Chapter 47
Kori instinctively threw her hands up as the Citadel general stood blocking the door, a weak orange flame leapt from her palms, he side-stepped it and disappeared behind 1 of the large engines, Kori scanned the array of pipes and large metal boxes, the sounds of the engines were overwhelming, she shrunk back into the room weaving backward between the rumbling machines, the loud noises and constant movement made it impossible to tell if she was actually seeing someone moving through the room or not, as she was scanning the the room she remembered that she had left Barbara alone, she threw caution to the wind and snaked back between the machines to the long center aisle that ran from the door.
Kori tracked back to where she had left Barbara, but she was missing, Kori considered her options for a second, if Friar had Barbara he would have taken her out of the room, but if she had crawled away then Kori would be leaving her alone with the Citadel General, she decided it would be better to be sure, she moved slowly down the center row, she branched off cautiously between the machines and found sitting with her back tightly against 1 of the large engines.
"Kori, did you get?" She asked, out of breath, Kori shook her head,
"We need to go" She said glancing around,
"I can't move very fast" Kori nodded,
"Ok, then we stay and fight" A second later she felt movement on her left, he appeared from behind the engine and lunged forward, she dodged to the left and accidentally bashed her shoulder against the engine opposite, she stumbled back and narrowly avoided his fist, she seized the opportunity and struck out, she landed a blow to his side, she tied to kick his knee but he had stumbled out of her reach.
The General charged her again and caught her wrists forcing her heated palms into the air, she brought her knee up but he batted it away with his right hand letting go of her wrist, she tried to bring it down toward him but he moved quickly and caught her wrist again and forced her palm down toward Barbara, she tried to fight for control but the way her arms were twisted made it difficult.
Friar kicked her hard in the gut and she fell onto her back, he was about to kick her again but Barbara grabbed his leg and drove her right elbow into his left knee, he grunted in pain and staggered forward a little, he recovered and turned back to her furiously, he grabbed her by the shoulder, his fingers digging into her bare skin, he picked her up and tossed her into the next row of engines, she bounced metal covering and hit the floor beside it.
By the time Kori was back on her feet the general had already forgotten about Barbara, Kori stepped back, he threw his weight behind a punch, she dove out of the way and into the next aisle, she landed hard on the metal floor but scurred forward behind the engine on her right, Friar followed her and was met with a burst of orange flames, he had expected this and ducked low as he turned the corner and he caught her by the neck and slammed her against the metal casing around the engine, she kick out with both feet causing him to stumble back against the engine opposite the 1 he had just slammed her against, she wrapped 1 hand around his throat, and punched it with the other, she was beginning to run out of air, suddenly the engine behind him rattled and then a hole ripped through General Friars forehead.
"How did you test a Star Labs weapon?" Wally asked, as Artemis adjusted the rifle,
"Jealous?" She smiled,
"No, I don't have any interest in that thing" He laughed,
"Careful how you talk about the love of my life, you hurt her feelings and I'll hurt you" She turned a dial on the sight a fraction,
"Artemis, your nose, it's bleeding" She sat up a little and wiped away the small line of blood, "Are you sure you're ok?" Wally asked,
"It's a nosebleed, I'm fine" Artemis said laying back down with her eye to the scope,
"They're becoming more frequent" She sighed,
"You need to worry less" She said,
"I don't worry, unless something's wrong" He said,
"Well, worry not, nothing's wrong, cover your ears" She fired the bullet up into 1 of the engines of the Tamaranean ship, the bullet tore straight through before entering the back of General Friars skull.