Unwanted Heroes

chapter seven: a new threat

Al heaved a heavy wooden crate over her head, throwing it in the direction of the masked man.

The man dodged the crate, approaching more and more quickly now, his blades gleaming in the sunlight.

Al hated fighting in warehouses. They either had a lot of things or absolutely nothing. This warehouse was the former.

"So many things to pay for after this," Al muttered. She climbed up onto the top of a high storage shelf, peering down at the masked man, who was now attempting to climb after her.

"Need help, Al?" Kem asked, materializing from bolts of electricity beside her.

"We need to knock this guy out quickly so we can take him to the police and then join up with Mar and Fin," Al instructed, kicking down a heavy metal box filled with stuffed animals.

The man scrambled to the side, avoiding death by stuffed toy, and continued on with his ascent.

"Well, metal's a great conductor for electricity," Kem grinned slyly.

Al nodded in understanding and linked her arms and legs to the pipes lining the ceiling. "He's all yours, big guy," she called.

Kem rubbed his fingertips together, a spark of electricity springing from his hands. He touched the metal shelf with his pointer finger, looking down at the man with a somewhat smug grin on his face. "Say good night," he singsonged.

Almost immediately, the metal shelf buzzed with electricity, the man yelling in pain.

He let go of the shelf, twitching violently as he fell. "Al, catch!" Kem called out.

"On it!"

Al rested her feet flat on the ceiling and pushed off, her hands outstretched for the smoking and twitching criminal.

As soon as he was in her grip, she changed her position from falling facefirst to landing gracefully on her feet with the criminal in her arms.

"That didn't take too long," Kem grinned, sparking excitedly beside her. "Good job!"

"Good job to you, too," Al returned jubilantly. "One question, though. Where'd that 'good night' bit come from?"

Kem blushed, giggling nervously. "O-Oh. Th-That," he squeaked.

"I may or may not have been reading a little too many shounen mangas," he admitted, fiddling with his fingers.

Al shrugged. "I'm not judging."

She alerted the police on her watch, chaining him up to a pole with a strip of metal. "Sure hope Mar and Fin are doing okay."

"Pssh! I'm sure they're doing fine!" Kem dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand.

~•~•~

They were definitely not doing fine.

Ok, Mar admitted that this thought was pessimistic, but today's mission just kept getting worse and worse.

"So that criminal back there," Fin panted, heaving himself back up onto a rooftop. "She's your ex-girlfriend? Associated with one of the fiercest gangs in the city?"

A bullet whizzed past his head and he yelped, ducking behind a small ledge.

The shooter cursed under their breath and reloaded their guns.

"Fin! I'll distract them while you subdue them!" Mar instructed.

"Ok, seriously, you've gotta stop ignoring my questions," he argued but nodded his head in compliance.