CLOUD TO GROUND ☂︎ FIVE HARGREEVES

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EUDAEMONIA
first law of robotics

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Unfortunately, the peace of the moment didn't last long. The noise of something inflating caught Hypatia's attention, only to find two people in animal masks standing behind Delores and her mannequin friends, guns in hand.

Five seemed to notice them at the same time, screaming "No!" as they opened fire, ducking to the ground.

Hypatia dove behind some clothes as shots and the smell of gunpowder filled the air. She could see Five crouched behind another row.

Keeping the figures in the corner of her eye, she scanned her options carefully. She could always use her powers, but she was hesitant. After all the last time she had, things had gotten a little out of control.

They were definitely Commission goons, but how had they found her? She was so wrapped up in everything else going on that she never even considered the Commission would be after her. She supposed it made sense, there was no way they'd just let her go after destroying a whole department. But how they had figured out she was back was another question. She was just sorry Five had gotten involved.

They shot through Delores, the top half of her plastic body falling to the store floor. Five darted out, barely dodging the bullets sent his direction, and dragged her to cover. Blue flashes indicated that he was teleporting around the store, ending up somewhere in the men's section.

Hypatia darted from cover to cover, not wanting to be seen but ready to jump in if they ever cornered Five. Their goal here wasn't to win, it was to stay alive.

One of their shots barely missing the boy, he teleported away again, further from where Hypatia was hiding. The assassins stopped shooting turning to presumably speak to each other, although Hypatia couldn't tell what they were saying under their masks. They split apart, heading to opposite ends of the store, the bigger one towards Hypatia, the smaller one towards Five.

The gunman headed in her direction made their way down the aisle she was hiding in, their flashlight scanning the rows in search of movement. She held her breath, afraid of making any noise in the eerie silence. Suddenly their footsteps stopped, far closer to where she was hiding than she would have liked. A crinkling noise made her adrenaline spike, and she prepared to make a run for it when a man's voice said, "'Elastic wrist splint.' Yes!"

Was he...shopping?

Shaking off her confusion she bolted out from her hiding spot and kicked the man square in the back, sending him stumbling forward, before sprinting down another row, bobbing and weaving through clothing racks.

Catching glimpses of Five as he teleported though the space, she watched as he grabbed Delores, running through the store with her under his arm. It looked as if he went to teleport again, but something held him back, as if he physically couldn't anymore. As he did the assassins were quickly rounding the corner of the row he struggled in, a few seconds longer and he'd be in plain view of them.

A flickering light lit the scene, mounted directly above where the two were approaching. Pushing her apprehensions to the back of her mind, Hypatia tapped into something comforting and violent, and pushed. The light hummed with electricity, both the assassins looking up at it curiously as it shattered, raining sparks and shards of glass down on them.