette of an ear-to-ear grin. Lola recoiled back, gasping in abstract terror as she threw her arms over her face.

  "My legal name! That can only mean you're..." Lola exclaimed, her volume trailing off into a muffled mess as the identity of the Cloud Lola became clear. Cloud Lola shot her non-cloud counterpart a cheeky finger gun, adding in a sneaky wink as she wagged her finger at Lola.

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  "Bingo, I'm...". Cloud Lola paused, momentarily buffering as she placed her hand on her chin. "... hmmm, I suppose I should give myself a name, shouldn't I.". Rubbing her chin with a rhythmic pattern, Cloud Lola rocked her kitsune ears back and forth; their movements were deliberate and contemplative, like the heavy swings of a pendulum within a grandfather clock. The deep azure glow of her body pulsed, matching the tempo of her rocking ears.

  "Given how Papa and Other Papa's naming scheme goes. How about... Lou...tia? Yeah, Loutia sounds alright," Cloud Lola muttered aloud, nodding her head in self-confirmation. Loutia grinned, pleased with her decisive decision. However, she slowly drifted her focus to another place, allowing her mind to wander and wonder a single thought.

  "Say," Loutia stated calmly, her timbre conveying a mild sense of sternness as she shifted her gaze to her counterpart. Loutia's intense stare sent a ripple of anxiousness through Lola, giving the girl a peculiar feeling of deja vu. With Loutia's stare staring her down, the image of a serious Chronia flashed in Lola's mind, only compounding the familial feeling and making her shiver under its pressure.

  "Yeah?" Lola replied, her response carrying a minor sense of apprehension. Her inflexions and body language mirrored her ruffled nerves, her four tails stiffening into spikey deathtraps as she nervously clasped her hands together.

  "What's even going on out there? You almost stirred me into being the other day but today was especially grating," Loutia remarked, letting out an exhausted yawn as she placed her arms behind her head. As Loutia's words hit her, Lola froze, her pupils dilating at being put on the spot. She could barely muster the strength to keep her tails raised any longer before allowing them to go limp and collapse, striking the cloudy floor with silent disappointment.

  "Oh... just feeling a little down is all," Lola mumbled, keeping her eyes fixed on her feet as she felt Loutia's contemplative stare drill into her. Loutia raised an eyebrow, a pouty frown forming to match it as she looked Lola up and down.

  She briefly looked at Lola's pancakes for tails to confirm her suspicions and gauge Lola's sincerity. The stillness of Lola's tails, limp and seemingly lifeless, told Loutia all she needed to know, leading the cloud kitsune to huff amusedly.

  "Alright lay it on me," Loutia announced, her voice demanding yet oddly inviting. Lola shot her head up, her lips quivering as a single one of her tails wagged weakly behind her.

  "Huh?" Lola uttered in confusion.

  "Don't you huh me... or I?" Loutia began, but she caught herself from getting sidetracked by the semantics of kitsune essence identification. With a quick shake of her head, Loutia dispelled any absent thought, knowing now wasn't the time for that and that helping her counterpart was the task at hand for her.

  "Look, what I'm saying is, I want you to tell me everything that's bothering you, from start to finish," Loutia stated smugly, although with some frustration mixed in. As she pouted, Loutia felt a tug on her arm, urging her to look down at the cloud baby pulling on her arm.

  "Is now really the time for flashbacks?" the smaller ocean-blue Cloud Lola asked, her tone goofily serious despite her efforts to be taken seriously. In her adorable fury, OB Cloud Lola raised her freakishly long, snake-like tail before slamming it against the ground with a muffled thud. Her impact kicked up a puff of clouds, bolstering the little Lola's eye catchiness as she shot out her two draconic-shaped cloud wings on her back and the two near the end of her tail.

  Loutia's tails bounced around, moving with a smug twirl that portrayed her emotion in the absence of her featureless face. The playful sways of Loutia's tails served to anger the small cloud being even further. She swiped her arms downward in a pout, causing the thin horns on her forehead to wobble aggressively like flowers in the wind.

  "Oh trust me, we've got plenty, Photon. After all, people can think really fast when needed," Loutia stated matter-of-factly as she placed a hand on Photon's horn and cheekily wiggled it, much to Photon's dismay. Photon cast her head to the distance, studying her surroundings for any sign of assistance. But try as she might, she couldn't gleam anything, not even as much as spotting the individual she had been beside moments prior to Lola's arrival.

  As the trio of Lous continued their interaction, a fourth smaller Cloud Lola sat at a distance from the others, easily obscured thanks to her red colouration blending in with the ambient pink clouds. She silently observed the others, the light rocking of her body suggesting her desire to join in but also her sheepishness as a glowing red chakra ring hovered behind her head and basked her in its light.