Little by little, the guards are beaten back, falling one after another.

Julie sweeps her rapier, spilling cursefire over two of the remaining shadows.

"Brûlez en cendres, cochons."

The dagger feels right in Joker's hands. It bears a cold sucking hunger that's all too familiar to her — why can't I be hot, why can't I be a girl, why can't I be myself — solidified into one vicious piece of metal. It moves like it's part of her, and strikes with far too much weight for such a small blade. 

She has no compunctions about teaching these shadows what it's like to be hurt. With every strike, she advances closer to the sealed door.

Ann runs out the clip of her Tkachev, and rejoins the fight with a stolen sword.

Soon the last shadow falls, and they break into a new room.

Beyond the door, they find a room full of faceless girls, writhing sultrily on the floor, wearing nothing but the bloomers of the Shujin girls' gym uniform.

"What!? Is this what Kamoshida thinks of the girls' volleyball team?" Skull blushes and splutters angrily as he looks around the room.

And then another figure steps into the center of the room. It looks like Ann, but wearing a pink leopard-print bikini and high heels, with a vacant expression.

"Messing up King Kamoshida's castle is like... totally messed up, y'know."

She sounds like a stereotypical bimbo.

"What the fuck." 

Clover stares at her duplicate. "— No. No I'm not like that." 

"Who do you think you are, stepping in, taking over my life —" 

Clover's hands have come up with the gun in them instinctually, pointing at her duplicate. "I'm not some — fawning bimbo sycophant!" 

She puts her hand on her hip and cocks her head to the side. "Wouldn't you be happier if you were, though? Plus, disobedience is just the lamest."

With a snap of her fingers, a squad of eight guards swarms into the room.

Clover has her gun up already, and fires at the guards as they come in. This bitch doesn't get to win this.

Joker pulls her gun as well, and fires as the guards approach, then pulls her mask again. She's tired after the previous fight, but she's not going down easy either. 

Skull empties his shotgun into the nearest guards, then tears his mask free as well. "Fuck this! Real Ann is so much better than Fake Ann. Light 'em up, Captain Kidd!"

Mona lets loose as well, battering the guards with gusts and herding them into close groups for easier blasting.

It's a rough fight. The first few guards go down quick, dispersing into darkness as they fall, but the next ones lunge forward, fierce stabs lashing out at Joker and Skull.

Joker's got the agility to give ground, but she's not going to leave Clover to get flanked. She parries a swing of the guard's sword with her dagger and then kicks it in the chest with her stomping boots, trying her best to force it back. 

Ann runs out the bullets in her Tkachev and then returns to fighting with her stolen sword, anger lending strength to her strikes. 

Joker manages to kick one guard away, but another cuts a slash to her side. Blood drips from the wound.

Skull blocks the slash aimed for him with his pipe, then clubs the shadow that hurt Joker.

"You okay?", he calls.

Joker curses under her breath, but keeps fighting. "Okay!" The wound doesn't seem to impair her ability to fight here, even though it burns like fire in her side. 

Mona rolls out of the way of a slash, then cuts down another guard.

Skull clubs a shadow in the head, then has Captain Kidd fire lightning into another.

They're falling apart. Only two left now. They rally, though, and charge the team.

Joker falls back, fighting defensively, and parries a few more attacks.