*D! Circle trekked through the woods, twigs and leaves crunching under her heavy boots as she seemed to search around for someone, her claw clutching a flashlight.*

*She heard a rustling in some nearby bushes, quickly aiming her flashlight at them.\**

“H-Hello..? Fairytale fella, that you..?”

*She shouted, taking a few trepidatious steps closer. She nearly leapt out of her skin as a raccoon scurried out of the bushes.*

*She held her prosthetic over her chest, taking deep breaths as she tried to slow her heart rate and regain her composure, her eyes glancing around for any other sign of life as paranoia started to grapple her mind. Phew. Nothing…*

“Looking for someone, dear\~?”

*Her heart sank as she quickly turned around, the beam of light illuminating a horrifying, twisted version of her. Her nose was missing, leaving only a jagged, oozing triangular shaped hole. Patches of skin on her face had started to peel off, revealing rotted, stitched patches of more skin underneath. There were small bones and patches of fur stuck between her teeth, fresh blood staining her chin.* 

*D! Circle immediately raised her flamethrower to aim at this…variant.* 

*Circles! Circle lurched forward, a single swipe of her compass dislodging the prosthetic from her arm, the flamethrower hitting the ground with a soft thud. D! Circle dropped the light as her counterpart wrapped her powerful claw around her neck, lifting her lanky frame into the air with ease.*

*Her boots kicked, her own gloved claw moving to attempt to pry herself free as she choked.*

“You know…I haven’t the slightest clue what he sees in you.

I’m *stronger.*

*Faster.*

I have the means to get results, while you flounder around like a pathetic little failure\~!

And we both know *exactly* what happens to failures, right\~?”

*Without another word, Circles! Circle skewers D! Circle straight through the heart with her compass, tilting her head and grinning as she watched the life leave her weaker counterpart’s eyes.*

*She tossed her body to the side, discarding it like trash as blood pooled around the corpse.*

*She wasn’t even good enough to be a meal.*

Culling the weak.