The Inevitable Eclipse

Chapter 17 - Shared Sentiments

The attacker's attempt to hide his face was lousy at best. With the help of her suit, she could see the exact shade of his eyes and the lines around them. His grip on the gun was tight but his handy was shaky. Good luck hitting a target with that. His shoulders were slouched and his feet were too close together. All trademarks of someone who had no idea what they were doing in a fight.

Illumina had faced worse before, it was jarring how little that thing fazed her. She rolled her shoulders. A fight would quench her restlessness.

The crowd would add an interesting challenge. They were haphazard and unruly, but thankfully seemed to be staying where they were.

"Hey!" Illumina called across the store. The man was threatening the young woman behind the counter. She was trembling and her skin a deathly white.

The man spun around at the sound of her voice. He pointed the gun to her but she did not flinch. The woman relaxed ever so slightly now the gun had a new target. Illumina knew that she just had to keep his attention on her, which was never difficult. The gold spandex really drew the eye. Besides, often those people were drowning in their own egos and what would be more impressive than taking down the city's golden girl?

"You have to wait in line like everyone else," Illumina put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Honestly, whatever happened to manners?"

His eyes were small and beady, like two little flies on his face. "Stay out of this!"

"No, I don't think so," Illumina replied. "How about we just set the gun down and talk about this? Tell me, how was your childhood? What choices led you here? Start from the beginning. What were your parents like?"

He did not reply.

He didn't reply with words, at least.

His version of a response was to pull that trigger. Illumina did not flinch as the bang rippled across the store. The bullet hurtled towards her. The force sent her stumbling backwards.

She regained her balance and stared at him. "Oh, sorry, was that supposed to hurt?"

His brows furrowed and he tried it again. This time she was more prepared for impact and braced herself. The bullet did not pierce her suit and did not get anywhere near her skin.

"If that's how you want to play it." Illumina raised her hands.

"What?" The man looked over his shoulder. In the time that she had spent talking to him, most of the people who had been standing behind him, including the girl behind the counter, had made their escape and she was sure that the cops would be on their way. She could almost hear the sirens. Nothing sent those people running faster than the red and blue.

When she sent the first light ray, slowly stretching towards him, he turned on his heels and ran out the door, taking that piece of metal with him too before the light ray even reached him. Half the battle was just performance. Her reputation proceeded her and she was grateful for it.

She crossed the store and it struck her that she didn't even have to move to win that fight. She had stayed rooted in the same spot at the back of the store the whole time.

She just had to hope that Kit and Ezra had the common sense to stay where they were and to keep their mouths shut.

The street had completely emptied, people had been sent running at the sound of the gun. Still she found herself looking for Saf and Basma, she knew that they were safe, they had to be, they weren't anywhere near the store when the gunshots rang out. She hoped.