KILLJOY

Chapter 24: False Sparks

The flame-masked man waved his hand as another spark formed in front of him, flying towards the group as Max raised his hand to intercept. A dagger formed to block the spark as it exploded on impact, breaking it apart as the shockwave forced him to brace himself so he didn't fall over. Meanwhile, Clint raised his gun to fire, but the man merely waved another spark his way as he was forced to dive out of the way, as it exploded behind him, impacting another wall. Kenda quickly ran back into the room he just came out of since he couldn't do much in his current state. Sparks kept flying as explosions rocked the hallway, revealing more and more of the reinforced material behind the concrete as it cracked under the force of each spark. They barely evaded each one as they kept flying, with Max having to focus on defense while Clint couldn't get a good shot while he was running around trying not to get blown up.

He decided to try and deal with that hiding little nuisance as he waved his hand to the side as he launched another spark, as Max saw it begin to dart towards the hall. Being close by, he decided to make the risky move of forming a dagger in his hand to block it, as the shockwave blasted him backwards on impact. He quickly formed another dagger as he into the ground as much as he could, managing to skid to a halt before smashing into a wall. He did get shot into the room Kenda was in though, as he seemed pretty alarmed at Max getting hit by one of those so close to his location, let alone surviving it.
"Y-you ok!?" He said. "We can always run if you-"
Max raised an arm out as he got up from his prone position, already going to head back to the battlefield as he spoke.
"Nah, got friends waiting for me. Can't keep em' waiting."

Max rolled his shoulders a bit as he heard them crackle, daggers forming in each of his hands as he went for a new strategy. A pretty bold one, but if it threw him off long enough then Clint could get a hit in. He darted towards the masked man as another spark was swiped in his direction. He lined up his dagger precisely as he slashed the spark straight in two, flying off to either side of him before exploding behind him. He staggered a bit as he felt the shockwave burst him forwards, but he continued his pursued as the man shot another spark his way. With his focus messed up from the first spark, all he could do is hold his daggers in front of him as it shot him back once again from the shockwave. Meanwhile, Clint was lining a shot up, pulled the trigger and—.

Click.

Clint seemed to me more surprised than anything that there was yet another blank in that round, and as he prepared to fire again, another explosive spark was shot at him as his aim was one again hindered from trying not to get hit. Unlike Max, he had no way to defend himself if he got hit, and an explosive like that would at least break a couple ribs if it hit him head on. And yet he saw Max just take them head on for him to try and give him a clean shot, despite the massive risk that would come with missing one of his slashes. Nonetheless, once Max managed to get back onto his feet, he reformed his daggers once again and dashed right back at the man. He was letting the adrenaline start to get to him as that combat high began to set in for him, as his focus drastically sharpened. As sparks flew and were subsequently cut down, the masked man had to start evading Max's swiped by heading further down the hall as Max kept closing the distance, with Clint preparing a good shot to hit him with. Just as Max started getting a bit fatigued from the use of his TICK, Clint finally lined up his shot as he saw the man's mask crack.

Bang.

The mask seemed to protect him from dying, however it cracked and fizzled away. Meanwhile, they could feel a sudden surge of aura from the room Kenda was in. Clint ran off to go check what was happening while Max removed his daggers
and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.
As Clint walked in, he saw a substantial amount of aura around Kenda, more than even Max had as he saw a small spark in his hands.
"Wait, so that was—"
Clint was cut off by Kenda, already knowing what he was going to say.
"Yup, that was my TICK they stole! Thanks for getting it back for me!" He stretched a bit before continuing, a small smirk now on his face as he felt more alive than he had been for the past few days.
"Guess since I owe you one, I can help you find those friends of yours."
Clint merely nodded with surprise as he waved a hand for Kenda to follow. As they made it back to Max, he also saw Kenda's aura, which also surprised him at its output before he turned to Clint.
"So, we got some backup?" Clint nodded at his remark, his only response.
"Good. We'll need all the help we can get here..."