Three swift moves, and then the end.

The crash into the step backwards. The step into the dropping of the arm. And finally, the great whirling slash that ends the fight. Blink and it is over. Simple to misconstrue.

Rewind footage. Slow motion, panning shot. The two mecha crash into one another. Smokeless Jade Fire and Dala Hunters' momentum are enough to stagger the Gods-Smiting Whip, though the two mecha are of roughly equal weight. Nine-Tails uses its Crystal Fire Drive for thruster balancing or energy shielding as its solution to blunt force; it is itself quite light and easily pushed around.

Thus the step backwards. The Whip reestablishes its center of gravity and avoids toppling over or needing to fire its thrusters and risk triggering an errant mine that might have tipped the scales back in the other direction. All of its active tails float stubbornly around the fight, twitching but refusing to affect the fight further. The idol reaches forward with its momentum to snatch the Whip's sword hand. With balance stabilized, it is possible to calculate the attack vector. Rather than use the sword in the expected swing the way someone looking to crush the fight might have, Mirror simply lowers the Whip's arm by three meters. What is grabbed instead is her mecha's forearm. The grip on Matty's gifted blade remains.

She would need to shatter her own arm for the follow up. Her free hand twists behind her without regard for the pain it would cause a pilot. Her sword hand releases its grip and the blade drops down to where the agile, curving mecha is pivoting to grab it with the other hand. The two machines remain locked in their grapple, but the weapon transfer is successful with only a minor stumble where the fingers close suboptimally around the grip and need to regrasp as the slash begins. At no point in the clash is the sword in greater danger than in this moment.

But the Gods-Smiting Whip holds firm. Its fingers close around the hilt, and now left thrusters burn for exactly one quarter of a second to reverse its own momentum and wheel around in a circle. The blade flashes across Jade and Dolly's shared body, severing power conduits and clothing in the same strike, even as its other wrist is still clutched tight.

It may seem overwhelming. A perfect counter from an opponent who had read the move correctly and was never in danger. To think this would be to ignore the realities of combat. Smokeless Jade Fires is more than strong enough to threaten Mirror. Her idol body has the weapons to triumph, and she used them appropriately for the outcome she had attempted to bring about. The outcome of a fight is only obvious in retrospect: this exchange was a knife's edge from seeming inevitable in the other direction.

But it is Mira of the Fisher clan who holds her sword under Dala Hunters' chin via the link with her Goddess. Their eyes meet, and each beholds beauty. Their eyes meet, and each beholds kindness. The Gods-Smiting Whip's head tilts up in a cocky pose for the cameras panning all around it. Mira's face broadcasts a smirk of its own. A flash of teeth, and then a dip of her head in a tiny bow.

"It's your bad luck to have fought me today. If I'd had my trident you might have snatched it. I would have needed my tails to finish this, I might even have offered apologies. But my own kitten gave me this sword, with dreams of seeing what a knight will fight for. The difference in our abilities is little more than experience. The difference in our tactics is simply motivation. And the difference in our loves... is that I must still hunt mine down and crush her. She has my heart in her hand. She can speak to it. But she has not been able to touch it. To that end, I am jealous of the pair of you. Hrm."

She twists her wrist free and turns from the melee. Four steps away, sword held in hand with its burning blade pointed at the ground. The Whip turns its head as if speaking to its opponent directly, as if it were alive.

"Is now a good time to discuss payment, Goddess? 'Anything I want, until I am satisfied'. I believe that was the contract price? I confess I have been looking forward to retaining your services from the moment you hired me. I will not have my wish snatched away from me, and you are now a shield that will preserve it. Are you willing? I can always provide... [i]motivation[/i], if not~"

She twirls the blade in a dazzling demonstration of martial prowess, ending with a low sweep of the flat of the blade in a way that calls to mind a spanking.

[Mirror accepts the Comfort roll and clears a Condition that I think I forgot to track on my sheet. Additionally, she opens up to someone she respects, pushing her Feelings track back down to start]