Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

As she thought, the woman there disappeared before another appeared.  Neither of her targets were taking action, possibly suspecting another fake.  Basing on how this battle is going, the outcome does not look good for the two of them.  However, amidst all of the illusions that been thrown around of late, Luna needed to make sure that there were no others even beyond her detection. It would be problematic that she affect the outcome of this battle just for someone else on the pink-haired one's side to ruin it.

She gathered mana briefly before projecting it; an interval of sound pulses was created in a form of a single note.  The decoy in turn opened her hand, making a different note.  The frequency of the sound was so high that it was out of the hearing range of normal people but not for those with highly acute hearing such as herself.  However, it was the reflection of sounds off solid objects that Luna was looking for.  Using her long ears, she would be able to triangulate and locate objects that would normally be hidden from most senses.  Fortunately, there was no one else. It is time for the next plan.

Zoe was watching the woman like a hawk. She hadn't made any moves since, just sitting there in the tree. Still, she could stay like this as long as she needed to. She was determined not to make the first move, especially if she was simply messing with the two of them.

Her gaze darted to Maya for only a moment, keeping her gaze on the intruder, but still listening intently. Maya had at least seemed to figure out some sort of method for identifying the real one. She'd point out the real one, and as soon as she got a hit, Zoe would make her move. She'd have to be quick, but she knew that she could, if she really booked it. She gave a small nod to the witch, getting her movements ready.

When all of the sudden, from somewhere behind her, she heard a small sound. What was that? It sounded like a squeak of some kind...it was soft, but she could hear it. Her ears involuntarily flapped when she heard them, in the direction it was coming from. There was more than one, too. Maya didn't seem like she noticed it. Was the woman trying to mess with her, specifically? Maybe trying to throw off her concentration...well, it was definitely distracting. But right now, she was laser focused on her target. So she had some sort of...sound magic, too? Along with this doppelganger crap...what an opponent. She couldn't let herself get scared, though. Not now.

Tenebria jumped down from the tree branch she was resting on, landing gracefully on the floor. "What, you think I'm trying to trick you? You hurt my feelings Blue." She put a hurt face as she spoke but soon it was replaced by a grinning one. "You kno-... Huh?" She felt it, there was someone else in there, observing them, the mana gathering, it was too brief to be preparing an attack so for now the pink haired woman decided to ignore it.

"As I was saying, you know, as I said last time you picked my interest, Blue, so why don't you and I play for a bit~" A pink orb started to form on the woman's hand and aimed it to the pair. "Well?" She added with a giggle.

This tension was killing her. Just when was this psycho going to attack? She knew adopting the offensive would end up just like last time and she knew just how powerful the opponent was. Their only hope was to catch any sort of mistake, and Maya trusted Zoe understood it too in her own way.

"Sure, we can play this game," replied Maya with a confident smirk as she shot a very fast purple projectile towards Tenebria's own pink ball.

---

Agent Rain stopped again from working, only to see Angie still staring at her live feed. As expected, those drones were a few years behind in technology, lacking the fundamental heat tracking systems required to pinpoint the locations of humans.

Suddenly, Angie's monitor flickered, and instead of her normal feed, she saw the action through Rain's very own watcher, complete with thermal vision. "It should aid with our little distraction."

As soon as she see Tenebria's brief reaction right after she cast a spell, she flinched briefly.  Was she discovered?  Did she hear the sound pulse?  As of now, it doesn't seemed that the woman was taking any actions from that but she wasn't sure if it is because it was insignificant or because it was too brief to pinpoint; but Luna would not want to chance things too much and decided not to cast anything else yet until she is sure she can affect the battle to her favor or the situation became dire.

In the meanwhile, she reached behind her back and silently started to assemble what looked like an arm length projectile weapon with a long tube, a handle, and an aiming reticle. Strangely, the material itself looked like it was made from sponge.

---

How in the-! The scylla engineer blinked as the live image of the battlefield was changed from the usual observation of the sentry done to a more technicolor version with the warm body of the participants.  Then she stared blankly at Rain for a brief moment feeling.  "Yeah...spectrum thermal vision would definitely help."  She confirmed unevenly.  It wasn't everyday that someone humbled her in regards to technology for something so simple.  She was going to have to process this later, though.

Turning back towards the screen, she went back to screen spotting as she saw the 3 combatant with Luna a decent distant from the view peeking from around the corner...while under the illusory disguise of a trash bin.  The mirth of the silly disguise was overridden as Luna was putting together that weapon.  

"That's a bit early to deploy that."  Angie commented in Luna's earpiece.  Nevertheless, the octopus was going to have to help watch over Luna as the weapon's nature tends to cause tunnel vision.  Even with Luna's superb hearing, the moon rabbit was still relatively vulnerable.  It was good timing that they had Rain's watcher for this.

Before the woman left the tree, she seemed to notice something, for a moment, before brushing it off. While it was barely noticeable, it was something Zoe picked up on. A small distraction...and she couldn't tell anything was off aside from that occasional low squeaking. Was she not causing that? Had she noticed it, too? The timing was too perfect, otherwise.

Still, she had to focus. If she lost her concentration, she might miss her chance. She knew the plan. The second Maya was able to discern the real one, Zoe would go in for the kill. All she had to do was wait for her own magic to flush out the real deal. She couldn't let the woman's taunting get to her, even if it showed the difference between them. She still had no idea what she was capable of, really. This might be just the tip of the iceberg. Until she could determine where she needed to strike, she'd have to rely on Maya to take point. But, internally, her body was poised to strike, the second she had the opportunity...

The purple projectile struck the ball but it didn't matter, Tenebria looked at the pink ball and then at Maya with a confused look. "Was that all? I mean, I thought you could do better than that Blue. Now why don't I show you how a projectile is fired?" Her lips curled into a sadistic grin as she turned her attention to Zoe in particular. "Hey foxie, catch~!" With a swift gesture, the pink haired woman fired the ball at Zoe, it was too fast for the fox girl to avoid it. in their eyes, the pink ball looked like a pink blur, as it made impact, Zoe started to feel really, really tired. "Nighty night foxie~" She could hear the woman's voice and giggles as she stumbled falling asleep not long after the impact. "What should I do with her, Blue~?"

Maya's eyes opened wide. Such speed, even faster than her own modified magic. And it hit Zoe. The witch felt a pang in her chest as she looked at the fallen fox girl. For a moment, her mind blanked out, a terrible rage filling every crevice of it at the thought of something much worse. Maya could not keep up her confident facade after this.

In that moment, she saw a glimpse of the immediate future - the whole surrounding area, far as the eye could see, frozen solid. It was like a door that kept being knocked on, each time more violently than the last. And it was in this imagined outcome that Maya opened that door.

"No..." she mumbled to herself, watching Zoe closely. When she saw the fox girl was still breathing, all of her previous thoughts vanished immediately.

Maya rushed to the fallen fox girl's side as fast as she could. Placing a palm on the ground, the witch erected a barrier of thick ice around them with impressive speed. For a few moments, she was alone with Zoe, unable to be seen by the mischievous woman.

"Hey, Zoe? Can you hear me? Wake up!" she cried out, giving the fox girl a brief shake. "Come on, Zoe... please..."

Why is it so fast?!?

The bolt that Maya had fired off hadn't seemed to do a thing. It only seemed to amuse the woman, who retaliated directly at the fox. The shot had to be moving twice as fast, maybe three times as much, as Maya's, and the air around it seemed to spiral as it homed in on Zoe. She barely had time to protect herself from the blast, covering herself with her arms in raw panic as the orb connected with her and exploded, pushing her back as her feet skidded across the ground. She kept herself upright through it, but she was more frazzled mentally than physically. Everything the two of them had been planning had backfired, horribly. That just meant Zoe would have to pick up the slack, and adapt. So it hadn't worked, that's fine. She couldn't afford to wait any longer, for it to be sure. She had to strike, now. So...

Why did her body feel so heavy?

Had that blast hit her harder than she thought? Just moving felt like an ordeal, and it was growing stronger with each passing moment. Her eyelids were fluttering, as if it was a struggle just to stay standing, and it was a struggle she was losing, very quickly. Even her hands couldn't stay clenched, as the needles in her grasp fell to the ground with metallic pings.

Come on, move! Maya's counting on you!

Zoe put everything she had into going forward, towards the sound of that voice, intent on doing something, anything, but it was a futile effort. "M...Maya..." was all she could get out, taking one step forward, and collapsing onto the ground in front of her, rapidly losing consciousness. It was getting harder to even form coherent thoughts, let alone stay awake. The last thing she heard before blinking out into a deep sleep was that infernal giggling.

For a time, Zoe's body was limp and unresponsive. However, the sudden cold around her, complete with Maya's panicked shouts and jostling, was enough to get a response. That response being a few groans, as her eyelids slowly flitted open. She'd never seen that expression on Maya, before. It looked, for back of a better word, worried. About her.

"...w-what happun..?" Zoe slurred out a response, still a little dazed but recovering. The colder temperatures around her were enough to make her breath visible, and it was enough to let out a mild shiver. All at once, her mind snapped back to how it had been just a moment ago, her posture on full alert. "...well, this is embarrassing." She let out a little chuckle at how quickly all this had gone down.

Pulling herself upright, Zoe once again poised her body like a spring, ready to pounce. Silently, she made a gesture with her hands, hoping to get the new plan across. When I count down, lower the ice, and I'll strike. She had no idea if she got it, but she had to hope. All Zoe needed to do was listen to that giggling little demon again, and when she was close enough...

Maya frowned. "No one on the outside can hear us, and this ice is as sturdy as it gets," she said, grasping Zoe by the shoulders. "Listen, you're not going to attack anyone. This isn't a fight we can win. We're going to hole up in here until she finds a way to break through, or gets bored, and if she does get in..." Maya's gaze pierced through Zoe with the same protective look that the fox girl gave Eri so many times in the past. "... you stay behind me."

"Tsk... And before I could get to the fox..." Tenebria casually walked towards the ice wall and knocked on it. "Huh, pretty solid, let's see~" The pink haired woman placed a hand on the ice wall, trying to disrupt the flux of mana to break it but it didn't work. "Tsk, are you really going to make me work for it? Hmpf... I guess I could give them a spook." The woman giggled before taking a few steps back, another pink ball appearing on her hand but this time she made it shrink until it was a little ball on the tip of her finger. "This should be enough..." Pointing her finger in a finger gun manner towards the wall, Tenebria channeled the her mana into the ball, making it much more concentrated. "If it doesn't work I can always try the big one~ Anyway... Bullseye!"

She fired the ball towards the ice wall, even faster than the one before it reached it target and the strong energy concentrated inside started to create cracks in the ice... "Hmm... Maybe a few more" She prepared a few more of the balls and kept firing them at the ice wall.

Zoe's heart sank at Maya's words. And Maya looked more serious than she had ever seen her, before. It was definitely a blow to the fox's self confidence, at least. Zoe's hands balled up and shook in frustration. Especially considering she knew that look. It was one that Zoe had worn quite a bit. Maya wouldn't be wearing that expression unless she truly believed it.

The sound of the ice behind her cracking was enough to cause her to stiffen, but it only improved her resolve. "It looks like the latter's going to happen pretty soon..." She turned back to face Maya, angry, but not at her. "You told me that I would have a shot of beating even you, right?!? This cocky bitch is underestimating both of us! And even if she is super strong, I don't care...I'm gonna shut up that awful giggling tonight, one way or another..."

Various blows to the ice surrounding them continued to shake their frozen haven. "She's cocky, and I can take advantage of that! Do you really just wanna sit here and wait for her to break through?!? Is she really that powerful, that just fighting her is too much for even both of us?" Zoe's look back to the witch was practically pleading, begging to give things a chance.

The cracks were spreading fast. Zoe hadn't moved from her spot, determined to get an answer before agreeing with her. "Is it...is it really that hopeless?"

She could understand, to some extent, the torrent of emotions that was raging inside Zoe. "I said you have a chance to win, because I can't see myself hurting you. I could never go all out against you, and neither can I now. Too many people here will get affected."

The witch tried to reinforce the barrier, but to no avail. Tenebria's constant barrage of energy would wear her down before long, and she had a feeling the pink-haired woman could go on like this forever.

"If she gets serious about killing us... there is nothing we can do about it. Running won't help either..."

More cracks. The sound of energy colliding against demonic ice got louder and louder as the layers of her dome broke one by one. "I'll go for the kill. You cover my back. It's either I take her out in one attack, or we lose." Maya lifted one of Zoe's hands. "Can you wrap a wire around my waist? If you sense anything during my attack, you pull me back, alright?"

Zoe's spirits were looking up a little. They had a plan, and that was something. She gave a strong, affirmative nod, before letting her chain fall to the ground, the end looking claw-like with multiple sharp ends. "I've never tried to pull someone back without hurting them, so this might sting a little..." She knew that Maya had probably already seen that outcome coming, so she didn't focus on it. With a flick of her wrist and a few motions, she wrapped it around her chest just below her breasts, being careful not to have it be too close to the injured area around her stomach. With a metallic clink, the end claw attached itself to the beginning of the rope, forming a makeshift lasso. Maya would find that it was a little heavier than she anticipated, but not enough that it would impact her movement.

"If I sense anything, I'm gonna pull real hard, so be ready, alright?!?" The icy wall protecting the two of them was cracking much faster now, and it wouldn't be long before they were face to face with the woman again. "And...be careful, alright?" Zoe turned her face away from Maya's to hide a very slight blush at the comment. Maya was usually never worried about anything, especially when her own life was at risk. The "invincible" comments were a clear sign of that. For her to be like this, even if she was trying to keep Zoe safe, she had to be scared, too. And that definitely wasn't lost on the fox.

"Aaaand boom~" With one last shot, the ice wall finally broke, Tenebria blew her finger like if it was a smoking gun. "That was really mean, Blue, forcing me to go serious, no fun." She said pouting. "Well, what now?" Her tone was playful like always showing that she wasn't even going completely serious besides having to break the ice wall.

Placing her arms behind her head and taking an even more relaxed position, Tenebria awaited to see what the two women were going to do.

Without hesitation, the blue-haired witch charged at her opponent right as the barrier fell. With Tenebria's lack of interest in defending, she immediately found herself under Maya, who held her by the arms as she began sending stinging chills via her hands. Tenebria found that her arms were freezing at a rapid rate, and no matter how much mana she had, it did not interact with the demonic ice - she would need to destroy it manually, just like with the barrier.

Yet, Maya did not go further than freezing the arms. She stared at Tenebria for a few seconds, precious seconds that could prove to be her undoing.

Tenebria didn't drop her smug smile for even a second, even when Maya was freezing her with the same demonic ice from the barrier. "Oh Blue, that's the spirit, come on, kill me... Oh but first I need to give you something for forcing me to go serious~" Before Maya could react, the same pink energy that destroyed the barrier started to glow under the ice, more cracks appearing, much faster this time.

"Time for a nap, Blue~ Don't worry, you'll wake up soon~" Not long after, the ice from Tenebria's right hand broke and the pink haired woman placed her hand on Maya's head. "Nighty night~" Maya started to feel really tired, her body feeling heavier and heavier but unlike Zoe, it wasn't a pleasant dream that awaited her, a nightmare started to brew inside the witch's dreams...

Just like Maya asked, Zoe was keeping a close eye for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. She hadn't heard that sound again, since that one time. And the woman hadn't reacted to it since, either. She kept her ears open, however, for whatever tricks she had in store. Chances are, she had quite a few.

"Kill her...?" Listening in on her words only confused her further. What was with this woman? And why was she so focused on Maya? There was clearly a lot to these two that she didn't know, but that didn't matter. She was clearly crazy on some level, but it looked like Maya was doing well enough...for a moment. That permanent smile on her face was unnerving in a way that very few things were, and she was breaking through Maya's ice with no issue, placing a hand on the witch's head. In an instant, Zoe could notice Maya's posture change: it was like when she had taken that orb head on, where her entire body had grown exhausted within moments.

"If you sense anything during my attack, you pull me back, alright?"

"MAYA!" Zoe shouted putting all of her weight in pulling back the witch before whatever magic she could do took hold too far. Putting both arms to work, Maya was flung backwards, the chains digging into her skin a little as she flew behind Zoe with a thud. Zoe winced a little as it probably wasn't a pleasant experience, with the impact being enough to detach the chains connected around her body.  "Sorry!" Her attention was instantly back on the pink-haired woman, as she rose to meet her. With her claw free, it retracted back into her sleeve, uncoiling itself around the witch.

She couldn't wait any longer for an opportunity. She had to make one for herself, or they were both in hot water.

Quickly producing three tipped needles, she tossed directly at her in one clean motion of her arm, before lunging in her direction, hoping to catch her off guard as one hand went to her pocket, and the other reaching for her with a clenched fist.

Luna had already assembled the gun.  She looked over the corner as the other combatants were pre-occupied with each other before looking through the targeting reticle, the barrel of the long gun started to heat up, ready to discharge.  From how the battle was progressing, the words that were coming out of each person, and her estimation of how strong each person was, the pair were on the backfoot.  Then the witch of deceit had taken a direct hit to the head, and Luna had realized then window of opportunity have shrunken dramatically.  Their lives were on the line.  She must act!

Luna's eyes narrowed as she focused on the pink haired one, waiting for the split second that the pink one was too busy, too busy with her magic counter-attack to properly defend herself.  Then she pulled the trigger.  A small rush of mana flows from herself into the gun before a tiny pop was heard.  The gun fires a very thin quill-like projectile tipped with a clear substance.  A tiny trail of steam was created at the path of the quill from the gun barrel as the quill flew at a very high velocity towards Tenebria's midsection.

Regardless of whether the shot was successful, Luna ducked behind the building in an attempted to avoid being spotted.  She reached down to pull out another gun, this one slightly larger than her hand as she anticipated a potential counterattack.  "Angie, get me the skinny of what happened to the pink haired one, she's the cause of the incident."  Luna spoke in whispers to the scylla.  "I will need as combat personnel here.  I don't think I can handle her as it is."

At the request, the sentry drones moved their focus from the general battle to focus solely on Tenebria, acting as Luna's eyes while she was behind the corner of the building.

The witch let out a pained groan. She tried getting up, even crawling back into battle, only realizing that not even the harsh impact with the ground and pain from being pulled with such force were enough to wake her up. Each time she blinked, her eyes remained closed for longer. Whatever magic that girl used, taking a point-blank shot to the head was enough to incapacitate even her.

"Zoe... get... back... save... yourself..."

It was all useless. She hesitated in killing Tenebria, losing herself in the process, and for all she knew, Zoe as well. Ultimately, she collapsed on the spot, unable to do anything about it. And when her eyes closed again, she saw the full extent of Tenebria's evil.

Maya stared at her eternal nightmare, a woman looking just like her, yet so uncannily different. Black veins bulged out of her ghastly pale skin, with claws extending from her fingers. Her eyes were bright yellow, conveying much more emotion than Maya's own dark eyes, an emotion simple to understand: raw, unrestrained fury.

Oh I've been waiting for this!

Tenebria took a few steps back and aimed a pink sphere at Zoe. "Ah, ah, ah, calm down foxy." Instead of firing directly at Zoe, the pink haired woman fired the sphere at the fox girl's leg. Zoe might have expected to fall asleep but it wasn't the case, instead she felt her leg paralyzed, stopping her in her rush. "Now, be nice for a bit while I deal with the uninvited audience..."

With a gesture, Tenebria catches the projectile in a pink sphere. "Now, why don't you come out? Or I'll make you, your choice~"

Zoe was fully prepared to begin an assault on the pink haired woman in front of her. If she could draw her attention away from Maya, then maybe they could come up with a plan on the fly. She didn't have the time to see if Maya was alright, after she pulled her. She could only hope that she was fine, and that this woman hadn't hurt her too much.

In her mind, she could see what her plan of attack was, visualizing the various ways she could react to what she was going to do. From her actions, mannerisms, and her attitude (which she couldn't stand), the fox thought she had at least some idea of what she could do.

Even when she readied another orb to hurl at her, she pushed forward. Even if she fell asleep again, she could at least keep her attention on her, and give her a few whacks before her body gave out again. She was putting a lot of hope into Maya, and judging from her initial reactions, this was all she had left.

She fired, aiming directly at her, but she didn't stop. The blast aimed squarely at not her body, but her leg. Maybe she missed? As soon as it connected, however, Zoe realized instantly that she hadn't missed at all. Her leg instantly locked up, and her run towards the woman was stopped in its tracks as the sudden loss of movement caused her to trip forward, landing hard onto the ground in front of her.

I...I can't feel my leg...what the hell?!?

It looked completely uninjured, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get it to respond. The fall definitely hadn't been pleasant, either. She was moving pretty fast when it had hit her, and Zoe knew that was going to leave a few bruises. Panic started to cross her face as she tried, and failed, to pull herself up, helpless. Her entire plan had been rendered worthless in an instant, unable to even move because of her magic.

A strange sound, that caused her ears to twitch, took her attention off of her leg, as if something was spiraling through the air. The pink-haired woman noticed it too, and had intercepted it without an issue. A dart, of some kind...? So she was right, there was someone else here. Were they the same person that made that sound she had noticed, earlier? And they'd taken a shot at her...were they an ally? Or would they come after her next?

The panic in Zoe was slowly turning back to anger. That condescending look on her face...it drove her mad just looking at it. Even as she was stuck on the ground, unable to make any headway towards what she wanted, she could feel her teeth grinding in rage, just from this woman's words and mannerisms. Even from the distance, she would be able to hear the light growl that was coming from the fox.

"Don't you...DON'T YOU LOOK DOWN ON ME!" Zoe's arm instantly shot forward, sending out her clawed chain, its sharp edges aimed directly for the woman's head and moving at an incredible speed.

"Reinforcement has arrived:  2 spiders, 4 aegis.  Position to at 135, 50 and closing in.  Valkyrie sortie deployed from HQ, rendezvous in 20."  The engineer informed.  Right after that was announced, Luna's ears picked up the sounds of light steps behind her to the right  Turning around, she found 6 individuals approaching behind her.  The dark brown color of their light armor made it rather hard to spot them within the brown building in the night.  

"So this is the avenue of attack.  I'll try to lure her to this position; that is when we spring the ambush.  I'll keep a faerie fire on her so that everyone can trace her so even if she creates illusion or turns invisible, you can still see her almost as well as I can.  

Spiders, aim for her arms, it is what she uses for offenses like others.  If that won't work, go for the legs.  Aegis, protect the spiders and distract her if you can but don't rush forward until she is stuck.  If she does get close, aim for a stun if she is only.  Remember, if we don't take the offensive, then the best course is to stall.  If things goes south, pull out whoever you can and fall back and rejoin when addition reinforcement arrives."  Luna quietly ordered each of the squadron's role.  

Each one of them silently nodded before each of them moved in formation close to the building before they deployed their respective arsenals.  A pair were holding a small gun of a sort with some white fluid inside.  The last 4 were holding a shield and a weapon that looked like a cross between Luna's gun and a baton.  

A scream of rage was heard, sounding like it came from the fox.  Taking a peek, it seemed that she was trying to mount an attack with that chain weapon.  Taking advantage of this distraction, Luna made a small gesture, invoking a small wind spell.  She figured the attack was going to miss so when it will passes by Tenebria, the wind guide the claw chain around the pink-haired illusionist to try to ensnare her.

Tenebria looked down to the angry fox girl and then back in the direction of the unknown person, she noticed the movement of the mana coming from that direction, whoever it was knew how to cast simple spells.

It didn't take long for the pink haired girl to notice the magic wind guiding the claw towards her so she ducked out of the way before looking back at the fox girl. "Seems like you got a few friends on your side, foxy besides, shouldn't you be trying to wake up your friend~?" The pink haired girl giggled as she took a few steps towards the direction that the spell came from. "Now, last warning, I'm not in the mood for hide and seek, so either you come out from hiding ooooor~..." Raising her hand, Tenebria created another pink sphere but this time instead of reducing it's size, she started to make it grow, as time passed it grew bigger and bigger. "Well? You come out or I'll make you come out~"

Her attack was a total miss, a failure, as it clanked onto the ground behind her. The claw she shot out seemed to even curve her direction, for some reason, and even then it didn't matter. What made her feel even worse, however, wasn't the fact that her attack was useless, but once again, the woman's attitude. She wasn't taking her seriously at all! Like she wasn't even here...Zoe could feel her anger rising at it, too. However, she had to keep a calm head. Zoe forced herself to take a deep breath, to keep her emotions from running wild.

She doesn't even see me as a threat. She's way more focused on whoever's watching from the side. Whoever they are, they seem to be on our side, at least.

Her leg was starting to get some feeling back, but it still wasn't at the point where she could act with it in any quick capacity. It felt tingly and sluggish, but it was an improvement from not feeling it at all. For a moment, the fox laid there, processing everything that was laid out for her. She looked back at Maya, the witch still laying there. She knew what Maya would want her to do. "Run away" or "save yourself". And she was the one that brought it up. Could it be a trap? Her attention wasn't on either of them, now...if she could get her leg up and working, maybe she could just take Maya and run. Was that a possibility? That she had just lost interest?

No. If she sought us out, she's probably not gonna let us go that easily. Which means...!

Making her choice, Zoe retracted the claw on the ground back into her right sleeve, before slamming her fist into the ground in anger. She wobbly tried to pick herself up, slowly rising through the feeling. Her leg still wasn't fully recovered, so she probably couldn't run even if she wanted to. Her gaze was practically burning a hole in the pink-haired woman.

She's clearly not paying attention to Maya anymore. If I can keep it off of her, then she can't hurt her while she's unconscious. And maybe, I can draw her attention away from whoever's helping us, too...She's clearly a lot better at this stuff than I am. Let's see if I can't play the bait...

"Hey!" In the blink of an eye, Zoe produced another needle and threw it blindingly fast at the woman's leg. "I'll play your game. We're not done yet!" Maybe if she played her cards right, she'd look more mobile than she actually was.