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She soon encountered one of her dear companions, Winnipeg. The girl was engaged in fierce combat against the groping plant tentacles, hacking and slashing with her samurai sword. She bounced between the undulating appendages while severing others to drop flailing into the quagmire. Personal kerfuffles aside, Delaney respected Winnipeg's technical competence. Of course, Winnipeg's technical competence was the whole reason the Incubator dragged her to the party in the first place. She had no further function than to provide offensive excellence where Delaney could not and Sloan could not yet, which Delaney had always considered something of an oversight, a flaw in the machine. It seemed Winnipeg could be employed more efficiently, or else remain uninvolved altogether. Especially since the Kyubster had conspired behind their backs to include a fourth girl.

Oh well. The Incubator knew best about everything. Like always.

Enough dallying! Stupid Delaney, you're only embarking on these pointless mental monologues to delay your assistance. Succor awaits! She rode her magic carpet of bubbles to the battlefield and waved her staff to summon barriers around the more feisty-looking roots. Winnipeg, ignoring her, plunged deeper into the fray. She had adjusted her stroke and could now slice clean through a root with one fluid motion.

"Hello hello!" said Delaney. "I'm here to help. Where's Sloan?"

Winnipeg lopped off the barb of a root that swooped in to strike, flipped over the resulting spray of pus, and ran along the root's toppling spine to cut down two more roots before they even got a chance to look at her funny. More roots dangled from the canopy to replace the fallen, and Winnipeg had soon returned airborne to close the gap.

(Chapter 11)