The Storm of Elements

Fallen Warrior

Later, I wouldn't be able to remember the actual battle very much. Just bits and pieces, the most important parts. The rest is fuzzy, the details erased. 

But here's one thing I do remember - both sides put up a good fight. 

I distinctly remember glancing to my right while fighting a particularly clumsy guard and seeing Jake locked into battle. He - literally - dodges a bullet, uses wind to yank the gun out of the guard's hand, and summons vines from the ground, standing back to watch. The vines wrap the man from head to toe, leaving only his mouth unwrapped, and finally tie themselves at the top of his head in a bow. Jake uses wind to throw the guy in my direction. "For you!" 

I step back just as the guy lands on the guard I was fighting, and they collapse in a big heap, unmoving. 

I grin at the leafy bow. "I love early Christmas presents." 

Then I'm distracted by another guard who shoves the barrel of his gun into the side of my head. 

"Move, and I won't hesitate to shoot," he growls in my ear.

"Does 'moving' include talking?" I ask, buying time. I concentrate my ice to my head, to the exact point the metal touches my scalp.......

I feel the guard hesitate. "Well.......I supp- I mean.......you're moving your mouth to talk, aren't you?" 

"Answering a question with a question, I see," I notice, ignoring the slight shaking in my hands out of fear of being shot , but not showing it. I feel the temperature of the metal drop, slowly chilling. "Don't feel like answering me with a declarative sentence? Or didn't you learn about the types of sentences in school?" 

"You-I didn't-"

"-Go to school? I can tell. You have the vocabulary of a five-year-old." I can hear the crinkling of ice forming on metal. "Actually, I take that back. Five-year-olds have a better vocabulary than you." 

"Why you-"

"-teasing you?" I supply. "Because it's fun to tease a guard. Especially a guy holding a gun to my head. I like to remind everyone of who's really in charge of this situation here." 

"It's-" 

"Been fun talking to me? It's been fun talking to you too, captain!" I smile. The guard hasn't even noticed his freezing gun yet. "But unfortunately, I have to go. You said if I moved, you shoot, right?" 

"That's right-" 

"Okay." I quickly dart away.

"Hey!" He aims his gun, and pulls the trigger. But it jams, the end and inside frozen in my special batch of nearly-indestructible hard ice. "What have you-" 

I kick his chest, slamming him against the wall. Then I freeze him in place, so he's stuck there for a while, just hanging on the wall. 

"Yeah, you're not going anywhere any time soon." 

Then I duck just as another guard tries to swing his gun at my head. 

Several times, Falcon has to open the door to shoot a few guards, shout to us, "Keep at it! You're doing great!" and quickly go back inside and lock the door. 

I wish she wouldn't, though. It's a little distracting, watching her pop in and out like a Whack-A-Mole. 

On the sixth occasion, after I manage to bring a guard down, I shout to her, "How much longer?" 

She shoots a guard behind me with her pistol, then calls back, "The screen says it's at 49%!" 

I curse, kicking the disgusting lump of guard at my feet. "Can't the stupid thing load any faster?"