Tommy backed up to stand by the copy of his sister, looking at the symbol-covered wall with crossed arms. It didn't say OPEN anymore, but he didn't know what he actually should be making it say, now.
"Tom. Just pass the damn test." Fake Lynn declared, pushing Tommy toward the wall with her shoulder.
In the end, Tommy just took Lynn's advice and started moving symbols. Even though he didn't really have an aim in mind, something deep in his subconscious told him that it was fine.
And slowly, an image came through. Sort of.
It wasn't really just one image, and it wasn't clear, but there was a sort of shifting beauty in the artwork that ended up on the wall once Tommy was finished. Whatever you saw depended on what you wanted to see, and Tommy was satisfied with it.
And that must've been the key, because the moment that the final symbol fell into place, completing the image, the wall began to fall away, opening the path to the second phase of the labyrinth.
As soon as the wall opened up to reveal the second phase of the labyrinth, Tommy looked back at where the false version of his sister had been. He wasn't particularly surprised that she was nowhere to be found.
A grin spread across Tommy's face as he took his first step into the second phase of the maze. Honestly, his insecurities hadn't gone anywhere. He wasn't any stronger, and playing with a picture on a wall didn't make him useful in any real form or fashion.
But still, somehow, it felt like a weight had been lifted.
Tommy's footsteps were a bit more sure during the second phase of the labyrinth, as he wandered aimlessly through the grey corridors of the maze. This time around, there wasn't a single Oozaru roar. In fact, the maze was deathly silent, with nothing but the sound of his own footsteps keeping Tommy company.
Loud footsteps.
Unnaturally loud footsteps.
Coming from behind him!
Tommy spun around as quickly as he could. Just as he'd expected, the freckled Saiyan behind him didn't bother hiding. Pepper wasn't the type to play the same kinds of psychological warfare that Tarble excelled at.
No, she was far more straightforward with her games. "Hello, Tommy."
That was all of the warning Tommy got before her foot slammed right into his chest, sending him flying.
Tommy slammed into a wall, then slid down to the floor, clutching his gut in pain. "Fragile… like a doll. Even when you were twice as strong as me, always fragile… little… Tommy." She knelt in front of him.
"You're… Still shorter than me, Pep." The real Pepper would've slammed her foot into Tommy's gut for that one. This version of Pepper just snorted, "But stronger. And better… I can't beat you in a fight." He admitted to himself, pulling himself to his feet while the fake Pepper simply watched, not making any moves to stop him.
"You're right. You're not strong enough to beat me. I'm so fast that, if you try to run away, I'll just sense you and catch you again. Send you flying like a rag doll. Nothing you do will be enough to give you the time you need to get out of this maze."
"Then why didn't that kick main me?" Tommy questioned, "Tell me where the exit is, Pepper."
Tommy had a point. Pepper's raw power level was around four to five times higher than Tommy's, and he'd been fairly off-guard.
In a numbers game, Pepper had the ability to attack on a dime with enough power to injure someone with a power level of around 7,000 or so. Tommy had likely only defended with around a tenth of that number. She could've brought him really close to death with that one kick, but he'd been able to brush it off and stand back up again with only a few scrapes and bruises.
So, clearly, she wasn't trying to kill him.
"And what makes you think that I'll just let you go, Tommy?" Fake Pepper asked him, pointing at his chest with her right hand. Tommy barely even needed his ki sense to tell that she was gathering energy in that finger, preparing to blast him.
Still, though, Tommy wasn't particularly intimidated. "You know, the fake Tarble was a lot more intimidating. Something about him was just tougher. He got to me more."
"Death isn't intimidating?" Her finger began glowing a soft blue. Decidedly not the normal color of Pepper's naturally lighter ki.
"I don't know… It just doesn't speak to me. If Tarble's job was bringing out my insecurities, and Lynn's job was building me up, then what are you doing here, Pep? You don't even have any original techniques, after all."
"Original- Ohhhh…! You wanna see an original technique-!" Tommy had to keep himself from grinning as the fake Pepper's energy instantly began spiking, just like he'd expected. Pepper never, ever backed down from a fight or a challenge of any kind, and she had a bad habit of going far overboard. With every passing moment, her energy spiked higher and higher as she prepared a massive energy blast that would surely destroy every lingering trace of Tommy's existence in this strangely real dream world, ensuring that Tommy failed the exam.
"Regalia…" Her hands swirled around, slowly concentrating the massive energy spike into a single space. While something about it reminded Tommy distinctly of Tarble's Regalia Wave, this attack seemed to be far slower, but incomparably more powerful.
Meanwhile, Tommy began concentrating his own energy, the air around his skin glowing with a soft white light.
"CANNON!"
When Pepper's Regalia Cannon finally dispersed, she stumbled a bit, before righting herself, almost completely drained of energy. But she had an evil grin on her face. Tommy was gone. "...I guess he failed." She noted.
The next moment, she found herself falling onto her face. "No. He ducked. I'll see you in a bit, Pep." Tommy declared, breaking into a dead sprint as he raced away from the fake version of his friend, as she pulled herself unsteadily to her feet.