Now it's time for the last two Section Thirteen officers to get their chance to shine.
Section Thirteen
Chapter Seven: Lizards, Dogs, and Lightning
Planet Gardius – Building Containing Bomb Signature – 1932 Hours
"Dwight, are you really sure we should just leave him there?"
The lieutenant looked back at Ace as they approached the building's double doors. The lobby was well-lit, and he could see a few people near the glass looking out at the fight – and now them. Depending on how calm they were at the moment (and yeah, enough elements for a Storm of the Year sailing right by your window was really the kind of thing that chilled people out), a duo of law enforcement paying a visit probably wouldn't look very good. He was careful to keep Gates lowered as he replied. "You heard him, didn't you, Ace? When a guy talks like that, he isn't just blowing smoke. Besides, he had a point – and it's not like we'd be much helping him fight someone in the air, yeah?"
"I suppose." Ace said hesitantly.
Dwight looked up at the skyscraper's sign as they approached it. Unsurprisingly given the district it was in, it seemed to be a corporation building: aside from the Angelo Corporation, pretty much all of the major businesses were branches from larger ones. None of the Section Thirteen officers were really news people, but they picked up enough of it for them to get the picture: none of them were doing very good business in comparison.
This building was home to Rafflesia Industries – interesting choice of name – a major rival to Quattro's company. And now the signal of a dangerous bomb was right in its vicinity; funny, the kind of coincidences that happened everyday, wasn't it? "Actually, weren't the municipal guys talking about this a few days ago?" It was something to check later, anyway.
The doors opened as they approached, and Dwight stepped through, raising a hand at the onlookers and smiling. "Evening, folks. Nice night, isn't it? Except for the weather, I guess." No-one laughed, but to be fair, that stinker probably would have got the same reaction in different circumstances anyway. Ace following behind him, he walked up to the front desk.
Manning it was a not-quite-young lady who seemed a bit more composed than everyone else, although it was clear she was trying very hard not to think about what was going on outside. She looked up and flashed him a smile that was a tad bit more than that of a typical greeter's. "Good evening, gentlemen," she said, adjusting her hair as she looked between the two, "I assume you're not here for an appointment?"
"Good to see I'm not the only one making bad jokes today." Dwight mused before holding up his device, barrel pointed carefully away. Gates' jewel eye flashed once before projecting his Bureau credentials. "I'm Lieutenant Jacobs, from Section Thirteen. This is Sergeant Spade." He heard the whistle of air as Ace snapped a salute with break-neck speed behind him.
He thought about the best way to put this – there really was no 'good' way, after all. "I guess it's pretty obvious that we're here about what's going on outside, huh?" Dwight leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Try to keep calm, miss, but we have good reason to believe there's a timed explosive device hidden in or around this building and its property."
Holding up a finger to gently shush her before she could speak, he continued. "Before you ask, no, we don't know exactly where it is, or when exactly it's going to go off. But we do know it's soon." This wasn't exactly the truth, but he'd be willing to bet good money this was far from the first time someone had used a white lie in this sort of situation. "Who's still in the building right now?"
Shock and restrained panic were clear in the woman's eyes, but she retained composure enough to reply. "Mostly just people who're working overtime, or got stuck with lousy shifts." It was quite easy to tell from her tone that she was in the latter category. "There's also some janitors and night security, and a few supervisors."
On paper that was good, but even a few people would take a while to evacuate in a building like this. "Where's the person in charge of this branch?"
She shrugged. "Across the street, probably, if he hasn't gone home yet. I would."
Dwight nodded. "Alright, after this send a message to whoever's highest on the ladder, and tell them to call an evacuation. Say it's a fire drill or something." He looked around. "Now, does this building have a basement, or a parking garage?"
"Uh, no," the receptionist replied, a bit put-off by the question, "we have a back area on the first floor for that, and an area around back for cars. The rock we're on is too tough to dig through normally, I heard, and they probably didn't want to bother hiring a mage for something you can just put above ground."
Yep, frivolous expenses were definitely something legitimate, non-megalomaniacal businessmen had to worry about. The sniper thought further for a moment. "Where are the stairs?"
She pointed wordlessly to a door on the other side of the lobby. Dwight nodded respectfully to her and walked off in that direction, Ace following behind him, naturally. On the way there, an odd sensation ran down his spine. He looked around quickly, but there was no-one around – or at least no-one who could have caused a feeling like that. Someone else might have simply brushed it off as nerves, but the lieutenant had learned a long time ago to pay attention to things like that. Increasing his grip on Gates as they stepped through the doorway, he shut the door carefully behind them.
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Planet Gardius? – Location Unknown – 1935 Hours?
"Damn, I think he noticed I was there. Better put that down, Leonard; their sniper's got good instincts."
Casting a side-long glance at Lacerta, the roboticist replied with a frown, "Yes, yes, I'll make a note of it. Just try not to put it to the test, will you? Either one of those two could tear that alpha unit apart."
Grace snorted. "Sure, if you say so. I'm not an idiot, Leonard – if there's a chance of them leading us to the Logia, why ruin it?" She tapped her chin. "That crime boss probably has someone guarding it, so with any luck, they'll take each-other out and leave the spoils for us."
"Speaking of which, I wonder if Cashim is anywhere nearby." the old man said, peering at the computer screen. "I keep asking Cypher about a proper tracker, but the answer is always no. It would make things so much easier, too." He typed in a few commands, mirroring the movements of the girl next to him.
In the VR booth, Grace shrugged. "You should've expected that reaction from him when it comes to his pet. I swear, he's worse than you sometimes."
Leonard bristled. "And just what is-"
"Anyway, if I follow them right now, he'll definitely know something's up. I'll watch from the window, then slip in once they go up a flight or so."
"I'm on the edge of my seat."
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Planet Gardius – Rafflesia Industries, Gardius Branch, stairwell – 1935 Hours
The room they found themselves in was fairly small and cramped, even for its function, and also very deserted. Dwight had seen a few elevators nearby on the walk up, and if the people working here were smart, they'd stick to them: more than a few people in his group had taken some nasty falls down stairs during jobs, and he'd never understand why people thought they were safer than elevators.
True to the receptionist's word, there was no stairwell leading downward, but underneath the first set of them was a little alcove with an emergency exit. Crouching a bit, Dwight stepped into it and looked around appraisingly. "Now, let's see here…"
Ace hung back a bit, not wanting to distract the lieutenant while he was concentrating. On exactly what, he didn't know, but the nice thing about working with a team was that there was always someone to explain things.
Dwight looked down at his device after a few moments. "Gates, do an area search – down, please."
"Yes sir."
A tiny orange dot flickered into being above the rifle's eye, and it zipped down into the concrete floor. After a second or two, Gates spoke again, in a reporting tone of voice. "Spell was disrupted after less than five feet, sir. Source appears to be an Anti-Magic Field."
"Yeah, I could feel it," Dwight said with a nod, "did you get anything before it happened?"
"Foundation appears to become a different material several feet down. Coupled with presence of an AMF seems rather suspicious, sir."
The sniper nodded. "Seems that way." He stepped back a bit, then held up Gates and narrowed his eyes. Around them the stairwell wavered slightly as the immediate area was covered by a barrier. The corporal blinked as Dwight turned to him. "Ace, I think this is your job," he said, indicating the concrete floor, "time to see just what's down there."
Ace stared for a moment before realization hit him. "Oh, now that I can do!" Grinning, he walked up to the indicated spot and stooped, gauging himself.
Leaning up against the wall, Dwight watched him. "So," he asked conversationally, "how long do you think it'll-"
He trailed off wordlessly as Ace's arm broke through the stone floor up to his wrist, getting as much resistance from it as a wet paper bag. And while that would have been an impressive feat of the Strike User's skill, by the look on his face he was just as surprised. Perhaps he had heard the sound Dwight had, as well: the heavy clunk of something hitting metal, hard.
Pulling his arm out of the hole he'd made, he patted the material around it. "H-hey!" he cried. "Dwight, this part of the floor is a fake!"
"What?" Walking forward, the lieutenant stooped and felt it himself. Indeed, what would seem to be cement at first glance was in-fact a section of highly made plaster sturdy enough to pass as part of the floor, but not enough to withstand, for example, a lightning-charged gauntlet smashing into it. Moving around a bit, Dwight patted the area with his hands to judge exactly how wide it was – not very.
He stepped back and motioned to Ace. "Somehow I doubt the company decided to skimp on building materials in one part of one area. Get rid of it, Ace."
A few more punches, and the fake floor crumbled. Dwight couldn't help but notice how perfect an outline was around it. When exactly had it been put here? But that was an afterthought, second to what he saw underneath: a wide metal trapdoor built into the deeper part of the foundation. Before he could open his mouth, the corporal was already moving to open it.
As he did, it became apparent that it didn't open upward, but slid out to the side. Judging by the handles present on the top and underside, this could be done coming or going.
The sight of it jogged Dwight's memory on something: namely, what the police had been talking about. Raflessia Industries had reported evidence of theft in their building just recently. Mostly business stuff – marketing strategies they were going to employ, price raising or lowering, things like that. There hadn't been any signs of a forced entry, a scouring of the employees had amounted to nothing, and an investigation had been much the same.
Apparently he'd found something a little bit more than just a bomb.
"Watch your head, Ace," he said, "we're going spelunking."
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Planet Gardius – Skies over Ballroom – 1936 Hours
Katie's breath went in, out, in, out, slowly. Sure, her entire plan had come unraveled in the span of a few minutes by someone she'd never have expected to accomplish something like that, but getting angry about it wouldn't help anything, right? Especially against Alyssa, who-
"Something wrong, Katie? You look a little flushed."
-really wasn't helping things at the moment. Gritting her teeth, she tried to quell the desire to rip her sister's head off. Getting in touch with someone calmer (if less competent) would help, and was probably something she should have already done. "Barnes, can you hear me?"
"Yep." murmured the large man calmly. "I'm guessing something came up if you're bothering to call?"
She beat down a growl, and continued. "Two of the officers got into the building were we have those arrangements set up. You might want to be prepared in case they find them." He might have been interested about the identity of one of them, but that probably wasn't something Katie would have told in a very good mood.
She half-expected him to complain, or ask questions, but that was stupid. It was Barnes' job to take orders, and he was at least smart enough to know it. "Right," he said, "I'll take that as permission for me to slip off the kid gloves, then." The bodyguard paused. "Speaking of, you seem a little drained. Something happen?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Barnes displayed all the necessary tact for someone who had just stressed 'absolutely' like that. "Okay, then, I'll just go get ready. 'scuse me."
Well, that was a wrinkle – she'd have to factor him into how she fought now, and not use up too much of her magic. Of course, Glenn was on her side, more or less, but somehow Katie doubted he was the only one who'd picked up a few extra strengths while they'd been apart.
Raising an eyebrow, Alyssa leaned forward. "What's the deal here? I thought you always liked having the first go, Katie." She smirked slowly. "Of course, you were usually the first one out, too, but-"
"That's it!" the blonde cried and dove forward – very nearly crashing head-first into the flat of Koshiro's blade, as Glenn interjected himself between his two sisters.
A chilly moment passed, to pardon the pun, before the swordsman's eyes shifted away from Alyssa's and to the sorry lump she held: Anton. The Fire Squad captain followed his gaze, and resisted the urge to smack herself in the forehead. "Oh, right, damn. Thanks for reminding me. Hang on a sec."
As Katie fumed at the ice samurai, Alyssa descended toward a nearby skyscraper. Gently setting Anton down, she frowned at the wound he'd gotten for her sake. Aiming Bowie's tip at the shoulder, she cast a spell that covered it in a gently-burning flame. It wasn't exactly a healing spell, but it would dull the pain he felt, and hopefully keep the wound from growing larger. Doctor Marion would have to do the rest.
"Thanks Anton, really," she said, leaning down to speak in the young man's ear, "that took guts, and you probably saved my life there. I owe you one."
Anton replied with a groan.
Alyssa stared, and then ruffled his hair with a chuckle. "I'll tell you later." She turned back toward the battle, giving Bowie a twirl. "Take care of him, huh Akashic?"
"Yes. Thank you, Captain."
"No big deal." she said casually. "Gotta look after my team, right?" With that the red-head flew back up to the battle.
Katie didn't look particularly happy with her sister as she did. "Hmph, took you long enough. Is a coward like him even worth-"
The noise of fire blazing cut her off, as a stream of flame from one of Bowie's points shot into the sky. Alyssa smiled pleasantly as it did. "Shut up, Katie. I don't have to listen to you being a sore loser anymore, either."
The lightning mage spat. "That's just like you, siding with the weaklings." A quick flash move later, and she was facing her sister's back. Alyssa didn't turn around, preferring to watch as Glenn took a more aggressive stance with Koshiro. His expression would have been unreadable to anyone else, but she looked at it for a moment before her smile grew ever so softer.
"Okay, Glenn, that's one for you, zero for me. Let's see how the score goes now that I'm done acting like a little kid, huh?"
For a moment, one half of the swordsman's mouth turned upward briefly. Then he looked upward as Alyssa took off like a comet, spiraling upward and casting a bright-red trail. Glenn obligingly pursued, taking on his own blue lining. Still fuming a little, Katie went third, and the battle began anew at last, both blue and gold twisting among red and attempting to strike it down.
One thing quickly became apparent to both of Alyssa's siblings: she hadn't been kidding about honing her skills in their time apart, and now that her anger on the subject had subsided, the girl's fighting style had changed completely. Before she had used her superior speed for nothing but pure attacking, trying to steamroll Glenn as fast as possible. Obviously with his defenses, especially against her element of magic, that hadn't been terribly productive.
Now, though, things were different. Alyssa was using her speed as an advantage now, rather than a source of predictability – she'd back away gradually, goading them into attacking. Lightning came toward her from Katie, both direct and in the form of projectiles, while Glenn ironically stuck to freezing binds, not falling for Alyssa's attempt to lure him. The fire mage evaded them both skillfully, slipping into rolls and dives at just the right moment to make the attacks miss their mark, followed by her counterattacking.
This was helped by the fact that Katie and Glenn obviously weren't used to working together. Being separated for so long probably wouldn't help anyone's synergy, of course, but it didn't help that all three of the Triad Children were competitive by nature. Katie wasn't going to attack her brother in this situation (not even she'd be that stupid, was Alyssa's charitable opinion), and he hadn't shown any signs of minding her 'help' yet. But neither were they much concerned with the other, leading to mistakes like her accidentally searing him with lightning, or almost running into a forming ice box.
"What are you doing, Glenn!" she shouted after this happened for about the third time, glaring at him in a way that practically shot lightning bolts on its own. Glenn didn't seem to notice, looking up over her shoulder and summoning a shield.
Katie's eyes widened, and she whirled around, diving out of the way as a hail of fireballs pelted the two of them, courtesy of Alyssa. None of them were strong enough individually to burn through Glenn's defenses, but his sister grit her teeth as the fire stung at her like hornets, tearing a few small holes in her barrier jacket.
"Flare Move!"
Alyssa burst through the rest of the fireballs, the projectiles dispelling to add to the flames surrounding her. She swooped in on Katie within but a moment. "Heat Lancer!"
"Guh!" The knife-user dove to the side as fast as she could, but not enough to keep Bowie's fire-coated point from piercing into her side. If not for her barriers, weaker than Glenn's as they were, the move might have done a lot more than just cut her. "Y-you damn-" Katie sputtered, looking at the wound with anger in her eyes.
Her sister grinned. "Gee, I wonder what dear old dad would say about those new words you picked up, Kat?"
Laughing, Alyssa danced away from the sparking knives, as well as Katie's scream of rage.
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Planet Gardius - Passage underneath Rafflesia Industries – 1936 Hours
The ladder led them down a short way, before opening out onto a short, dark hallway, not altogether much bigger than the stairwell they had come from. Dwight stepped down and looked ahead. The hall would have needed about a dozen more light-bulbs to qualify as badly lit, and it was only wide enough for one person to walk down at once, bent over unless they felt like scraping their head on the ceiling.
"Sure is dark down here, huh Dwight?" Ace said quietly as he jumped down behind him. At least, he'd clearly intended it to be quiet, but the nature of the hallway had other plans: it caught the question and made it echo up and down across the stone walls. As the sound died away, Dwight turned with a frown as Ace winced.
"Uh, whoops."
The lieutenant sighed. "Don't worry about it. If I'm right about who this was built in mind for, he'll know we're coming no matter what."
"Really?" Ace asked, before he raised his gauntlets. "In that case…" He tapped them together gently, producing two low charges that lit up the hallway around them. "Let me go in front. If he's going to see us coming no matter what, at least we can see him coming, right?"
Dwight frowned, clearly thinking about relying on the corporal again. He couldn't ignore common sense just because of that, though, and stepped back, giving Ace a nod. "Not a bad idea. Go ahead."
Ace shrugged, looking away as he took the lead. "Well, ambushes are part of battle too."
If he hadn't already been uncomfortable, that comment would have changed things in a hurry. Dwight was glad the young man couldn't see his face as they moved cautiously down the hallway. Not only was it dark down here, but the echoing walls made it seem like every footstep you took was all around you – and that one or two might not have been your own. He found himself turning his head this way and that, peering at the ceiling and walls. But that was dumb: there was barely enough room for the two of them in here. No way was anyone else lurking somewhere.
"Which is exactly what I thought," he thought, feeling a sudden pang in his side, "back then."
Tightening his grip on Gate's handle, Dwight tried to steady his rising nerves as they walked down the hall. It seemed to take longer than travelling from one side of the road to another really should have, if that made any sense. Eventually, though, the two of them neared a single spot of industrial white amidst the dark-gray walls. It was a simple gray door, featureless and equipped with a knob. He wouldn't have been surprised to find it in an office building like the one they'd just come from. Seeing it here was just…weird.
Turning to look at the lieutenant for a moment, Ace stepped forward and tentatively grasped the knob. Nothing happened. The young man exhaled slightly, turning and pushing the door inward. He stepped back quickly, gauntlets raised, as it swung open on the room beyond. "An area search would be useful here, Dwight." he remarked.
"No," Dwight said, shaking his head, "that doesn't work on this guy."
"He sounds strong." Ace said simply.
The sniper nodded. "Strong enough to put me through the ringer, at least. I ran into him on my own a few weeks after I got here – it wasn't pretty."
Ace blinked, and fell silent for a moment or two. Then he lifted one hand and smiled wide. "Well, you're not by yourself this time, right? I'm here."
Dwight couldn't help it: he burst out laughing. It was such a corny thing to say, and Ace was so damn serious about it besides. But if there was a time he could use a laugh, it was now. He clapped a hand on the Corporal's shoulder and nodded. "Right, of course I'm not; how could I forget? Let's go, Ace."
The martial artist nodded eagerly. "Yeah."
"Just like last time, on the count of three." Dwight held up his fingers. "One…" he tightened his hold on Gates. "Two…" Ace tightened up, preparing to move as quickly as possible. "THREE!"
They ran forward at once in a crouch, bursting through the door and into the room beyond. In contrast to the hallway they'd just come from, it was well-lit and spacious, even having a second floor complete with balcony. Along one wall was a large computer screen displaying what looked like a map of the city, with various spots of it lit up. A couple chairs were in front of it, while comfy-looking leather couches where in other area of the room. The floor was nice, padded carpeting.
Not that Ace and Dwight had much time to notice these things, because as soon as they passed through the door, something dropped down from space above the door with a muffled thump. The two quickly spun around, with the former jumping in front of his superior and crossing his arms defensively. Good thing, too; the formless sphere of magic that hit him a moment later sent the young man tumbling back into Dwight, and nearly sent him into the carpet. He winced; Ace was harder than he looked. Or at least his jacket was. At least it could have been worse.
"Well, well, well…" said the large man in shades who had done the deed, "look what the cat dragged in." His eyes looked right past Ace like he didn't matter, and settled on the Lieutenant. "Evening, Dwight. Didn't know you'd gotten yourself a lacky. Does he do tricks?"
"Why you-!" Ace growled, stepping forward, but Dwight put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
He treated the giant to a hard look. "Couldn't really say, actually. I've been seeing so many dumb owners put their pets up to stupid crap lately that I'm kinda soured on the whole idea, Barnes."
"What a shame."
Ace looked between the two, stifling a gulp. The only metaphors he really had any for use were ones that had to do with the inside of a ring, and right now he felt like this was just the warm-ups before the fight started. His gauntlets crackled slightly while he waited for the pin to drop; he didn't want to screw up anything Dwight had planned.
In fact, he was overestimating his new friend a tad. Dwight tried to keep his expression level as he looked at the man. "He's, what, a few feet away? How long would it take him to get close? A couple seconds, maybe." He hadn't expected Barnes to move that fast last time, but would knowing about it now even help?
He took a hesitant step backward – being close to any perpwas a bad place to be for a sniper, but he couldn't think of anyone worse for it than this guy.
It was like dropping a pin on a stone floor. One second Barnes was standing casually, arms at his sides, the next moment his hand was pounding into Dwight's nose. It wasn't a hit with any style or finesse, but more like a butcher pounding some meet. He certainly felt tenderized as he was sent flying across the room, blood splattering onto the carpet.
Ace's eyes widened. He hadn't even seen Barnes take a step forward, let alone get past him. Not that he stayed shocked for very long…or at least not figuratively.
"Spark Knuckle!" The crackling light of the punch touched the man's face as it headed toward it, illuminating the eyes beneath those dark lenses. It didn't stray from its path, but Ace inhaled sharply. There was a lot that could be said about the eyes, but he skipped right to what they weren't: anything human. What Barnes did in response to the attack didn't help that perception, either. Quick as a snake, his hand shot out and grabbed hold of the gauntlet, stopping it inches before it touched him.
Grabbing one of Bolt's gauntlets while it was live was a good way to make sure you didn't use it for anything else, ever again. But the lightning only crackled uselessly at his palm, failed to get further, and faded away as Ace's eyes widened further. Barnes stared down at him. "Kid, you got bad luck. I'd say, sorry, but somehow I think it would sound insincere."
Adding his other hand onto the convenient hold of the gauntlet, he grunted and tugged, tossing the hapless Corporal over his shoulder like a shot putt. Ace crashed into the wall near the staircase, grunting as he left a partial imprint.
"You okay, Ace?" Dwight asked, voice understandably a bit muffled.
Ace nodded as he picked himself up. "More or less, yeah." He frowned. "But only because he pulled that throw. I see what you mean about him being strong."
Dwight felt around his nose. "Yeah, tell me about it." Inwardly his thoughts were less simple. "Could just be my imagination, but…was that punch harder than last time?"
Barnes didn't move as the two got to their feet. "I'll give you some credit; I didn't expect you to get here this quickly. It's too bad I don't have anything to give you for it – other than these." He cracked his knuckles.
"Cut the shit, Barnes. I'm not scared of you."
The shade-wearing man shrugged. "Not like it matters if you are or not."
Not finding a suitable retort for that, Dwight called out telepathically. "Ace, there's no way I can fight him up close. Think you can take care of that?"
"Yeah, definitely," Ace said, resisting the urge to nod back, "no way I'm going to get knocked around by some thug!"
For his part, Dwight resisted the urge to smile. "Okay, on the count of-" he nearly bit his lip as the young man bolted forward, swinging a punch at something that turned out to Barnes' fist, now lined with magic. The result was a minor shockwave that sent both of them backward a footstep or two. But it didn't end there.
Rather than watch the hail of blows and footwork that followed, the Lieutenant picked his way carefully around to the staircase, ascending it two at a time. There was nothing he could do at that range. He'd just have to hope Ace could keep him there long enough, or…well, he'd just have to hope he would. One thing was for sure, as far as he was concerned: neither of them could fight Barnes on their own and hope to come out ahead.
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Planet Gardius – Jeanne's location – 1938 Hours
The Water Squad Captain's nose wrinkled a little, and she let out a small growl before hopping backward, sneezing as she did so. "If that happened because someone was talking about me, they better hope I don't find out about it." Like many serious people, Jeanne despised such minor distractions. While you could deal with a major annoyance – and a few examples came to mind pretty fast for her – directly, say, by telling it to shut its face before she shoved a gallon of water into it, but some things you just couldn't do anything about. Well, other than complaining about them good and hard.
And if there was ever a time she didn't need distractions like that, it was…all the time. But especially not now. Flashpoint's Boiler setting might have evened the odds, but it didn't make Gibbs any less of a pain to fight. The spot she'd left quickly filled up with acid as the smuggler strolled forward, letting out a yawn. "Is it just me, or is this not really going anywhere? Good thing I didn't have anything to do today; getting paid to waste someone else's time is almost a vacation."
Jeanne exhaled a puff of smoke that substituted for an eye roll magnificently. "Is he supposed to be making me angry, or what?" Oh, he was definitely an annoying ball of slime that got on her nerves like hot glue, but that description fit most of the people she'd had to deal with for most of her life, and he didn't even outrank her (not that that ever really mattered much to her) – so what reason was there to give a damn what he said?
The woman's inner monologue was cut off suddenly as a disturbingly familiar noise reached her ears: the sound of foundations crumbling, right underfoot. She didn't have to look down to see what was happening, largely because the shaking was already running up her feet. Jeanne threw herself back again as the immediate area collapsed, dropping into a newly-formed pit of acid underneath with a series of hisses.
Not that the damage had been confined to just that spot. The area around it began to collapse just as fast, barely behind her retreating feet. And then suddenly, not even that. Fortunately, Jeanne was nothing if not a quick thinker, and Flashpoint was already almost pointed down as it was. Shoving him ahead as she fell, she squeezed off a shot quickly.
"Thank god for barrier jackets. This would probably hurt like hell otherwise." The Captain thought as the water propelled her back upward, teeth clamped around her cigarette. It wasn't quite as, ahem, stylish as Alyssa flew, but it got the job done: the ground she was about to land on seemed safely away from the damaged part of the road.
And, miraculously, a statement like that made by her turned out to be true for once. It was the left and right areas of the street that had been eaten through, and they fountained forth in unison, arcing straight up toward her.
Jeanne uttered a word that would have made Anton blush bright pink before summoning a bubble around herself, while Flashpoint strengthened her barriers beneath it. The acid fountains hit her at once, letting out a nasty hiss as it ate through the water instantly. They couldn't hit the barriers with the same amount of force as Jeanne quickly fell out of their path, but both collapsed in an instant, showering her with the melting substance.
The barriers quickly broke like a dam under the pressure, and the captain grit her teeth as the acid splashed against the jacket, one short step away from touching her bare skin. Compared to that, hitting the ground back-first at that speed really wasn't too bad.
Rolling to the left, gaining precious seconds as Gibbs had to retarget his acid, Jeanne forced herself up. She eyed Flashpoint's dial for a moment and frowned. It was a dumb thing to take a stand on, but she'd already shown this idiot one of the device's alternate settings. It would just be…wrong, somehow.
"Come on, Captain, is this all you can do?" the smuggler called loudly from where he stood at the other end of the road. The space between them had lengthened, and he didn't seem particularly interested in getting any closer.
Jeanne frowned, looking at the road and thinking quickly. "No way I'm getting any closer to him if he has anything to say about it…but even if he's trying to hide it, he's annoyed. Probably no-one's lasted this long against him." It was small, but it gave her something to work with at least. She just had to keep it together a little while longer…
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Planet Gardius – Daniel and Otavi's location – 1939 Hours
"Dammit!" Daniel grimaced as the tail end of a crystal storm courtesy of Mercedes clipped him in the side, turning an agile roll into a clumsy sprawl. He hit the ground on his arm, Lithic nearly getting wrenched from his grasp. "You're even more of a pain in the ass in person…" he muttered, smacking the ground and causing a slight tremor that forced him up.
His opponent gave a haughty tut. "Are you trying to make me angry, Daniel Trail?" She sniffed. "I realize you're a barbarian, but surely you can't imagine everyone is as short-tempered as you?"
Her lip curled upward even further as a glob of spit landed on the crystal field. "I'd get mad at the short crack, but no way you're worth it. Besides, that's way too clever for you."
"Hmph, such wordplay is certainly-"
"-just like actually getting things right about Belkan culture."
Mercedes' expression of superiority collapsed into a petulant scrunch, and then back to haughtiness a few seconds after Daniel had already seen it. "I've had enough of you talking like that to me!" She pointed the sceptre at him and cried out, "Ruby Bombardier!"
More of the jewels blinked into midair, flinging themselves at Daniel just as the last ones did. These, however, were glowing red hot, not unlike some of Alyssa's fireballs. The only thing that could have made him move faster is if something that looked like Jeanne's magic, but they were moving fast (or at least fast enough for him), and he still had the buildings at his back.
Before he could feel a sudden unpleasant change in his temperature, though, the spelunker caught a glimpse of something on the edge of his vision. He shrugged inwardly. "Any port in a storm, I guess." Of course, there were ports with skeleton ships that he'd rather have used than this one, but who was he to argue if it saved his skin? With a hop and another dive (aided by a short boost from the earth; thank the Kaiser he was outside of the crystal field)
Mercedes gave a satisfied smile as the jewels exploded, showering their burning shards across the immediate area… "Huh!" …except for the part of it that, coincidentally, Daniel happened to land in just at that moment. "But how on Midchilda-?"
He didn't give her time to think about it. Regaining his grip on Lithic - currently in Shovel Form - he swept it outward, flinging the building chunk he'd scooped into it straight at the pompous girl. Quickly she lashed out with the scepter, smacking the debris away before it blew apart as well, the chunks getting deflected by her barriers. Daniel attacking outright wasn't much of a problem; it was only when he'd set things up that it became dangerous.
But, had he? Turning to keep him in her sights, Mercedes glanced over him. "Completely unharmed…" Things like that didn't happen from luck, and there was no way she was going to entertain the thought of Daniel Trail being blessed by anything. Shrugging it off, she fired another salvo. It was more of his trickery, that was it, and she just didn't see. Of course.
As it so happened, the librarian felt a little blessed at the moment, if only because Mercedes didn't seem to feel like looking up any time soon (which, he had to admit, wasn't completely stupid when fighting him). Daniel resisted the urge to do so himself as he moved, avoiding the shower just as completely as the last; doing that wouldn't just screw over him.
Floating above the ground at the moment in several spots were petals, drifting lazily through the air despite the humid atmosphere of the night. And unless Daniel had just rolled triple sixes with the guys upstairs, there was only one place they could have come from. If he strained his ears, he could hear some notes from her violin, but Otavi was nowhere to be seen. Good.
Mercedes eye twitched slightly as Daniel made his way around her, gradually growing closer despite the jewels she fired and the walls placed in his way. "What…what's going on here!"
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Planet Gardius – Arturia and GD's location – 1941 Hours
For once, GD was forced to admit that he was faced with a problem, as the beast beneath him bucked and thrashed in an attempt to lose the irritating weight. As an official of the TSAB, the gadget drone had compiled information on many skills useful to his new duty of keeping the peace. For instance, there were dozens of ways to incapacitate a suspect non-fatally while also making them forget that doing so otherwise would be a clear breach of the organization's protocol. GD had all of them committed to his memory, and could retrieve one of them to use in less than a second.
Unfortunately, while humans were more-or-less uniform in many ways (organs, bone durability, nerve locations), the familiars they so often employed were not. It would certainly be impossible for him to make an entry for every possible combination of features, after all, and quite absurd besides. He was not helpless without data, after all.
For now, extricating himself from this position would be a good place to start. Staring at the furry bulk beneath him and calculating a moment, GD tightened his claw's grip for a moment before spreading his legs, sending them crashing into the familiar's shoulders in just the right way.
The bear roared in pain at the piercing blow, arching its back and head upward – just as the machine's hands, clasped into a single fist, came down. There came a loud crack as the two met, and the creature shifted underneath him again, far more sluggishly. GD quickly rolled off, flipping away the instant his claws scraped the road.
His blow had aggravated the beast, especially with his AMF energy added onto it, but a combat familiar couldn't be put down by a blow like that. It had already whirled, issuing a hot roar filled with saliva at the gadget drone. And, one moment later, also full of flame; a long gout of it that ran toward GD. There was no finesse in it, but a lack of that, regrettably, did not matter much for him.
GD leaped, going higher than any normal human could as the fire passed over him harmlessly. There was one respect that familiars were uniform in: almost everything they did was a drain upon their mage. Assuming that he could keep himself in the fight unmolested (and also that he could keep the beast's anger constant – it did not seem particularly smart), Lady Lackland's job would be easier as a result, however slightly.
Likewise with familiar types, anything approaching a comprehensive list of every spell would be enough to make his systems give off smoke. And while a foe might attack crudely, that did not necessarily mean they did so without surprise. Similar to the claw enchantment it had employed earlier (and now since dispelled), the bear's fur became lined in a red aura and, at a roar from the beast, rose up into spikes. Naturally, they then shot off, up and toward the droid.
The machine would have grimaced if he had had a mouth to do so with. While his skill at maneuvering on the ground was considerable – going by his squad-mates' opinions, at least – GD could not summon momentum in midair as easily as the average mage. There was nothing else for it; the Sergeant curled in on himself as much as possible and strengthened the AMF to its maximum output level.
Fired as erratically as they were, a good portion of the spikes missed him entirely, and many of the smaller ones were dispelled as they passed through the field. Unfortunately, 'most' and 'all' were two crucially different things. Across GD's frame came the ugly noise of metal rupturing as the spikes pierced him, followed closely by the sparking of his inner electronics in a few locations.
The attack flung him out of the air, and he hit the ground roughly. Even before he did, though, the droid's hands were working swiftly to remove the piercing spells. Thankfully his generator made this easier, and most of the spikes simply winked out when he grabbed them. The larger ones had to be extracted with care, and quickly: the bear was already pounding toward him.
Nearby, Arturia quirked one eye toward the other battle and frowned. "Yes, there is no doubt about it. That familiar is feral." Not every mage, if they could even create a familiar, had the energy or want to summon one that was fully sapient. Enough intelligence to receive commands and maintain some independence was usually adequate if not ideal. But some mages didn't desire to bring anything worthwhile into this world, it seemed. Feral familiars could follow orders, but only in the manner of an attack dog. And from the looks of it, this one had been driven far into its rage. Could 782 handle a berserker such as that?
She was brought out of her thoughts by a sharp tug that threw her forward despite expecting it – in the same instance Johnathan sent a pair of arrows whistling toward her breastplate. That had been his strategy throughout their battle, and it was beginning to grow very tiresome in the knightess' opinion. Nonetheless, nothing much could be done about that; the bind he had employed held her fast. All attempts to break or sever it had been interrupted by him, in the same manner he had just used. Being tugged around like a mule had done very little to improve Arturia's mood.
Staying on the defensive would do nothing toward her winning this battle. Pushing forward and allowing the bolts to hit her passive defenses, the Saint Church warrior flinched; they were more powerful than one might first think. "But meaningless for my defenses, all the same." Making a quick leap to avoid being tripped again, Arturia struck out with Frangir at her foe.
"Wow, you sure are brave." Johnathan said calmly. "Stupid, too."
Extending one finger quickly, he plucked the manacle's chain like a harp's string. The noise it produced was nowhere near as pleasant, however – letting out a startled cry, the girl collapsed out of her leap, the claymore nearly falling from her grasp as she hit the ground. As soon as the hunter had touched his bind, the inside of Arturia's manacle had abruptly grown spikes, stabbing straight through to the bone and releasing what felt like an electric shock.
The girl wasn't willing to let a cowardly trick like that keep her down, though, and tried to get to her feet before she'd even realized exactly what the attack was. Her afflicted leg didn't fully agree, however. The bone didn't appear broken, but the shock that ran through it had affected her nerves enough to paralyze the limb temporarily. Far too long, with her foe this close. Johnathan had stepped calmly aside when she fell, and now pointed his crossbow's barrel right at her face, a particularly large bolt forming within it.
There was no chance of escaping with only one leg, and on the ground besides. And Arturia didn't doubt for a moment he had other techniques for feinting past strong defenses. Frangir was still in her hands, but – nearby, she heard the sound of 782's movement hastening, and coming closer. She grit her teeth. "I do not…" Gripping her armed device tightly, she swung it at the man in a forceful push.
Scoffing, Johnathan moved back, readjusting the crossbow quickly. But her goal was hardly to hit him. Midway through the swing, Arturia shifted her strength downward, plunging the claymore into the earth and using it as a fulcrum to throw herself forward. Johnathan had already fired, and the bolt fazed through one of her shoulder-plates, scraping away the skin beneath with a glancing hit. Briefly thanking the Kaiser it hadn't stuck, Arturia struck out at the hunter's knee, not with her device but one gauntlet-clad hand. All knights of the Saint Church were required to take some training in Strike Arts: a sword might be your life, but not every enemy you met would appreciate that. Her skills were nowhere near Ace's, but more than enough to surprise someone who thought her helpless when disarmed.
Just as the poacher was. Johnathan Wrangler grunted as the augmented and armored fist struck him in the knee, knocking him over completely. This gave Arturia the opening she required to get to her feet, pulling back her other hand and readying a more dignified blow. "Quasso DILICULO!"
Glowing with light magic, her fist came down on the man's half of the bind in a heavy downward punch. He let out a cry of pain as the manacle shattered along with the chain binding his 'prey'. He rolled away quickly, while Arturia moved backward to retrieve Frangir. She might have been capable enough with only her hands, but the young warrior always felt awkward in battle without it.
"Now," she spoke firmly, bringing the claymore up to bear, "I wonder if you have any other tricks left?"
Johnathan scowled.
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Planet Gardius – Above the Angelo Ballroom – 1944 Hours
"Why am I still conscious?"
It was safe to say that Anton had never been in this much physical pain in his life. Alyssa's healing had helped, but only in the sense that it lowered the burning from an inferno to a dull blaze. The rest of him was still just as battered, too. But no matter how bad he felt (not that he wanted to feel worse at the moment, mind you) or how tightly he shut his eyes, unconsciousness wouldn't take him.
It wasn't that he was worried about something happening while he was out. Somehow he doubted his captain would take very kindly to her two opponents trying to shoot at him now, and it wasn't like he could make a difference in the fight now. It wasn't adrenaline, either: that had bled out of him right along with himself. But…he looked up at Alyssa, as bright and untouchable as any comet, as she ducked and weaved amid the battle. "She's…beautiful."
Maybe it was an odd thing to think about a woman while she was fighting, but Anton didn't care. As far as he was concerned, the Fire Triad was the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen now. No matter what his body said, he wanted to see every second of it. Before now, he'd doubted deep down whether or not joining Section Thirteen was the right decision: now he knew for sure. "I…want to be like her, someday."
Oblivious to her subordinate's thoughts, Alyssa let out a laugh as she ducked aside another bolt from Katie, then turned and quickly spun Bowie to deflect a hail-storm courtesy of Glenn. "Come on, guys! At this rate, you're not even gonna kill my boredom!"
One of Katie's eyes twitched as she ground her teeth together. "This is…mortifying!" She didn't like admitting such a thing, even to herself, but what else could be said about this situation? Her entire strategy had been unraveled by that weakling, and now that bitch was outfighting the pair of them like it was nothing! Her sister's movements were completely different, even though nothing had changed. The wound she now had as a result didn't help matters, nor did the slight pull she felt from Barnes' actions underground.
She briefly considered yelling at him over it, but while the familiar was many things, wasteful wasn't one of them. Whatever amount of energy he was using was necessary – you could count on that. "Glenn, we're never going to win like this. Listen, follow my lead and-"
"Change of plans," the swordsman interrupted coldly, "I'm doing things my way. If you don't like it, go home to your boss."
"What!" Katie turned to fix a sudden, violent glare at her brother. "You damned fickle-!"
From her peripheral vision came a flicker; all the warning she needed to turn and throw up her knives with augmented speed. Bowie's point sizzled to a halt right in front of her eyes, barely held off by Coltello's two halves. "You're not paying attention, Kat," Alyssa said from the other side of the spear, staring calmly, "that's pretty rude. If you don't want to fight, just run back to Quattro instead of wasting my time."
"Shut up!" Throwing the spear off to one side, Katie retreated, but Alyssa pursued, striking out again and again with Bowie as she spoke.
"No thanks, Sis – and hey, it's not like you can do anything about it, right?" Her face became a snarl as she drove onwards, chasing her opponent across the sky. Unlike before, though, her anger was tempered and honed, much like the spear she wielded. "That's why you came up with this plan, right? Because you knew you couldn't beat me yourself!" She punctuated it with a wide swing. "And whaddya know? It didn't work!"
Katie ducked the swing, gritting her teeth as it cut off a few strands of her hair – and some skin from her forehead. "I said, shut up!" Tightening her grip on the knives, she swung them out, sending a pair of lightning currents that twisted and turned, snaking toward Alyssa. "Shock Frenzy!"
"Make me." Alyssa, who hadn't moved, called down. Then she did move, snaking through the curves and fake-outs of the spell and launching her own fireballs as she did. These were the opposite: despite their simplicity, it seemed Katie couldn't quite dodge them no matter what she did. Flinching as one burned another hole in the barrier jacket and scorched in the side, the lightning triad swallowed a curse. Slinging out a four-letter-word or two would only make Alyssa more self-satisfied.
But she had a way to fix her wagon good, and maybe – her lips curled upward a moment – "The little pony that pulled her in, too…if I have time." Changing her grip on one of the knives, Katie built up mana slowly to keep Alyssa none the wiser, while allowing her to get closer and closer with Bowie's thrusts and spins (not that that was difficult at the moment). All she had to do was wait for the right moment…
It came when the captain thrust just a bit too far, leaving her head exposed and no time to bring the device back up. Katie threw the knife underhanded straight as an arrow, skillful enough not to need to bring her arm back. Sure enough Alyssa saw it coming and ducked, the blade barely whistling by overhead. At the sight of her attack failing, though, Katie smiled. "Got you."
As soon as the knife flew past, she loosed her spell; an extremely short-range teleport. One directed toward a very close-by target. Disappearing in a surge of electricity, Katie blinked into being nearby the thrown weapon within half an instant, snatching it up almost before her body had reappeared. "Now I've got you!" Lightning coating the tiny blade, she drove it forward for a finishing backstab.
And hit nothing but air. Katie's eyes widened as her sister's image wavered like a mirage and then vanished entirely. At the same time, there was a rustle of air behind her. "You've gotten sloppy, Kat," Alyssa said calmly, "and now it's time to pay for it. Sorry."
Even without turning around, the would-be schemer could sense the spear heading toward her back, with no time to move. "No…damn it!"
The pain of the stab never came, although a crack did, even if it wasn't of bone. Hesitantly, she turned, to see a dome of ice spreading out between her and the burning spear. Glenn stood there holding Koshiro on its side, staring impassively at Alyssa, who didn't terribly surprised herself. "Katie," he said coldly, "go back. This is my fight now." His voice indicated fully that he wouldn't accept a 'no'.
A long moment passed, and then Katie turned and fled, unable to keep a cry of rage from ripping out of her throat.
"Something wro-"
"Barnes, any mana you need, you take it, understand! If you let them so much as get near our ace in the hole, I'll skin you for a fur!"
"…alright."
Behind, Alyssa and Glenn watched her go. "Harsh of you." the latter said after a moment.
She shrugged. "Maybe, but she needed it. If she wants to fight me for real, she needs to use her linker core, not her mouth – and somehow I think she's used one a bit more than the other lately."
"Perhaps," Glenn agreed, nodding, "but she will back for you now. And him."
The Fire Squad captain shrugged, smirking. "Gee, really? Damn, didn't think of that."
"…" The icy samurai could only stare. "Shouldn't joining the military have made her less impulsive?"
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Planet Gardius – 1947 Hours – Hidden Room underneath Rafflesia Industries
"…somehow I don't think that'll be necessary, though."
Barnes stood, folding his arms, and watched as Ace stumbled back to his feet, swaying as he resumed his stance. The kid was fast, sure, but not good enough to fight him. Even a runaway truck would stop if you hit it in the right place, and he'd had a bit of experience in figuring out precisely what happened when you hit someone where. It definitely wasn't the same field of knowledge familiars typically had to memorize, but on the other hand, was also probably far more practical. Even trade, really.
Having back-up wasn't really helping the squirt, either. Dwight sat against the cracked wall, unmoving, Gates lying nearby. He hadn't even made it up the stairs. You'd think he'd know better, really. That had pissed the kid off something fierce, which just made his job easier.
"Maybe you should just take a nap, buddy." Barnes said as he folded his arms, feeling charitable. "I haven't even broken a sweat yet, and you're barely standing."
"Like I'm…giving in to some criminal!" Ace spit out, along with a bit of blood. His opponent might not have had gauntlets, but he hit hard. Several pieces of his armor had already been smashed apart, and his gauntlets were hardly spotless either. But that didn't mean he was going to just lie down and give up! "This city doesn't belong to you!" Diving forward, he swung a charged jab at Barnes' face so fast it left an after-image.
Barnes frowned. "Oh, yeah?" As quick as one blink of an eye, he slipped around the punch and launched one of his own; a devastating haymaker that pounded Ace right in the neck. The martial artists grunted as his armor there was dented right into his collar bone. That was only the start, however. Moving around to one side of the young clone as he stumbled backward, Barnes spun, raising his leg as he did so. Ace let out a cry as the pain on the front of his neck got some company. Hopefully that crack he'd just heard was the armor too…
Lifting his bent foe back up with a quick punch to the chin, Barnes then grabbed him tightly by the shoulders. Ace's eyes widened and he tried to pull away, but in one motion the bodyguard turned, throwing his weight and tossing him straight across the room. The corporal's flight was stopped by a leather-backed chair that broke underneath him – it was far harder than the plush material would indicate.
"How 'bout you stay down now?" Barnes asked with the same calm tone of voice. "I'd rather not throw you into anything else expensive: sort of counterproductive."
If anything, this just made Ace get to his feet quicker. "You can forget it!" His gaze flickered to Dwight for a moment, and hardened. "There's too many people counting on us for me to just roll over and surrender!"
Barnes could only shrug, popping his neck slightly. "Nice little speech there. I hope it'll help you hit harder – it's a little annoying to see hot air get blown everywhere by you Bureau people."
Ace's forehead twitched, temper flaring up the same way his magic would. "Like I care what some lapdog to a crime boss thinks!"
Then something puzzling happened: Dwight's eyes widened practically to the size of dinner plates. "Huh?" Ace looked back at Barnes, who was standing motionless with his head down. "But he's not doing any-"
"Well, damn." Barnes said with a sigh after a long pause. "I was in a pretty good mood today, and now you had to go and say that."
Nothing had changed in the bodyguard's words, but Ace sensed a new intent in them that was far less friendly. Trying not to let the shudder threatening him follow through, he took a step backward-
-and felt the grip of a hand on his throat. Barnes had crossed the distance between them in roughly an instant, shattered the barriers in his passing, and seized him around the neck. That somehow wasn't the most distressing part, though. During the fight so far he'd gotten a pretty good idea of what the man's hands looked like; they definitely hadn't been clawed. Or scaled.
"So, working on someone's behalf makes me a lap dog, does it?" Barnes asked genially as his nails ground into the young man's skin. His eyes shone through the tinted shades, now far from the only sign that he wasn't human. "What does that make you then, exactly?" He didn't flinch as Ace's fist came up to hit him in the chest. "A trained monkey?" With the hand holding Ace, he shoved, sending him the rest of the way across the room and straight into the wall, leaving an indent of his shape.
Barnes scoffed. "Or maybe a parrot would be better? From where I'm standing, the pair of you are sure good at talking," lifting up his hand, he slapped away a hasty shot from Gates, Dwight having struggled to his feet, "but nothing much else." The hand still raised, he concentrated, forming a ball of magic in the palm of it, about the size of a beach ball. Hardly a move with much finesse, but he'd never found much need for fancy tricks like other familiars. Casually tossing it at the fallen strike arts user, he turned as the explosion completely covered that part of the wall.
"I'm beginning to see why the boss doesn't like you people, I think." Barnes said, starting toward Dwight slowly. "You go on and on, but the pair of you can't even handle a criminal like me. If you ask me, that sounds pretty pathet-"
The next step turned into more of a stumble as something hit him dead in the back. The sound of burned material and skin came to the lieutenant's nose as he let out a grateful exhale, using the opportunity to quickly roll away from the man. Not that his attention was on the sniper anymore: with an expression of pure irritation, he turned to glare at Ace, who was getting up a third time, lowering a crackling gauntlet.
"Be quiet." he said as he rose, shaking to his feet; but his voice held none of the same wavering. "I won't let you talk that way about the Bureau. Without them, I'd be nothing at all, and they've helped more people than I've even met. What gives you the right to talk like you're better than them?"
Barnes snarled - literally snarled, spittle flying from one corner of his mouth. "Kid, you're-"
"I told you to BE QUIET!" The shout carried across the room as Ace's eyes flashed an ominous red. Before the echoes of it had even died down, he brought both his hands together in a thunderous crash.
"HYPER MODE!"
Dwight imagined that seeing a flash of lightning up close would be like happened next. Gates had enough warning to keep it from blinding him (which would just make this the perfect case, wouldn't it?), but the device couldn't possibly dispel the spectacle of it. But what was going on? Tapping Gates on the side, Dwight summoned a small window directly in front of his eye, designed to look through interference like this. He had time; for now Barnes' attention was certainly not on him.
The causes of the miniature storm were certain areas of Ace's barrier jacket – the gauntlets, greaves, and shoulder-plates – that had snapped open when he issued the command, revealing what looked like condensed charges of lightning. The corporal's body would have been nearly impossible to see for the glow of them under ordinary circumstances.
The combined aura they gave off died down in a few seconds, but Ace moved even before they had passed. However this mode exactly worked was up in the air, but it definitely did a number on his speed. Barnes barely had time to lift his hand up in time to block the punch swung at him, amplified several times by the jacket's mode change. When it hit his palm, though, he grunted as the blow quickly pushed his entire arm back, and in a way that didn't look very comfortable. Without any pause, Ace swung another punch at the man's nose – this one wasn't blocked.
Dwight stared as Barnes was sent flying head over heels. It didn't surprise him completely (the guy wasn't stupid, after all) as he rolled with the blow, bringing his palms downward to hit the floor ahead of him and push into a backflip. The recovery wasn't to be, however. Ace dove forward, the glow on one greave increasing twofold as the leg it was connected to struck out at the man in mid-air.
Barnes grunted as he was knocked tumbling to the floor, limbs splaying out. Ace jumped, both fists now glowing bright as he drew them back. "Thunderclap Crusher!"
The familiar rolled out of the way, but that didn't matter very much: when the clasped knuckles smashed into the floor where he'd been a moment ago, the resulting shockwave of lightning it released sent him flying away anyhow. Kicking back to his feet in a far less dignified way, Barnes growled, almost mimicking the last move by summoning two of the shooting spells from earlier. These were smaller, though; only about twice as big as a person's fist. Almost with the air of someone throwing a shot-putt, he hurled them both at Ace.
They spiraled around, coming at the corporal from both sides. He frowned – attacks from multiple areas were the worst thing to face in a confined area like this. But strangely, Barnes only stood there, not moving as his attacks came in closer. "Alright, then. If you don't want to take an opportunity, then that's fine by me!"
Waiting as the orbs came closer, closer, Ace finally struck out with a kick and a punch when they were about to hit him.
"…I screwed up again." he sighed as his hand and foot sank into the orbs, which locked them into place completely. Ace quickly started to struggle, but that only seemed to increase their hold.
Above the crackling of his spells, Barnes' chuckling rose as he walked over. "Nice move. Seems like kind of a bad time to get stuck, isn't it? If I had to guess," he smiled as he stood before the bound martial artist, "I'd say that form of yours can't last too long, right?"
Ace only glared, which didn't do very much except give his opponent something angrier-looking to punch. As his face recoiled backward, he couldn't help but notice that Barnes' hand, in addition to the nails, was now a rather ugly shade of green. A moment later the bodyguard hit him with the other hand, which was…hairier? Either way, the blow drew blood.
The third hit came in the form of a knee to the chest. Ace's head bent low, and in the process, brought something into his peripheral vision, which he immediately knew he didn't want Barnes to see too. Raising his free leg, he kicked out weakly. Sneering slightly, the criminal snatched it out of the air with the clawed hand, squeezing tightly before pounding it with the other. Ace winced as part of his armor there ruptured, but that was fine. Quickly he ducked his head out of the way, which Barnes couldn't help but notice. And then realize he was fighting more than one person.
His gaze instantly flew up to the stairs, where Dwight was indeed crouched – with a shot glowing on the end of his device. Before he could even think of stopping it, the sniper fired. The deafening crack an ordinary sniper rifle would make was absent, but the speed was still there; it crossed the distance in an instant and collided with the orb holding Ace's leg. Even charged like that, the lieutenant's magic didn't have much punch to it, but it was at least enough to dispel the bind.
Barnes grunted, releasing his hold and trying to back away, but Ace certainly wasn't one to let an opportunity flash by. As his leg was released, he rushed forward, bringing it up into a kick at the bodyguard's chest. At the same time, he sent a punch whistling at the side of his head; the same one still trapped. The combined blows both shattered the orb with their force and sent Barnes stumbling backward. Ace pursued like…well, a flash of lightning.
"So, you were wondering how long it lasts?" the corporal asked confidently as he hit Barnes again and again, in the chest, head, sides, and everywhere else he could find. "Well…" The familiar's head snapped backward, bleeding from a broken nose. "Just…" He bent over double from a knee to the chest, twitching slightly from the element applied to it. "Long…" Barnes stumbled backward as Ace hit him one final time, and then jumped back. Cupping his hands together, he gathered lightning between them into a crackling, spherical corona. "Enough! LIGHTNING!"
"Damn it."
"DETONATOR!"
Dwight stared, the sheer spectacle attracting his eyes like a car crash. The earlier attacks might have done some damage to the room, but he now saw that had been the thrown rock to the wrecking ball that was this move. With a force that nearly shook the floor, the energy Ace had gathered poured forth in a vicious, unbroken stream that poured into the unfortunate Barnes relentlessly. Exactly what he tried to defend against it with the lieutenant never saw, but it obviously wasn't enough. The power of the spell propelled him straight across the room with practically no resistance the moment it hit, creating a hole bigger than its victim.
He stared for a moment, and then that part of the wall collapsed entirely, no doubt burying Barnes in the rubble. "…damn."
Down below, Ace gave a heavy sigh, swaying a bit as his barrier jacket returned to normal. "That always takes a lot out of me." After a moment, he grinned. "I think it took more out of him, though." Turning, he walked toward the stairs. "So, Dwight, have you-"
Something punched a hole in his stomach.
Blinking in almost mild surprise, Ace looked down slowly to see the green-scaled hand poking out of him, clawed fingers stained with blood. He looked up to see Barnes.
There had been some cracks in his human form earlier, sure, but now it might as well have shattered into a million pieces. He'd grown about twice his size, shredding what remained of his suit to pieces, and now stood on four legs...or rather, paws. Because, now that he saw the whole picture, it was apparent even to Ace that Barnes didn't follow the rules of most familiars: namely, only being based on one animal.
It seemed unbelievable, and more than a little nightmarish, but he couldn't argue with what was in front of him. One hand was scaled and padded on the bottom; the other had fur and was webbed. Across his body were patches of fur that segued into groups of scales and back again, like some kind of awful patchwork. In his sockets was a bizarre heterochromia – one wet dog eye, and one vertical reptile one. Similar mash-ups of the two species were present all around his body, including a tail that had sprouted out in canine like a bad rash. It was like someone had decided he should have the benefits of both animals, but without taking into account anything about how that would really work.
With a quick spin and a flick of his tail, Barnes sent Ace tumbling away bodily. He hit the ground on his stomach, forcing himself up quickly to face the monstrous familiar despite the fatigue of hyper mode ending overtaking him. His chances didn't seem helped by what he saw behind and above his opponent: Dwight, his face nearly chalk-white.
"So," Barnes drawled, his voice altered by his new form, ":that'd be one for me, and one for you." He smiled, showing off a mouth full of uneven teeth. "Somehow I've got a good feeling about the next round."
To be continued…
With the situation going bad in the worst possible place, the other officers of Section Thirteen race to finish their battles before the Lost Logia can unleash its power. Can they do it in time? Will Ace and Dwight be alright? And is there anything more to Quattro's plan waiting in the wings?
Found out next time, in Stone Cold.
Kinneas – Glad you've been enjoying the story so far. The tension disappearing might be a legitimate concern with me, given my updating schedule, so I hope I don't bore you or anyone else reading, heh. I also hope this one didn't dispel it – rest assured, this arc is the least exciting one I have planned.
Well, until next time, see you guys, and I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year.