Ouroboros Spine Broadcast depth.

There was nearly no hang time before Shikoba leaped at her. Between her quick movements and Towhee's distraction over her triumph, the sivullik easily landed her own hits. Normally this might frustrate her, yet the Redhawk was still buzzing from her ace move a moment ago. And, anyway, it tickled!

Guffawing a laugh, Towhee's entire body cringed away from the light blow to the soft spot where her rib cage ended. "HEY!" she yelled without even meaning to, then shouted again when Shikoba lunged for her tail. The entire spirit of the match shifted to something a little less businesslike and a little more playful.

As Shikoba's teeth tugged at her tail, Towhee abruptly grabbed at her own throat, theatrically pretending to choke to death. She then flopped to the ground, where she twitched feebly a few times before going still. She shut her eyes to complete the imagery of death, before abruptly remembering that corpses' eyes often remained open.

"I think," Towhee said from beyond the veil, "you discovered my Achilles' heel..." She turned her head to the side to get a better look at Shikoba, winking.