[center][u][h1]Michelle & Belinda[/h1][/u]
[@KillamriX88][/center]

So far so good. The feint went off without a hitch and Vala went down easily. Now all they needed to do was pin her down. Michelle dematerialized her shield, hoping to get a little more speed and complete their pin before Vala could recover. As Michelle began to go in for the move, however, Belinda couldn't help but feel that something was off. Their plan of attack was going just a bit too well. They went for an arm to lock behind Vala, and that's when Belinda saw it. Belinda's instincts were telling her Vala was already ready for a counterattack, and immediately warned Michelle, [color=ed1c24][i]SHIELD![/i][/color] 

Michelle reacted to Belinda's warning and quickly brought her arms up in time to receive Vala's kick, which forced her to stagger backwards. There was no time to rematerialze her shield in that moment, leaving her left arm stinging with pain. She soon recovered her footing, but by then Vala was also back on her feet and ready for another exchange. [color=00aeef][i]Switch,[/i][/color] Michelle thought, and Belinda was given back control. "[color=ed1c24]I'll do much more than that,[/color]" Belinda responded, a grin appearing on her face. Summoning her spear once again, Belinda wanted to go all out, but Michelle was having none of it. [i][color=00aeef]Let's be a bit more cautious this time. Feel her out,[/color][/i] Michelle directed. Belinda definitely didn't want to, but trusted Michelle's judgement on the matter. She went up to Vala and proceeded to take quick, infrequent jabs with her spear in an attempt to determine her defenses and behaviors.