[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ta1tdk5.gif[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/5hbNIxo.png[/img][/center] [hr] Above the trinity of Ars Magi, an angel shimmered into being - shooting forth from a pool of splintered glass, a scarlet valkyrie flitted nimbly through the skies, dodging fire and weighing her fateful choices. As Penny had gone for her most tried and true method of problem solving, and Dana's little body had swelled with determination to save her dance partner's group [color=ec008c]([i]uhh-dorable![/i])[/color] Nicole had elected to go draw fire from the beleaguered Priya and Blair. One was playing a game of evasion as best she could while the other tirelessly sawed at the war machine's limb like so much lumber; it was a potent combo in theory, especially against an opponent slow to recognize physical detriment, but as Nicole watched Blair hurtle into a pile of rubble and shake herself off, claymore still gripped in hand, she had to figure that it sucked for robots to lose legs too. The Ars Magi couldn't imagine [i]she[/i] would have been too thrilled if anyone started hacking at [i]her[/i] lovely legs with a pizza cutter. With Blair momentarily taken out of the equation, the brunt of the mecha's assault fell upon Priya Khatri, glimmering like a vermillion bird on the ground below her. She was putting up a valiant hybrid attempt at offense and evasion, but neither were serving her much good without Blair to fight in tandem. Nicole put her superior speed and agility to work, crowing in exaggerated delight at the feeling of wind and rain whipping her hair behind her as she strafed closer to the mecha. It served her well for a time, although she could feel her Parma singing slightly at the occasional close call with a magitech blast that felt uncomfortably close to what she imagined plasma would look like. She would file a complaint with the fashion police about it later. It was still taxing work, but much as Priya and Blair had non-verbally communicated a gameplan, so too did Nicole and Penny - with the heady brew of brash confidence, never-say-die attitude and hoarse vulgarities that came naturally to Penny and made her beloved amongst her team, her teammate began hammering away at the robot and found at least [i]moderate[/i] success. The craters that pocked the militaristic behemoth's surface like pores were proof that if you dumped mints into a magical girl, shook her up and dropped her from the mesosphere then the resulting [i]boom[/i] would be enough to leave a hole in just about anything. But like Blair, Penny's fearless fighting style had been punished. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her bespectacled teammate slide from the side of the robot with only as much grace as she could afford, and her landing looked anything but soft. Visibly, Nicole's flying changed. What had been a focused, but harmless enough attempt at diverting magitech fire away from street level was suddenly whetted with malicious intent, as Nicole stuck her legs to the side and skidded to change direction as though she were skating on the air itself; though skateless, her long legs worked like serrated blades themselves, rending holes in the very air. Her eyes had changed too, her bright-eyed, guileless stare squinting, sharpening, and sucking what dim light the stormy evening afforded them. The hue around her figure made up for the warmth her gaze lacked; she glowed orange as a star, and with her right arm pointed to the heavens for succor, she resembled a creature of myth - bedecked in white samite like an angel or a faerie, with all the skies of the world as her lake. [color=ec008c]"Whoa whoa, [i]hey now[/i],"[/color] she muttered at the mecha in a tone of warning. The winds swirled around her outstretched arm, and at their mistress' command they congealed to form a sabre. She saw Penny and Blair standing up as one, dusted off and ready to rejoin the fight, but first it would be up to Nicole to give them an opening - or rather, for Nicole to capitalize on the progress her forebears had made, and for them to stand on her shoulders in turn. That was why they put Ars Magi in teams. And that was why Ars Magi always killed their monsters. [color=ec008c][i]Mecha sense my power and seek the life essence.[/i][/color] More wind began to swirl around Vedfolnir, turning what was a slender limb and blade into the beginnings of a burgeoning tornado. Her gaze fell upon the robot's gimped left leg. [color=ec008c][i]I do not avoid mecha.[/i][/color] Nicole's body curled up into a crescent as she wound back her right arm in a pitching motion-- [color=ec008c][i]But I do deny them my essence.[/i][/color] --and hurled, aiming her frustration and power at the rend in the war machine's limb, to teach it a valuable lesson about tossing around her girls.