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Mistral knew exactly how much of a joke her magical powers were. She did not need the (somewhat condescending) attitude of Europa (Tallulah Cowden was a magical girl?! What the hell!) to tell her that. Still, she had to do something with it. Even if she swore to never reach out for that dark ring again, she was never, ever going to get away from it. It hummed there in the back of her mind all the time. It demanded attention when she had none to give. She'd gotten yelled at twice at work for zoning out and thinking of that weird… thing… she would ask Babylon about it. She definitely didn't know why she'd ever want to swear her power to Mistral? Wasn't Mistral her name?

"T--Europa," said Mistral, looking up at the building. "I am twenty-three years old." She took a deep breath and made a face. "I feel ridiculous," she said to herself. But she walked with Europa, trying not to be too obviously cold or tired or anything. Because it was a surety that the best way to get Europa to take off the kid gloves would be to, you know, prove she didn't need to wear them to handle Mistral. "So, what building am I scaling in a single bound today?

Europa made a small note to herself that she needed to treat Mistral like an adult, and not one of those scared sixteen-year-olds she'd spent plenty of time tutoring in the past. She pointed to the roof of the dining hall, which she had selected for its relative lowness and flatness. "This one, to start," she said, trying to make her tone sound less patronizing. She wanted to see how much Anabel's civilian difficulties carried over into her powered form, whether the usual suite of superpowers would be dampened by her injuries.

She made the jump first, taking a few quick steps and then leaping, avoiding the temptation to add a flip or anything fancy - although that was some of the thrill of senshidom to her, and then turned to wait for Mistral to follow.

She could see someone standing at the far end of the alley, but given the low light, couldn't be sure who it was. She didn't sense chaos, so it was likely a civilian. Europa frowned and shook her head slightly. She didn't like being seen - it put civilians at risk - but so far tonight had seemed quiet.

"How did that feel?" she asked Mistral, turning her attention back to the page who had just landed beside her. "Okay?"

If there had been some question about the two girls being powered, the answer was apparent when first one and then the other jumped from the ground to the top of the building before them. No human could do that, so they were obviously not. So the new question became... what was she going to do about it?

Ariel sidled close to the brick wall and slowed her steps, a frown pulling her dark eyebrows together in thought. There were two, which put her at a little bit of a disadvantage... even if she knew how to handle to people, she rather preferred to have things to her advantage rather than theirs. So... maybe rather than rushing in, she should get them to come to her.

A smile spread over Ariel's lips as she glanced about, making sure there was no one to see what she was about to do. Sticking to the shadows, the tall woman was suddenly different between one step and the next. Heels still thumped the concrete, but now her boots were black and red and her jeans had become sleek black leather. The tank top she had worn was now a stiff corset hugging her torso as Cinnabar picked out a place to set up her trap.

There... the verge along the side of the road was free of buildings, carefully landscaped, but lined with thick, tall trees. They cast the shadows that would benefit her ambush, giving her something to hide behind until she was ready. Slipping into the shadow of one of the trees, the lieutenant pressed her back to the rough back and made herself as small as possible, drawing a deep breath that lifted her chest against her corset.

Putting her lungs into it and as much fear as she could muster, Cinnabar screamed as she threw back her head. Hopefully, the sound, along with the signature she was giving off now, would help draw her prey to where she wanted them to be. Waiting a few minutes, she drew breath and screamed again, letting the sound strangle off in a sob.

Come on, my pretties...

She followed Europa, fretting--though she'd never say it--that she might be causing the Eternal to go too slowly to save the civilian in danger. It wouldn't be the first time her physical limitations had, well, limited her. While she could stand without appreciable effort for longer as a Page than she could as a civilian, she didn't think she was up for any kind of combat.

When Europa stopped, Mistral did too, balling her hands into cautious fists like that would help anything at all. "Yeah, no kidding," she said, "What's that… do you feel that?" It was a sensation like all her skin was literally inching down her body, like she was going to split open and be nothing but muscle and sinew. Something was deeply, deeply wrong nearby, and Mistral could no more articulate what it was than she could sprout wings and begin to fly.

"Maybe we should try to get in contact with Babylon," said Mistral, falling back on literally the only other powered person she knew.

Europa was beginning to suspect there'd never been a civilian at all. The tree band was too convenient a spot for an ambush, too awkward a place to walk at night if you weren't up to no good to begin with. Her attention went towards the rustling in the bushes a few yards away, but - no chaos signature. No. It was closer. Much closer. Where, exactly?

"Watch out," Europa warned Mistral, and the first blow hit her in the small of her back. The senshi yelped with pain and leaped slightly from shock. She began to turn, but the lieutenant - she assumed lieutenant, the signature wasn't strong enough for a captain - had already begin to sweep her legs out from under her. Europa fell backwards, and caught herself on her elbows with a grunt.

The lieutenant was crafty, she'd give her that. Europa hadn't recognized her trap until she and Mistral were in the thick of it and that seldom happened. But just because she was down didn't mean she was going to let some rookie go and get her hands on her starseed. Europa lashed out with a kick, aiming for the woman's torso.

"Oh no you don't," she said through clenched teeth. Her starseed was going to stay in her chest where it belonged tonight.

The senshi fell and Cinnabar grinned as she lifted a booted foot to deliver a vicious kick to her midsection... except the senshi was fighting back and her strike turned into a dodge, forcing her to lean back to let the flailing feet pass her by. At least that afforded her an opportunity... trained hands snapping to try and snag the senshi by her ankle. That would give her the perfect hold from which to control the struggling girl, maybe get her pinned properly... or maybe just snap that thin ankle in her hands and leave her nicely crippled.

"Oh, no?" Cin laughed at the prostrate senshi, completely enjoying this little exercise so far. "And you're going to stop me? Or is your little friend going to do it? She looks like she'd faint if I shouted BOO at her."

Or she had... the rock that came winging her way spoke differently, clipping her shoulder painfully. Not enough to wound or even bruise terribly, but it was momentarily distracting, and annoying.

"Don't worry sweet heart, you're next. I wouldn't forget about you." She tossed back, hauling back to aim a kick at the senshi's side.

Mistral wanted to punch the s**t out of the lieutenant, seriously, she was going to do it. She was going to kill the s**t out of her. But before she could put action to words--she would not faint if someone shouted boo at her--she was grabbed up in Europa's arms. The senshi was about four hundred times stronger than Mistral would have given her credit for.

Later, she'd think that Europa was right to haul her out of there. At the moment, though, resentment boiled deep in her stomach.

She was not a fragile princess. Or at least, not as fragile as Europa seemed to think.