Time to see if Anton can actually hack it in a battle against a mage – or at least keep himself from getting killed while trying.
Section Thirteen
Chapter Six: Sudden Storm
Planet Gardius – Skies over Ballroom – 1914 Hours
Anton's instructors back at the academy had always taught him to view situations calmly, no matter how badly they seemed to be. Your mind had a funny way of overblowing dilemmas, but if you viewed them logically, they almost always turned out to be more manageable than you first assumed. He tried that now: currently, his Captain had been captured and was now under the whims of two people who wanted her dead, siblings or not, and the only hope for getting her out of it in time was…him.
"Maybe it would work for someone better than me." He thought blithely. Pessimism aside, he'd moved into his typical battle stance – the baton in his right hand, Akashic in the other, with wind gathering around the tip of the former – and viewed the situation concretely. Both his new enemies were a good distance away from him, with Katie being closer than her brother. Glenn was right nearby the ice trap; his katana was lowered as he sized Anton up, but from what the wind-user had seen of him, that could change in an instant. He had to get them both focused on him, and quickly.
A voice intruded into his thoughts. "Oh?" Katie spread her hands and shrugged. "You seemed so determined just a moment ago, but now you're just sitting there!" She raised an eyebrow. "It can't be: you didn't go and say that without having any kind of plan, did you? I really can't imagine anyone making themselves look that stupid?"
Anton couldn't help but narrow his eyes at that. "It's not like you gave me much choice, you-"
"In that case," Katie sighed, "I guess I'll have to make the first move, you bore."
Regardless of how prepared the secretary thought he was, the moment the Lightning Triad closed the distance between them with worrying speed, Anton found that all of it was completely meaningless. Letting out a loud yelp, he swung his baton up into the path of Katie's descending knife, catching the blade across the small rod's length. She didn't even bother pressing down with it, smirking as she sent its twin, tip crackling with electricity, curving in toward his chest.
Of course, there was a difference between panic and stupidity. Quick as the wind, Anton snapped open Akashic, producing a flush of wind in the blade's path in the shape of a swirling barricade. "Zephyr Ward!"
The shifting winds of this shield spell were meant to catch an opposing magic attack and subtly redirect it, using up less energy than directly rebounding it like most others; when you were a C ranker, you needed every spare bit of magic you could scrounge up. In theory it could have worked the same on certain close-range attacks as well, but not Katie's. Her thrust was slowed momentarily, but carried on regardless.
Fortunately, that wasn't all there was to this spell. That would be assuming it would always work, and, well, this was Anton. Baton still blocking the first knife, he shifted it to the left as carefully as he could and cried, "Zephyr Stream!"
Like music brought higher by a conductor the wind burst into a gale rushing to the left, blowing against Katie, who was pushed back with a cry. Barrier Jackets might have kept out environmental conditions, but magically summoned winds were a different animal altogether. Anton took the window of opportunity, flying past Katie toward Alyssa's prison. As he did so, he sent out a telepathic communiqué.
"Hello, is anyone there?" He tried to keep his voice from sounding panicked. "This is Anton – we have kind of a situation here!"
Thankfully it only took a moment or two for someone to respond. "Anton, Dwight here; me and Ace are headed toward your position right now. You sound stressed – did something happen?"
Flinging out the baton, Anton sent a set of spiraling, twisting wind streams, each tipped by a larger orb, sailing toward Glenn. "Drive Gust!"
"It's a long story," he continued, "but two people suddenly showed up, and now Alyssa is trapped in a prison spell! I'm going to try and get her out, but I could really use some back-up soon!"
Without his face shifting an iota, Glenn snapped up Koshiro and swept the blade in a pattern at all three of the bullets – then grunted in surprise as they swept around the strikes and burst, exploding into a set of binds that pinned his arms to his sides.
"That's not good." Dwight stated somewhat obviously. "Well, just try not to get killed while you're at it. I'd say not to get in over your head, but I guess it's a little late for that. We'll be there soon, so just hang tight."
"I was kind of planning on that. Please hurry! Oh, and there's something else you'll need to know when you get here, too!" Anton said, ending the conversation as he flew up to the ice cage. Glenn was still stuck in his binds, and at the very least, he was fast. Drawing back the baton, he prepared to send it crashing into the prison. Even if he couldn't break it entirely, just causing a small rupture might rouse Alyssa enough for her to finish the job – at least if he remembered his lectures correctly.
He had, but he certainly thought otherwise when the cage's aura suddenly pulsed one moment before it grew, expanding quickly and threatening to engulf his entire arm. Gasping, Anton quickly pulled up before he could share the same fate as his commander, putting a few feet between him and the ice sculpture. Thinking desperately, he sent out another set of projectiles at it.
Katie let out a laugh as she suddenly occupied that expanse, slashing them away. Glenn broke his binds and turned in that direction, eyes narrowed further. "Oh, that was good for a laugh. Really, did you think my brother wouldn't plan for that? He might look like a bit of a blank slate, but he's not an idiot. Good job dodging it, speaking of – it's nice to see my sister's subordinates aren't imbeciles, at least."
She raised an eyebrow as Anton's expression, worried and slightly desperate until now, suddenly changed to anger. "She's your sister, isn't she? How the hell can you talk about her like that!"
"Sister?" Katie echoed, her own face collapsing into a deep frown. "Hmph. I suppose she must have given you the wrong impression about her, huh?" She pointed a knife toward Anton. "Listen up: we both spent years together with that woman, so don't go spouting off like you know her better than us."
Glenn drew closer and nodded. "She made an error that harmed our family; it's only natural that she face retribution."
Anton tightened his grip on the baton. "R-retribution?" He began to tremble slightly. "You mean you're going to kill her, right?"
"Of course." Katie said airily. "Like you just said, we're her family: if anyone is going to kill her, it'll be us. Glenn has his own reasons, but I can't say I really mind if it goes this way, either." She shrugged. "I don't really know why I'm bothering to tell you this. There's no way you could understand-"
"OF COURSE I WOULDN'T!" Anton suddenly shouted, drowning out anything else the girl had to say. His eyes were wide and livid, his teeth clenched. He was…angry. "I'd never understand something like that in a million years! I don't care what excuse you're using for it – you're her family! You can't just treat her this way! It doesn't matter how powerful both of you are, I'm not going to let you kill her!" He exhaled, taking out his inhaler and breathing in deeply.
Slowly, the corner of Katie's mouth shifted into a sneer. "Oh? So suddenly you grow a spine?" She looked back at Glenn. "Brother, stay out of this. I'm going to teach this idiot what it means to insult us!"
Putting away his medicine, Anton was about to take a moment to think about what he had just done, when he shook his head. "No. I'm an officer of the Bureau. If I run away here, all of what I wanted to do was pointless."
The book's pages began to flutter in the wind that gathered up around him as Katie quickly lunged for him. The secretary nodded. "If it's do or die…then let's try, Akashic!"
"Yes, Young Master." intoned the book, a hint of pride in her voice.
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Planet Gardius – Angelo Corporation Ballroom – 1917 Hours
Quite a few people had left by now, Quattro couldn't help but notice. That was fine by him, he reasoned; if he went to a dinner and a mage battle happened unannounced, he'd certainly leave too. Honestly, the whole thing was nearly enough to make him despair; what sort of degenerates just gawked at people fighting for their lives? "And the main festivities haven't even begun yet, besides."
He'd probably get a reputation for having nerves of steel, just sitting here like this. It was almost a shame; having a reputation for criminal plans tighter than the average societal beauty's behind didn't really fly in civilized society. And other criminals generally expressed admiration of such accomplishments by trying to one-up or ruin you, which…wait, that wasn't very different at all from the people he usually dealt with, was it?
Anyway, there was really no need to see anything live when you were associating with people who had devices. Yes, he was eagerly looking forward to the programming tomorrow night! Perhaps he'd indulge in some popcorn while he was at it…
"Um, Mister Quattro?" one of his security men said hesitantly. He couldn't quite recall the man's name; there were so many like him that it was hard to keep track sometimes. D-something, that was for certain. He made a mental note to check the employee listings later. "Are you sure that you don't want to evacuate? It seems to be heating up out there."
Quattro gave D-something his finest smile. "Well, I think that would be rather rude, in my humble opinion." He waved a hand at the lights outside. "After all, the wonderful officers from Section Thirteen are fighting to quell this incident, just as they did this morning. I have no doubt that they'll manage it again here and now."
D-something nodded. "Er…if you say so, sir." Suitably cowed, he settled back into the usual posture of bodyguards everywhere.
"On a separate note," Quattro said, standing up, "I believe I will head to the bathroom now."
On his way there, he flipped open his cell phone. "Barnes? I think that's enough of a warm-up for them. Send in…" he paused for a moment, "…the Specialists." There were some things you had to do.
"Got it, boss. Man, I hope they capture the look on Dwight's face…"
"I'm hoping for Miss Stromhold, myself."
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Planet Gardius – Streets Approaching Ballroom – 1919 Hours
The streets started getting a bit more crowded as they neared the ballroom – the dinner's 'entertainment' hadn't had very good reception with some of the guests, not to mention people who felt like taking a ride somewhere away from the crazy mage fight. Even if they had the right of way, there was no way they could avoid being slowed down a little. Thankfully Anton had given them something to pass the time.
Dwight frowned and shook his head when his telepathy ended. "Well, none of the others took it as bad as Anton, but Arturia's sure not happy. Then again, not like that's much of a change from usual."
"Was Captain Stromhold upset with you for the bad news at all?" Ace asked/
"Nah," the lieutenant shook his head, "just her usual rosy self." He raised an eyebrow and looked at the corporal. "Wait, why?"
Ace looked straight ahead and shrugged, trying to look casual. "Oh, nothing, really."
Dwight paused for a moment before sighing. "That obvious, huh?"
"A little bit. And I'm not even in the same squad as you."
The sniper thought a moment before shrugging. "It's complicated; a woman like that takes something a bit more than just a few months together. Not sure exactly what, though. You'll understand when you meet your own."
Ace blushed. "I – I don't know about that…" He looked out the window, and his eyes widened. "Lieutenant, duck!"
"Wha-" Dwight asked, and that half-second was apparently too long for the corporal. Leaning across he grabbed hold of his superior and threw them both low underneath the wheel. Dwight jerked at the steering wheel as a result, and he could feel the car begin to turn sideways. But it wasn't like he could complain, because above them he saw the arrow of light that soared through the front half of the car at a near-impossible angle, breaking both windows and showering them with glass. What must have been another hit one of the wheels a moment later, completely ruining any hope of salvaging its spin. The tires squealed as it spun erratically, before wrapping itself around the front of a street light pole.
For the next few moments, all the lieutenant heard was the sound of someone breathing hard – him. He looked across at Ace, who had also had the sense to activate his barrier jacket during the crash. "Ace – you saved my life back there. Thanks."
"Save it for if we get out of this situation safely." the young man said back, voice growing colder the part of his mind made for fighting taking charge. He looked up carefully at the hood, which was currently billowing up smoke. "I don't think this vehicle can run any longer, and if we remain here, the enemy will pick us off eventually."
Raising an eyebrow at the shift in vocabulary, Dwight nodded. "And depending on how good this guy is at aiming those things," he winced as two quick impacts rattled the car like a dice jar, "he's gonna hit the gas tank sooner or later. I don't know about you, but I probably couldn't walk that off. Don't think I want to try teleporting, either."
Ace looked outside his broken window. "Then we'll have to move." He leaned forward and grabbed the car door, looking back at Dwight. "The next time he fires, follow me. I'll do my best to cover you until we are away from this street."
Dwight couldn't help but find the way his younger companion had just summed up the situation so calmly weird: he wouldn't have batted an eye if it had come from GD, but hearing Ace say it just seemed off "Okay," he said after a moment, "but slow down a bit, alright? You're faster than me."
"Roger."
A tense few moments followed while both officers prepared to move, getting ready to run as fast as they could. Finally, another two shots shook the car, followed by a very sinister hissing noise filling the front cab. "GO!" Dwight shouted, but Ace was already diving out of his door. The lieutenant quickly followed, and it was about then that their little plan turned pear-shaped.
Ace's eyed widened as he looked to the right, one moment before a blur of fur and teeth tackled him to the ground – some kind of familiar that had been lying in wait. Resisting the urge to point his device at it ('it' apparently being the Bureau-space equivalent of a grizzly bear, and one that was naturally a good amount larger than the kind back home; magic was better at stimulating growth than any steroid), Dwight made a show of rolling toward the far side of the street and spraying a few shots aimlessly at the windows there.
It worked. The bear turned toward the sniper and lunged, growling, but this only served to set it up for a kick to the midsection from Ace. It quickly stumbled, grunting, allowing the martial artist to rise and deliver a punch that sent it sliding away. Dwight barely noticed, though, even as it began to apply magic to its claws in an attempt to skewer the annoyance. One of his rifle's shots had illuminated a glowing barrier that extended across the length a hardware store newly open for business. At a second floor window he could glimpse a shadowed figure.
Hunkering down, Dwight charged up the strongest shot he could muster efficiently. If it couldn't break through, they'd just have to run for it.
The other sniper seemed to be charging up their own volley, on a device that looked like some kind of crossbow. People in this civilization certainly had a soft spot for the classics. Theirs fired faster, and with more facets to it; three bolts of energy as opposed to the two from before. They came toward him in a triangular formation, probably designed to keep the target's movement confined.
Dwight threw himself into a wider leap than before, rolling and coming up with the shot fully charged – and then stopped, staring at the arrows that were swooping in toward him. "Oh, right. Other people can do that, can't they?" He shut his eyes-
And felt nothing at all. Opening his eyes, he saw someone standing inbetween him and the bullet spells. Just not fully.
"Lieutenant, are you unharmed?" Arturia asked, looking back at him. The shield in her hands stood true against the arrows until they lost cohesion and dissipated. "782 and I were passing by when we saw you and the Corporal here."
Frowning slightly in his head as he realized what had just happened, Dwight nodded to the knightess. "Yeah, I'm," he turned at a noise to see GD help kick the bear away from Ace, "we're fine; thanks for the help. But listen, you two should hurry up and go rescue your captain; me and Ace can handle things fine here."
Arturia shook her head. "No, that will not be necessary. From what Anton has said, there are two opponents, and he can barely keep one of them busy as it is. I would likely be noticed by the second if I came near, but you may be able to intervene unnoticed."
Dwight had to admit that made a certain amount of sense, only- "If we're talking about stealth, wouldn't GD be a good idea, too?"
In reply, the girl folded her arms and gave him a look that did a damn good at making you forget she wasn't yet into her twenties. "Alright, then," he sighed, "I'll just defer to your…judgment."
Turning and running over to Ace, he put a hand on the young man's shoulder just as he was about to rush forward. "Ace, we're moving. Leave this to these two."
"Gotcha." the strike arts user said with a nod, speech having returned to normal. "Are we teleporting?"
Dwight shook his head. "They'd," he was cut off as the sniper fired another volley of bolts that were again deflected by Arturia, "notice. Gotta do it the old-fashioned way."
"Right!" With that, Ace turned and began running down the street – much faster than you'd think he'd be able to.
The sniper watched him for a moment. "...why does it suck so bad to be the normal one?"
Taking a heavy intake of breath, he followed while thinking – if this had happened to them, then imagine how the other members were faring at the moment? "Stay safe, Captain."
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Planet Gardius – Side Street Nearby Ballroom – 1921 Hours
"Sorry, still don't know ya."
Shovel placed atop his shoulders, Daniel watched in slight annoyance as the woman before him stamped her foot on the ground in indignation. "But you have to know who I am! It's unheard of!"
She pointed at her bespectacled face. "You must have some eye problems, or something! Take another look, and closer this time!"
Sighing, Daniel made the token effort of squinting, only to shrug a moment later. "Still no, sorry."
"Aaaaaaah, how can that be!" she cried, tearing at her hair. "I'm not supposed to be a nobody to you!"
While the woman underwent her slight tantrum, the archeologist looked over and gave Otavi an apologetic look. She wasn't the first person to have to deal with this kind of crap while hanging out with him. But the girl only held up her hands, shaking her head quickly. Not that that was odd; in his two months associating with her Daniel hadn't seen Otavi even get mildly annoyed.
He turned back to the other apparent archeologist and took a step forward. "Look, I don't really know who the hell you are, so could you just enlighten me already? We're kind of on a tight schedule here, not that you care."
Speaking of Otavi, if her barrier jacket was indicative of the average Belkan's modesty and sense of taste (that chick with the legs notwithstanding), then they'd have probably all balked at what the person barring their way was wearing. She had probably been aiming for historical authenticity, and elegance, but had managed to overshoot into gaudiness and pretentiousness instead. Fuming slightly, she gestured to herself extravagantly. "I suppose you have to make exceptions sometimes for those beneath you. Very well, Daniel Trail, listen well: I am Mercedes-Benz Vito, a famed authority and excavator on Belkan culture – which, I suppose, explains why you haven't heard of me."
Resisting the urge to try and brain her across the head with his shovel, Daniel thought about the name. After a moment, he snapped his fingers loudly. "Ah, now I remember. You were involved in the excavation of that ruin a year or two back on Rinelle, right?"
Mercedes smiled, looking immensely satisfied. "Yes, quite right! I undertook that duty with the utmost-"
"And then didn't bother doing background checks on some of the workers, resulting in several priceless Belkan artifacts getting shunted through various pawn shops." Cradling Lithic in-between his side and arm, Daniel clapped. "Way to go."
The effect was rather like pricking a dozing bull with a needle. "H-how dare you!" she took a step forward, ruffling her skirts a bit in outrage, only to discover why most mages didn't put high heels on their barrier jackets. Daniel resisted the urge to smack his own face as she stumbled for a few moments with a yelp before collapsing onto the pavement.
He did, however, allow himself an eye roll. "As much as I'd like to continue this riveting debate, I really should get going onto something that actually, y'know, matters. C'mon, Otavi."
"W-wait one minute, you simpleton!" Mercedes cried, stumbling to her feet with the aid of her device, a gold-and-silver scepter. If it actually was modeled after anything from Ancient Belka, he was prepared to eat Lithic unsealed. "My reputation among people of such lower status is no matter! A few setbacks are nothing in the face of the pursuit of culture!" She pointed the staff toward him, the tip glowing. "But that isn't the case at all with you, Daniel Trail! Your 'efforts' ruin more discoveries than they uncover, and we at the Ancient Belka Preservation Society will not stand for your unjust asylum any longer!"
Daniel might have burst out laughing if this had been the first time he'd run into one of these idiots, and could still entertain the idea that they weren't completely serious. Still, though, this was the first time any one of them had ever really tried this in person. Trying to assassinate someone was kind of bad reputation, so most members just stuck to strongly-worded letters (which he didn't mind; in his business, spare paper was always useful) or rants. "Then again, it's not like I was an easy guy to pin down until…now…"
Mercedes frowned, nearly seething as the digger suddenly doubled over into laughter. "And just what the devil are you laughing at, ruffian? I, Mercedes-Benz Vito, am not-"
"Aw shut up, I heard your name already." Daniel said, slamming Lithic into the ground ahead of him and leaning against the handle. "I just realized something, Miss Whatever-Your-Name-Is: if you're working with these guys, and assaulting a Bureau officer to boot, then guess what that makes you? A criminal, I think!" His grin widened. "And if you're a criminal, that means I can do this!"
Gripping the shovel's shaft hard, he ripped it out of the pavement hard, the pent-up magic within the device spilling out in a line of jutting spikes that raced toward the young lady. "Strata Wave!"
Mercedes inhaled a bit, and then heaved a heavy sigh. "That is the sort of conclusion you'd come to, isn't it?"
Not bothering to hold the scepter with more than one hand (the other busied itself adjusting some of her hair), she lowered the head to the ground and tapped it there, gently.
Daniel stared at what happened next. From the spot of the light prod, the ground seemed to frost over instantly, becoming a shiny, bluish-green substance. Crystal, he realized quickly – almost as quickly as it spread, changing the road around her into the material. His attack was affected as well, stopping cold when the spikes were coated over, making them look like some kind of freakish ice sculpture. Through the slightly transparent substance, he watched as Mercedes started to laugh, free hand over her mouth this time.
"Oh ho ho ho! It seems that I was correct!" she pointed an accusing finger at him. "You use magic to utilize the ground, Daniel Trail, but I wonder how well that will work now that I've worked my own upon it like this? That's your weakness: unlike other mages, you're helpless without other material to use!"
The librarian's face turned blank. "…well, uh…shit."
Mercedes waved her scepter in an extravagant manner. "Now, begone! Emerald Splash!"
The crystal formation that had been his earth shimmered and burst, firing itself in a slew of arrowhead shards straight toward Daniel. He gulped, quickly looking to either side; but no good. The crystal had spread across the ground all nearby, and no way would he be able to dig through it in time. But that didn't mean he had no way of getting away from attacks. He still could, just a little…messier.
Everyone usually had some smart remarks to say about Daniel's height (totally original material, like 'how's the weather down there', too), but they usually didn't take into account how useful that was in his line of work. Few booby traps were fully designed for targeting someone of his height, and even the sentinels that safeguarded those ruins were typically programmed for men of better stature. So, when he rolled quickly to the right, most of the emerald shards that would have hit taller people missed by inches, leaving him unharmed by any direct shots that his barriers couldn't simply shift aside.
Annoyingly, the shards that hit the crystalline ground didn't seem to affect it in the least, appearing to sink into it without incident. Even worse, he was quickly realizing that not only did the crystal prevent him from digging in the immediate area, it also made things damn slippery. She might look, talk like, and even be an airhead, but she'd thought this out pretty well. "Otavi, we're outta here!" he called, and sped up with the sure knowledge that his partner was coming. He sure as hell didn't like to admit it, but Mercedes was right – there was no way he could fight her, or at least not here. Better to get to the others, and have them-
"And exactly where are you going, hm?" Mercedes voice called from behind, along with the unmistakable sound of her device touching the ground again. "Sapphire Wall."
A large, more bluish wall shot up out of the crystal field ahead of him, forcing Daniel to stop in his tracks. He might have had time to fume about the plagiarism of using a technique like this, if another hadn't happened in the form of the ground underneath him shifting. Mercedes called out some spell name, and it was a good thing other people didn't have to hear those for them to work, as he was too busy hurling himself to one side with a loud yell.
Sure enough, glittering spikes leaped out from the ground, darting up to impale him. Quickly Daniel swung Lithic down toward them, and thankfully managed to get the shovel in-between the crystals and him. This didn't nullify the momentum behind them in the least, though, and he found himself sailing down the rest of the street, landing with a grunt up against a building's front wall.
A bit woozy from the rough treatment, Daniel looked up with a groan – to see another volley of the emerald shards flying at him. He gulped, but his flight had put him in reach of material he could actually use. Reaching up, he sunk his arm into the wall. "Rock Armor: Shield!"
Well, not technically rock, but it would do. The material swarmed across his arm, forming itself into a wide shield that he shoved outward, ducking under it as best he could. The barrage quickly eroded his makeshift protection, and a few of the crystals clipped right through his barrier jacket in a few places, drawing blood from his shoulder.
Gritting his teeth, he looked across the road at Otavi, who was staring at him with some concern. "Dammit, can't let her see me like this." He struggled to his feet. "I doubt she'll be much use in this kind of terrain, either…I gotta think of something, and quick!"
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Planet Gardius – Crossroads Close to Ballroom – 1924 Hours
Jeanne slowly took a drag from her latest cigarette.
Across from her, as if to match the consumption of harmful substances, the man who had barred her way took a swig from his bottle of alcohol (she had no idea what kind – all of that stuff was disgusting), swaying a bit where he stood.
Speaking of the shifting of liquid, that was far from the only sound of coming from this part of the street. Jeanne looked to either side, where several fountains' worth of her water stood at the ready for any move she was prepared to make with them. Most anyone who had seen her in action would know that they could defend nearly perfectly, and smother almost any form of attack.
She turned her gaze across the street to what might have been one of the few exceptions to that claim. The magic on the other side of the intersection didn't flow so much as crawl, and with an ever-present hissing noise. Jeanne watched as part of the pavement the green-black liquid oozed over crumbled and collapsed a little more. Setting up a barrier around here as quickly as she had was definitely a good move: acid magic was a nightmare for a defensive mage, but ten times worse for any environment it was used in.
"Seems like we're at a wee bit of a, *hic*, standoff, eh?" the man standing amidst the pool of it said, shrugging listlessly. "Maybe you should just get lose then, 'Miss'. You're already butt ugly, so making you look even worse would just be like kicking a little dog."
Jeanne blew out a plume of smoke toward him, sneering from behind the cigarette. "Aw, no need to sell yourself short there. You're plenty ugly already, and it's all-natural, too: I'm definitely beat."
Even he didn't seem prepared to argue that point. Even from where she stood Jeanne could see the grease that sat in his black hair and dark skin, which seemed to be accented well by the black, trench-coat barrier jacket he wore. He shrugged. "Guess you don't care, huh? Can't say I expected differently. With the work we're in, you can either do your job well or do it clean – not both."
Narrowing her eyes, Jeanne tightened her grip on Flashpoint. "I'd sort of prefer not to be compared to a smuggler like you, Gibbs Python. What exactly did you take a break from sneaking in to come here? Drugs? Weapons?" Her frown deepened. "Animals?"
"I prefer not to get my businesses mixed up, thank you." Gibbs replied. "After all, on the one hand I have sort of a reputation for getting things to people carefully. And, well," he took another swig, swished and swallowed, "the way you're leaving ain't gonna be exactly subtle."
Dropping the bottle to let it smash on the ground, he twirled the device in his hands; like Alyssa's it was a pole-arm weapon, but a harpoon rather than a spear. It dripped more of the acid as he spun it before jabbing it toward Jeanne. "Black Bomb."
Gathering up into a few bubbles, the acid flew up into the air before bursting into a hail of drops that sailed down toward Jeanne. She frowned, making a 'tch' noise before snapping her fingers. The nearby water swirled in toward her, flowing together to form a wall against the attack. When the acid struck the water, though, it began to hiss and boil, quickly evaporating as the corrosive fluid made its way through to meet Captain Stromhold's second line of defense. She'd strengthened her barriers as soon as she'd seen the water wasn't going to cut it completely, but even they couldn't completely contain the acid: a few drops slipped through to land on her barrier jacket. It too started smoking briefly, but thankfully stopped there.
"Wow, impressive." Gibbs murmured, watching her. "Usually when I try that on tough nuts like you, they end up a little less…composed."
Jeanne shrugged. "There isn't a whole lot of difference between mages like you and a disaster, really, and I'm a rescue worker: it shouldn't be that surprising. Especially since Quattro hired you to go after me specifically, I'm guessing."
Inside her head, though, the woman's thoughts were less lethargic. "Alright, so my water isn't going to work with his attacks; not one-to-one, anyway. Not like I can't get creative with water, but this guy seems about as used to his magic as I am with mine." She couldn't help but frown at the prospect of a battle of wits. It wasn't that Jeanne was particularly bad at fighting, but she could never really seem to read a human opponent the way she could, for example, a ten story blaze. Both could be chaotic, certainly, but the fire at least was in areas she could predict. It was tough to explain.
Gibbs nodded. "Aye, you're right on the money there. Pretty good match-up, too: most of what I bring to the table doesn't work so well on fliers. Lucky for me, eh?" He tapped the harpoon's bottom against the ground. "Melting Wave."
The acid began to churn and bubble, gathering up into a low-lying wall behind the man, all of it combined making the pavement creak dangerously in that area. He smiled as he gave his harpoon another twirl before jabbing it at Jeanne again. "Let's see if you can dodge this, shall we?" With that, the wave swept forward, not affecting Gibbs in the least as it came toward her.
But Jeanne had already figured out how she was going to dodge this. Good thing Quattro apparently hadn't done the research on all of what Flashpoint was capable of. At her command, a section on the device's side had opened, exposing a valve that she was just finishing turning to the left. The hose shivered slightly in her hands, making a hissing sound as she leveled it at the oncoming wave.
"Boiler Gatling." Flashpoint murmured. "Fire."
The three hose-barrels began to spin once more, but the water that left them this time was very different – instead of the clear, blue substance that had come before, it was now boiling red hot. Gibbs' eyes widened as the red stream collided with his poisonous magic and began to melt through right away, a cloud of steam beginning to form as it burned away at the acid.
The wave collapsed completely a few moments before it could reach Jeanne and lost its momentum. Gibbs took an uneasy step backward, but fortunately for him, the device metaphorically clicked empty as its movement ceased. "So, do you see the-"
She was cut off by Gibbs abruptly charging; from someone who'd only moved in gradual, slow shifts so far, it came as a surprise that caught Jeanne off-guard. The captain would have sent off another shot but he closed the distance too quickly, striking out with his harpoon and forcing her backward into dodging, along with using Flashpoint as a makeshift shield.
"Dammit, one step forward two steps back…" Jeanne swore, ducking back under a slice of the harpoon. The tip of it was coated with acid; if he got her with that, it wouldn't be something she could just shrug off. "Like I didn't have enough problems today…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Planet Gardius – Hardware Store – 1928 Hours
Arturia frowned as a few of her bolts panged off the barrier the attacker had set up. Even with Frangir in his Arbalest Form, the shots she fired had had no apparent effect: whoever was behind it, he had prepared for this well.
Backing away and then throwing up a barrier against the next hail of arrows, she decided to switch her strategy. And as many people knew, this, to a Belkan practitioner, meant doing largely the same but more. Loading two cartridge's worth of energy (most Belkan practitioners not believing in half measures, as many could also attest) into her device, Arturia flew up higher and angled the ballista down toward the window. Fortunately for whoever owned the shop, she had had the foresight to put up a barrier; she didn't share a certain captain's recklessness, after all.
Naturally, it was impossible to miss the beacon of Frangir charging from this close, and the criminal appeared to not want to take the chance of her unleashing it upon them. In addition to the new hail of arrows at her now stationary position, the bear familiar uttered a roar and threw GD aside, bounding toward the one threatening its master and leaping up toward her.
Arturia grit her teeth as she saw that both attacks would hit her simultaneously; she could most likely shield against both, but this technique required her to stay motionless. "As I thought, their primary objective is to waste our time." And irritating though it was, it seemed that had succeeded now-
With the bear as close as it was, she was able to see its feral face crumple into confusion, one moment before it fell back down to earth. As she weathered the arrow's blows, the knight looked down to see GD hurl the beast into the pavement, jumping on top to pin it to the floor. "…it would seem I have misjudged him yet again, I see…"
The charge reached suitable levels a few moments later – perhaps a bit less, but there was only so long 782 could be relied on to contain such a raging beast. Arturia tightened her grip on Frangir's hilt as she cried out. "Now, strike! LAUS CALAMUS!"
"Laedo!"
The magical blast loosed itself like a miniature corona, and it seemed Arturia had no reason to worry: the barrier was no match for her attack, bursting underneath its force. She stared at the smoke cloud that billowed out from what was left of both the window and the entire wall. "Well?" she called. "If you do not feel like surrendering yet, I can always fire another!"
"Warning: Lady Lackland!"
At times 782's blunt mannerisms were useful, though irritating. Arturia looked down, but unfortunately a bit too late. A longer than average arrow flew through her blind spot, the head reshaping itself once it had into a manacle that wrapped itself around her leg. Whilst ordinarily she would rightly scoff at the idea of attempting to chain a flying mage, now she let out a startled cry as she was forced down, the chain somehow increasing her weight several-fold. As a result, she hit the ground a moment later without any time to adjust her fall.
Arturia tried to rise, but the line was given a sharp tug, dragging her backward on the pavement. Her instincts suddenly sent a suggestion, and she gladly obeyed it, thrusting her head to one side and concentrating on defense. The bolt came one moment later, slicing into her neck and continuing on to make a large hole in her chest-plate. While the enemy realigned their shot behind her, the knightess gripped Frangir tightly and plunged him into the ground, using the sword as a balance to quickly pull herself back onto her feet. Spinning around as soon as she was, Arturia blocked the next arrow with a hasty, sadly wasteful shield, and finally got a good look at her and the Lieutenant's attacker.
He was surprisingly short; enough to be dwarfed by every member of either squad save for the Librarian (although, as Alyssa would no doubt delight in pointing out, it was far less so in her case); certainly a deceptive size if his fit form and the wound she now sported were any indication. Short russet and blue eyes hair sat below a wide-brimmed hat, part of his barrier jacket, which currently the color of the surrounding buildings. Currently because Arturia quickly realized who this man was.
"Johnathan Wrangler," she breathed, eyes narrowing as she shifted Frangir back to his original form, "I see that merely hunting in the Church's endangered reserves was not enough to sate you for long."
The man stared at her dully, toying with his crossbow device's settings. "Member of the Saint Church? Figured. Don't think I know your family, but…don't really care."
Arturia tried to keep her temper from flaring up at that last comment. "I don't think I care much if a criminal knows me or not – it changes nothing here. You came here to hunt Bureau mages, did you not?" He shrugged apathetically, but she continued, shifting into a proper combat stance despite her manacled foot, the chain of which lead to his left arm. "Then I will be glad to show you why you have picked the wrong unit as your prey. And I will be more than happy to take retribution upon you with my blade!"
Johnathan's sullen frown slowly turned upward as he aimed his crossbow at her. "Now you're speaking my language!"
Nearby, GD stuck out his legs to prop up against a building wall to keep his back from being shoved into it by the bear, GD kept his hands over the beast's snapping jaws as he looked over at his lady. "Observation: it is good to see Lady Lackland so energetic today."
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Planet Gardius – Skies over Ballroom – 1930 Hours
Somewhat surprisingly, as all this was going on, Anton was still in his fight, and actually had yet to receive any non-superficial wound. These facts were not lost on his opponent. "…I guess there's a bit more to this idiot than meets the eye." Katie admitted reluctantly. He didn't seem to have any real sense of strategy, even if he wasn't trying to defeat her directly. He'd either try to get around after making some useless distraction with his wind, or just fire off spells, apparently hoping one of them would reach the ice cage. Occasionally he'd stop, breathing hard as he put some weird device to his mouth. Attacking while he did that would be like kicking a puppy, really, and who knew? Maybe it would give him time to see the mistake he'd made.
The negative reinforcement she had tried to use for that purpose wasn't quite doing the job, anyway. He had almost no power, and she could definitely rip him apart if she managed to get her hands on him, but what he was was slippery. No matter what attack she thought was a direct hit, he'd always turn it into a scrape, or an entire miss. Katie focused her eyes on him – it was difficult to see even if she was a mage, but surrounding the bespectacled secretary now was an aura of wind, and a deceptively powerful one at that. The subtle ways they blew, combined with Anton's darting, panicked movements, meant that most of her up-close repertoire wasn't working out so well. That was because there wasn't a need for her to really try at the moment, but she still had to give him some credit.
Not aloud, though. "It's been more than ten minutes since you made that little comment of yours," Katie called up to him, "shouldn't you have realized yet that boasts aren't going to let you beat me? I'm a little disappointed, actually; you look smarter than my sister, and look where brute force got her." She nodded her head toward the ice prison.
His eyes darted toward there, narrowing for a moment, before returning to their normal calmness. That was the weirdest thing: ever since his outburst, the four-eyes had become completely calm. She'd tried out a few taunts like that, but nothing had really seemed to faze him. Katie looked toward her sister again, this time slightly to the side, at Glenn. Yeah, she could only remember him getting angry once or twice during their time all together, but when his patience was broken…you couldn't tell that it had at all. She frowned. "So why the hell is he reminding me of that? Compared to when that happened, he's nothing at all!"
"Actually," Anton said finally, adjusting his glasses, "I was just about finished trying it this way now. Sorry if I annoyed you with it."
Apologies like that were always a sign of trouble – when they were given by other people, of course. "So, do you have anything more appropriate for you? I'd suggest running away, myself, but-"
The wind mage's voice cut her off. "Now is when I really get started. I hope you're prepared."
"Wow, now that's certainlybig talk!" Katie said with a condescending smirk. "But do you really expect me to believe you believe them?"
Anton stared at her for a moment. "No."
This simple admission was enough to make her stare back, eyes open in utter surprise. Then she had to laugh. "That's the first thing you've said so far that's made any sense!" Katie waved an arm at him. "Go ahead, then: I could always use more laughs."
He stared at her for a moment longer, took a deep breath, and-
"Hey, Anton, we're here."
The secretary blinked, and looked down to the road, where Dwight and Ace were now standing, the latter waving up at him. "Still alive, huh? Well, no worries now."
Anton cut him off before he could ready his device. "Wait. There's something more important right now."
Despite the lieutenant being so far away, he could sense him raising an eyebrow. "Right, I forgot – okay, what's the deal?"
Keeping his eyes on Katie (who folded her arms, looking at him), Anton explained what was going on. Thankfully Dwight was calm enough to take it all in without flying off the handle.
Ace, on the other hand… "WHAT! Holy smokes, we'd better-"
Dwight put a steady hand on his arm. "That building there, Anton?" He nodded toward the skyscraper Doctor Forrester had singled out. When Anton confirmed, he surveyed the situation and asked, "Are you positive you don't want back-up? There's no concrete count-down, right?"
"No," Anton replied, "that just means it could go off in an hour, ten minutes, or even while we're taking right now. I don't think Alyssa would want to get rescued if it meant most of the city getting destroyed, do you?"
The sniper paused for a moment and then said, with a slight chuckle, "I guess that's speaking from you knowing her for what, a couple of days? She does seem to have that effect on people, I suppose."
He moved over toward the building, Ace following behind him. "But just keep in mind; I doubt she'd want you to get yourself killed saving her, either. So be careful, and that's an order."
"Yessir! Remember, it should be somewhere below ground!"
Katie cocked her head to one side and exhaled, stretching her arms out and sending a flash of lightning sizzling past his cheek. The secretary didn't appear to notice, but that didn't stop her from challenging, "Are you quite done yet? Or is your plan nothing but a lot of standing around?"
Anton actually smiled. "Not exactly?"
In hindsight, Katie reasoned, what the four-eyes did next was fairly easily explained. He'd evidently been building up the wind around him for quite some time, and now let it all burst at once, achieving an effect similar to wind assaulting your ears on a particularly nasty day only amplified many times over. At the moment though, she was quite occupied by the horrible, focused pain to figure out how he had caused it. Letting out a screech, she bent over, paralyzed by the brief sensation.
But that was what intelligent devices were for, wasn't it? Focusing enough to snap up hands, she put her magic at the ready and waited for Coltello to fry the little fu-
"Mistress, target has been lost." stated the twin daggers simply.
What? He'd done all that just to run away! Clever and spiteful; something after her own heart. But now there wouldn't be a hole deep enough on the planet for him to hide. Fury crossing her features, she looked up, and saw exactly what Coltello had meant.
"Goddamned cloning spells." Katie swore. She should have expected him to use a cheap trick like this. There were now ten or so Antons floating in place around the area, and a survey of all of them showed that they weren't amateur copies: each and every one of them seemed to genuinely be the young man. But then, they'd have to be if he had managed to fool her device.
Sure enough, the quickly-increasing-in-annoyance took the confusion one level further by all of his new selves suddenly moving at once. But whether they came from above, below, across or some combination of the three, they were all flying toward Alyssa. Just flying, however. He must not be as capable at faking projectiles as bodies – besides, that might have been a clue for her. This guy was definitely smarter than he looked. And now that he new about the sneak attack Glenn's spell had, all it would take was for him to get close…
But there was no way in hell she'd let that happen. Dispelling these clones would be child's play for her, and then she'd show him why trying desperate tactics on one of the Triad's children wasn't a good idea.
Backing away, Katie began to spin both halves of Coltello in the manner of someone well-versed in handling knives: quick and deadly. Lightning gathered on the blades. "Strobe Lightning."the device purred, as the gathered element unleashed itself in a series of quick, lancing bolts. Two sailed through a pair of Antons coming from the top and bottom, making them burst into wind. The rest went through others coming from the left and right – only for two more to appear from slightly to the side and continue forward.
"What!" the girl's eyes widened. Had she counted them wrong? No, that wasn't possible, and she'd certainly have felt if he had made more. "They didn't burst like the others, either. It was like they…hadn't been there at all."
Backing further away toward the cage, she squinted. Now that she had reason to notice it, the air in front of her had become strange, like there was now some extra thickness to it despite the clear weather. But what was currently the weather didn't necessarily have to matter when you were fighting a mage, did it? Beads of sweat dripped down Katie's forehead. "Earlier, when he sent out all that wind! I-it's affecting what I see somehow!
Panicking a bit, she sent off more bolts. One of them dispelled another Anton clone, but only through luck. That realization made her grit her teeth. He'd made her, Katie Triad, rely on luck. He was going to pay, and he was going to pay hard. She looked down at her device. "Coltello, we'll have to use that."
The device paused as briefly as a computer could, as though processing the implications of that. "Very well, Mistress."
Katie closed her eyes and concentrated: this attack required her and the device act in perfect harmony. She built up the magic, lightning building up around her, while Coltello plotted her path. All the while the four-eyes came closer to undoing her victory, but it didn't matter. This was as close as someone like him could get against her.
She hurried the technique a bit more than she would have ordinarily, but it didn't matter much. Even a glancing hit from this would be enough to finish him. Readying herself, she held the knives straight out. "It's over! LIGHTNING RAVE!"
The lightning mage quickly vanished in a technique similar to a Flash Move, but far more offensively than it was usually performed. Body wreathed in lightning, Katie quickly flew through each of the Anton copies: her vision might have been skewed by both the wind and her own speed now, but this was solved by the aura lashing out in all directions when she neared. Sure enough, wind brushed by her lightly every time.
Eventually there was only one left, right nearby the ice prison. Glenn floated nearby, folding his arms as he watched with some interest. Useless idiot. She increased her speed.
By this time Anton was bent slightly, breathing rapidly and hard. He was pretty good at multi-tasking with spells (or at least other people told him so), but by now he felt like adrenaline was the only thing keeping him in the air. "Hopefully it helps with attack spells, too…" he breathed out as wind built up around the tip of the baton. Honestly, he had no idea if this would hurt Alyssa at all, or even if it would actually hurt the cage, but…well, there was no but. He'd just have to see.
"Young Master!" Akashic called out. He looked up.
The scream that came out of his lips was probably loud enough to be heard halfway across the city. At least, that was what it felt like to his own ears. His barrier jacket might as well have been wet paper, and he twitched slightly as the electricity around the knife pumped into him. She must have turned the power down, or it probably would have killed him outright.
"Oh, stop whining, it's only your shoulder." Katie said, giving the blade a cruel twist and watching the red spot spread. "Well, your shoulder bone, anyway. I didn't expect it to go all the way through, though," she added, tapping her cheek with the handle of the other. "I was thinking of giving you a bit more than this, but I don't really see the point, now: no way you'll get any more pathetic of a sight than this."
A smile came to her lips. "How about this? Apologize, and I might think about letting you go. We all have stupid impulses sometimes: at least now you'll have a life lesson to remember about them."
Unbelievably, his lips actually started to move, and not just to groan. It was a bit too quiet for her to hear, though. She leaned forward. "Hm? Speak up, please."
Anton stared at her for a moment, leaned forward himself, inhaled deeply and said, "You…lose."
"Storm Purge."
The next thing Katie knew, the sections of his barrier jacket that hadn't been torn by her stab suddenly exploded into a shockingly powerful wind tunnel. Coltello threw up a barrier to keep her from being hurled back (a fortunate thing for Anton – having the knife ripped out might have been worse than being stabbed to begin with), but she wasn't the target of the counter-move in the least. She looked behind her at Alyssa's prison to see the wind engulf it, parts of the ice breaking off and being torn to shreds by the ripping gales.
It lasted only a few moments, but Katie watched with horrified fascination. By the time the wind subsided, the ice cage had been reduced significantly in size, and now sported quite a few holes. Glenn stared at the aftermath appraisingly. A few moments passed.
Then Katie relaxed, laughing. "Ah. What a perfect punchline to this whole thing. I'm not sure you have the right job; you'd be a perfect comedian." She turned back to watch Anton's blank expression, smiling. "It's a shame you decided to say that to me, or you'd have the chance." She lifted the other knife up high-
-and behind her, the ice exploded into a pyre of flame. As close as he was, Anton had the perfect view to see her eyes open in shock – and perhaps, fear. Katie quickly removed the knife from his shoulder, and turned around just in time to meet a spear shaft coming at her face. The auto-barrier wasn't quite enough to stop it; maybe she'd used too much magic? The lightning mage's nose burst into crimson as the person responsible swung further, hurling her away.
Anton barely noticed this, though. The pain was just too much, and he was completely spent. Vision blurring, he fell forward onto a friendly arm.
"Yo, Anton." Alyssa looked down at the secretary and smiled. "Thanks."
He mumbled something back. Well, she'd tell him again later.
The smile shifted in tone a bit as she noticed his wound, and her eyes travelled to Katie. "I guess some things never change, huh, Katie?"
Her only answer was a glare. Alyssa sighed as she looked between her two siblings. "Yep, you both haven't changed at all: why should you, right? You both always thought you were better than me, and hey, now you have a perfect excuse to try and prove it without dad smacking you across the head."
"Shut your mouth, you-" Katie burst out, voice already sounding nasally.
"No, I won't," Alyssa said, "because you know what, Katie? I have changed - you two just made me forget that. And you also made me remember, right now. So I don't have to listen to any of your mindgames anymore. Things have changed, even if you don't want to admit it."
She gave Bowie a wide spin. "But if you two really want to go through with this 'I was his favorite, not you' shit, then fine. I just have one thing to say."
The spear's point ended up pointed at the two of them, fire lighting the tip. "Bring it."
To be continued…
Next time, as Alyssa begins a rematch against her siblings, and the other officers continue their respective battles, Dwight and Ace attempt to find and defuse the bomb before it can go off on half the city. Quattro is no fool, however, and has placed his best man in charge of guarding it: Barnes. The two attempt to defeat him, but as they do, some…peculiarities occur.
Find out what in Lizards, Dogs, and Lightning, coming soon.
Tiresias – Yeah, I pretty much just meant for that to show how they fight people their size, since that's obviously going to happen a lot more than fighting War Armors in this story. I hope this chapter answered your question well – and rest assured, Dwight and Ace won't be getting off too easy in the next one, either.
Well, that's all, folks. See ya next chapter.