Louisa fired arrow after arrow, but strangely, the man didn't fall. He just stood there, arrows protruding from various parts of his body, blood staining his clothes and looking eerily like a three-sixty hedgehog.

"Bloody go down, will ya?" Louisa's bow and quiver of arrows shivered and she held a sword.

"Without a fight? I don't think so." He removed the arrows casually, before holding his sword up at the ready.

A miniature hurricane touched down either side of Louisa. She remained unfazed, her sword held at her side and the point of it skimming the ground.

Elsie's friends screamed in fright.

Elsie slammed her elbow into the man's stomach and pushed his wrist away at the same time. He backed up, his sword coming very close to slitting her throat. He staggered away.

"Attagirl, Elsie." Louisa motioned for Elsie to go to her friends. Elsie hurried to obey.

The hurricanes suddenly started to tear the ground up, narrowing in on the man. He tried to back up, but the only exit in the alley was suddenly blocked by a wall of water reaching to the height of the two buildings either side. He stopped as it formed deadly sharp points and became ice.

Louisa walked forward casually, swinging the sword in her left hand. The hurricanes evaporated, the force of the wind pushing the man back to within inches of his life. "I've waited years ta kick ya ass properly."

While they fought, swords bronze, gold and silver blurs, Elsie dropped to her knees next to her friends.

"Hey cuz." Tobias smiled meekly.

"You are in deep shit trouble, you know that?" Tobias sighed, but winced, his hand moving to his ribs.

"Do now, thanks." Tobias wasn't in a good state. He had a bleeding, deep gash near his hairline that look as if someone smashed his head on a wall. His lip was covered in blood from where he kept spitting the red out. Judging by his winces and ragged breathing, his ribs were either cracked, broken or both.

"What have you been up to, Tobias?"

"It's a long story, cuz. Uh, my head hurts."

"Looks like it." Elsie looked over her shoulder to her mother. Louisa had disarmed the man and had floored him, keeping him there with a foot on his chest and her sword aimed at his throat

The ice started to melt at an alarming rate. "Mom!" Elsie called. Louisa looked round casually. Elsie pointed at the ice wall, noticing an orange glow behind it.

Water started to flood the alley, reaching ankle deep when the whole wall was melted.

"Well, nice to know you waited." Leo smirked.

"Ya know what I'm like, Valdez."

"Mama! Daddy hands on fire and ice turn water!"

"That's nice, Charlie." Charlie noticed Louisa's weapon and his smile faltered nervously.

"Mama, you have ow thing." An 'ow thing' was something that could cause pain- hence why it's called an 'ow thing'.

Louisa looked at her sword as if remembering it was there. She looked back at Charlie, noticing his big, round and terrified green eyes.

"Don't worry, Charlie. The ow thing only hurts people I don't like."

"Do you like me?" Charlie asked innocently.

"'Course I do, ya silly squirt." Charlie was instantly relieved.

"Lou?"

"Mm?"

"That's not him." Leo had crouched next to the man.

"Who is that, Mama?"

"Bad man."

"Is that his name?"

"No."

"What's his name then, Mama?" Louisa looked at Leo, silently demanding he answered. Leo sighed and twisted round, one hand on the floor to keep his balance.

"His name is Luke. But this isn't him. It's an automaton." Charlie tottered forward a few steps before stopping abruptly in his tracks, his eyes wide in horror. "What's the matter?"

"Kia…" He said quietly. Leo looked at Louisa, noticing a dark look pass through her eyes.

"Lou…" But she was off, whistling loudly.

No little shit is hurting my daughter, she thought angrily as a dark grey Pegasus, Storm, dropped in front of her.