Robin tries to motivate Chrom

“Chrom, use reason!” Robin called, keeping a defensive posture. “Who is Lucina’s mother?” This was a question that definitely bit for Robin to ask. Wherever their home was, Chrom had a wife there. Back then, Robin had thought surely Sumia would ultimately capture his heart, or Sully, or Olivia… instead, it had been no one from the army. At the time, she hadn’t complained… after all, the feelings she held had only been developed recently, and the product of his marriage had been Lucina, an invaluable asset to the Shepherds in their world. “But this girl is clearly the daughter of Sumia, isn’t she? The resemblance is uncanny.”

“That’s a bit of a reach,” the Impostor argued, chuckling. “I don’t know why I’m the one having to explain this, but… have you noticed how Kirby might appear pink in one battle, red in the next, blue in another? Are each of these different Kirbys, or simply a change of costume? I don’t understand why you two are the only ones who haven’t figured this out.”

“And I don’t understand how you have,” Robin admitted, still holding her tome aloft. “Regardless, Chrom, look. This Lucina doesn’t make any pretense of recognizing me. See now how she looks at me?” For the first time, Robin truly noticed Lucina’s expression. It had grown sharper, almost malevolent… it was strange for Robin to see on the face of such a trusted ally, even if her color pallet was different.

“Father, who is this woman?” Lucina demanded, pointing the Parallel Falchion she wielded at Chrom’s partner. “She addresses you too familiarly by far. And why is she dressed as our tactician?”

“Gods… This has gotten complicated,” Chrom muttered, looking fed up with it himself. “Okay, Robin. I trust you. Whoever this Lucina is, I owe it to her to deliver her a swift defeat with her dignity intact! While I handle her, you show that doppelganger who truly came prepared.”

Robin nodded, approaching her double with new confidence. She would have to trust Chrom to have her back, because her opponent demanded her full attention. “Here I go!”

“You’re not ready,” the Impostor responded with a smirk. “I’m fighting for Lucina, and I’m not going to let her down. Shall I tell you how this is going to go? Better yet, let me show you! Arcfire!” With only that warning, the magician cast a miniscule fireball using the words of his tome.

Robin knew better than to underestimate that, drifting swiftly out of the way. Where she’d stood a moment ago, a roaring plume of flame had erupted. “Sloppy! I’ll show you a real Arcfire!” she taunted, flinging another ember at his position.

The enemy tactician simply drifted away from it, just as she had before. “Our moves are exactly matched. However… Thunder!” With his same cocky smile, the Impostor closed in, firing a short-range bolt of electricity through the air.

“Too slow! Thunder!” Sure enough, Robin launched her thunder with almost the same timing. Since both were on the offense, neither was in a position to counter the other. However, Robin became instantly aware of what he was trying to convey. While her own shocks impacted the heavy cloth of the Impostor’s cloak with relatively little damage to the fabric, the bolts he had launched charred her cloak, leaving a few burnt holes where his attack had connected. “Tch!”

“Now, let me tell you why this is a problem for you,” the Impostor declared, looking confident in his strategy. “You’re not prepared to risk everything for this battle. You know that I won’t hold back. And what would Chrom think if he’s standing on the podium next to a butt-naked strategist at the end of this fight?”

Robin flushed with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, upset that she’d been read so easily. “By the gods, are you really some version of me? Does having a penis also turn you into one? And furthermore, how can you act so casually while forcing your best friend and his daughter to fight each other, and while planning to humiliate a mirror image of yourself?!”

“I told you, I’m fighting for Lucina. Besides, you and I are well aware of the evil power that lurks inside us, waiting to be unleashed.”

Robin recognized the reference to that dark presence, Grima, but scoffed. “So what? You’re telling me that your connection to the fell Dragon excuses your deviancy?”

“What I mean is there is that potential in you,” he corrected her, pointing his Levin Sword at her with ill intent. “Why should I leave another tactician with such terrible potential standing? It would be far better for the Shepherds if you became so embarrassed you crawled in a hole.”

“Well, I certainly can’t leave such a disgraceful tactician leering over Lucina and misguiding the Shepherds,” Robin retorted, pointing her sword at him in turn. “For someone who holds all the cards, I think you’re forgetting a major weakness of your own!” She circled her arms while releasing her sword, causing it to dance in the air over their heads before arcing for the enemy’s head in a slash.

Her opponent was right on time with his counter, bringing his sword to clash with hers. The Impostor knew that while the swords may clash, the sparks a Levin sword would produce would rain down upon her, doing more reliable damage. Having already dissociated her from himself in his mind was proving to be a huge advantage. He had to admit, a part of him was curious to see what a woman who dressed exactly like him on the outside would be wearing underneath-

This proved to be a truly dangerous thought for the moment, as Robin delivered a swift kick to the most significant defining feature between the two of them while their swords locked in close range. The exaggerated physics of this world sent him flying from the blow, skidding across the stage in spite of the low damage he’d taken to that point. He seemed incapacitated, writhing on the ground and clutching his nether regions.

The shower of sparks raining from their swords was destroying the hood and upper rim of Robin’s cloak, but she didn’t let that stop her from gloating. “I’m no teacher, but you can take that as a lesson,” she chided him. She paid no attention as her cloak fell apart from the Levin Sword’s damage, now only loose sleeves as the rest slid down her body, leaving her standing in her (still quite conservative) undershirt, dark waist cloth, and breeches. She grabbed her Levin sword, deciding between the equally tempting options of finishing the lookalike off now or joining Chrom to put a quick end to Lucina.