Clone Girls

Bronz was extremely confused right now.

For some unknown reason, her newfound grandmother had suddenly dragged her to one of the private training rooms.

Before she knew it, she was wearing her training outfit too…

“U-uhm, grandmother?” She asked her grandmother in an unsure tone.

“Fight me.”

“E-eh?” Bronz remained frozen, unsure of what she just heard. What did her grandmother just ask of her in a cold tone?

“Are you deaf soldier? Fight me!” Emily said once more, this time in a more aggressive tone. This startled Bronz even more. What happened to her warm grandmother?

Still, since this was something her grandmother asked of her, Bronz obeyed.

“...Understood.”

Bronz took a fighting stance, but before she could even think about what to do afterwards, Emily disappeared from her field of view. Next thing she knew Bronz was looking at the ceiling.

“Ugh!” She let out a groan as she suddenly felt pain run through her body, making her understand what just happened. 

Her grandmother had struck her down with a single move…

“Get up. Quickly.” Emily said in a cold tone, before Bronz could even think further. Bronz’s instinct told her to get up, else she would receive a punch that might strike her down for good.

After a few groans, she was once again on her feet. She looked towards her grandmother. Emily had already taken a fighting stance, ready to strike her once again. Her cold face sent chills down her spine.

Bronz did not understand exactly what this was about, but she understood that she had to strike back, one way or another.

As such, she decided to attack first. She launched herself forward, trying to close the gap. 

Her grandmother did not move until the last moment and easily evaded her strike. Bronz continued her attack, trying not to lose her ground. She attacked again with a roundhouse kick. 

Emily simply raised her arm and blocked the hit, surprising Bronz. She had put a lot of strength into that strike yet her grandmother remained unfazed, not moving an inch and not even grunting.

Bronz locked eyes with her grandmother, a sudden glint appeared in Emily’s eyes and Bronz instinctively felt that she needed to make some distance between the two of them. She did not have the time to do so however.

She once again saw the ceiling in a matter of milliseconds.

“Get up.” Her grandmother said mercilessly again. Bronz looked at her. Her usually warm grandmother looked at her with a cold and haughty look. 

Bronz was more than unsettled by this cold look. It was as if her grandmother was looking at trash, and she was the trash itself. 

Bronz asked herself why. Why was her grandmother treating her like this?

She did not know. Who was she anyway to understand her grandmother? She was a failure afteralll…

No. She shouldn’t think like that. Her Mother chose her. She thought as she got up, trying to get out of her depressive spiral. 

She did not know exactly what her grandmother wanted, but she would obey and show her trustworthiness.

And so they continued to brawl… At least that was what Bronz wanted to think, but in reality, she was just getting beaten down by her grandmother…

After who knows how many times getting struck down, Bronz was at her limit, both physically and mentally.

She had tried her best but never managed to make a ‘hit’ on her grandmother. This was not what upset her the most however…

The cold look on Emily’s face never changed, even when Bronz showed signs of exhaustion. She just mercilessly told her to get up and continue…

What was all this about? What did she do wrong? Throughout the fight, Bronz could not help but think like that, but now, she thought nothing. She was just… too exhausted.

“Get up.” The order came again.

However this time, Bronz did not move.

“...Did you not hear what I just said? Get up.” Emily repeated mercilessly, not showing any change in her voice.

“G-grandmother… Please stop… I’m at my limit…” Bronz let out in a weak voice, her body completely drained.

There was a small silence as Emily stared at Bronz from above. Only the rasped breath of Bronz reverberated loudly within the private training room, and it showed no sign of calming down.

“...Pathetic.”

“!?!”

Bronz suddenly heard words with a tone that shook her to the bones.

“Is that all you’ve got? You’re not even worth ten regular clones. How can someone like you be in a commanding position?”

“...”

“Do you think you can protect anyone with such skills?”

“...” Bronz remained silent at the question, but she answered in her head. The answer was no.

If it was before, she would have confidently said yes. Nothing would stop her so long as she and her sisters were fighting alongside their mother or their prime sisters, but not anymore. After the events in the frozen facility, Bronz had rethought all these things in a negative way…

“Are you perhaps thinking that this is all your fault?” The cold voice asked as Bronz was lost in her depressive thoughts.

She did not answer, but she thought it was all her fault. She felt responsible for her sisters’ current state.

The loss of one sister was… ‘bearable’. She had to put it heavily under quotes. Bronz was not so optimistic that she thought of herself and her sisters as immortals, or invincible. She was very well aware that losses would come at one point, one way or another. 

They were truly lucky this time. No one had died, even the severely wounded and even the ‘missing in action’... Everyone came back, much to the relief of everyone…

And yet… they were in this state because she had not managed her sisters well, because she could not predict the movements of the enemies.

“That’s right, you’re the one responsible for this mess.”  The voice said mercilessly, making Bronz’s heart ache with sorrow. “And so is your mother.”

“...Eh?”

“She put you in command even though you’re not fit to command.”

“Th-that’s not- Mom is not at fault…”

“She is, and she knows it herself.” Emuily shut down Bronz every time she tried to defend her mother with a cold face. Her grandmother sighed. “At least she’s working on it, unlike you lots.”

“Eh?” Bronz was baffled.

“What? You think your sisters did nothing wrong too? Obviously they did, they’re as pathetic as you.”

“T-they’re not…”

“Is that so? Then prove it.”

“...”

“..You can’t right?” Emily sighed once again, shaking her head. “This is why you’re useless, and so are they.”

“No…”

“Yes, they are. Because of this, my bar of expectations for your ‘prime sisters’ is very low.”

“!?!” Bronz suddenly felt something shatter within her mind. What was her grandmother saying right now?

“I shouldn’t expect anything from them-”

“Don’t…”

“...Hoh?”

“Don’t you dare disrespect my sisters!” Bronz suddenly got up with sheer rage and charged straight at Emily.

“Oh my…” Emily muttered as she easily evaded the charge, a mysterious glint in her eyes. “That’s a scary expression you got here.”

“...My prime sisters are excellent. And so are my sisters!” Bronz shouted as loud as she could, unrelenting in her attacks towards Emily. “Jinxy might be clumsy, but no one is as devoted to mom as her! 100 can’t help but worry about Jinxy, so when she can she keeps an eye on her! Fana might go berserk, but she does so in order to protect her sisters! Breesse likes to target genitalias simply because she fears what males could do to us!”

She stuck as hard as she could, but Emily blocked each and every one of her strikes. The final strike blocked both of Bronz’s arms, restraining her as she faced Emily eye to eye.

“021, 081, 055 and the others… They all want to obey mommy’s will in their own way!” She said, glaring at Emily while trying to keep her breathing stable. 

“...And you?” Emily asked back, releasing Bronz. Bronz made some distance between the two of them.

“Like you said, I’m worthless, useless, pathetic, whatever you want to call me. I’m not fit for the role but… but… I refuse to let all their trust in me down!” She said, defending her sisters while depreciating herself.

“But isn’t all that trust just a heavy weight on you?” Emily asked back.

“It is! Sometimes I wish I could just let it out, throw my own tantrum like my sisters. But I won’t, because I’m-”

“You’re the one they rely on, you can’t show weaknesses. Just like your mother.” Emily finished Bronz’s phrase. Her face had now lost its coldness as she walked towards Bronz calmly. “And because your mother also relies on you, you don’t want to show any weakness to her. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, though I’m sure your mother would disagree. But if you’re gonna be like that, who will YOU vent up to?”

“...Eh?” The question left Bronz startled. What was this about now? Only then did she realize Emily’s atmosphere had completely changed from before.

“Everyone needs someone they can tell their problems to. Even your mother, and even me. But you, who do you have? No one, right? That’s why I’ll be that person.” Emily said, pointing towards herself before opening her arms, a warm smile on her face. “Come on… Let it all out.”

Something broke within Bronz’s mind, as if the door blocking all her emotions just opened. She jumped into her grandmother’s embrace.

“Ugh… *snif* Uwaaah! Why is mommy putting so much pressure on me! And my sisters, why can’t they be more independent!?”

She cried her heart out.

“Oh my, the flood gate opened faster than I thought. Welp, I should have expected this, she’s still just a baby after all.” Emily mumbled, but Bronz was too much of a mess to even hear her. Emily simply patted her head.

Bronz did not know for how long she cried, but after a while, she calmed down.

“Have you calmed down?” She heard from above. She did not know when but she was now with her head on Emily’s lap. 

“Yes…” She nodded, rubbing her eyes to remove the last tears.

“Do you feel better?”

“Just a bit…” She said back. Letting it all out DID make her feel good, but her body was a mess after this fight. It hurt all over.

“That’s good.” Emily simply nodded.“I understand your worries. Let me help you.” She said with a serious look.

“Help me?” Bronz tilted her head.

“From here on, I’ll train you and your sisters. I’ll make you all the deadliest women in the galaxy! That is of course if you want to…” Emily declared proudly.

“I-I want! Please train me and my sisters!” Bronz begged like a child, it was unlike herself, but by this point Bronz did not care anymore. She had already thrown all embarrassment by that point.

“Ufufu… Very well!” Emily said back, seemingly extremely happy. “From now on, wake up will be at 5 A.M. You and your sisters will be drilled all day until you can’t stand up anymore!” She declared. “Come on, let’s tell your sisters!”

Just as she was about to get up however, Bronz grabbed Emily’s clothes. She looked up with a teary look on her face.

“Uhm, can we stay like that a little longer?”

“~~~~~~~~!!!! No problem!”