The Undoing of Sidekicks | ✓

thirty three

thirty three

JOSH HAD leapt into action seconds before I could, enveloping himself within a wall of flames as he leapt at the gun-toting armed guards. I took a second to breathe, hoping he might be able to knock some of them out before I had to get involved.

Come on, Leo. You're a team — so fight like one.

Sighing at my own quickly developing sense of teamwork, I crept out from my spot behind the pillar and dove into the fray. My nose was still streaming blood, the coppery taste sharp on my tongue, but I chose to disregard that as I dragged further pieces of my power up from within me, using them to guide me as I fought. Though I could feel my powers rapidly diminishing, I forced myself to continue onward.

Brann was firmly pressing them back, a wall of fire leaping up as a safeguard whenever someone attempting leaping at him from the side. They got a few shots off, which Josh dove to avoid, before rolling up again to launch a punch into someone's face. I could see another guard approaching from his flank, who I chose to intercept by launching a blast of particles into their side, knocking the person solidly off their feet and sending them flying into the far wall.

Josh's eyes met mine, one brow raised through the fury of the heat surrounding him.

"You're welcome," I shouted, though none of us heard it properly due to the general ruckus going on. He send a small, secret smile back before ducking swiftly, avoiding another guard's incoming jab at his exposed throat.

Meanwhile, I busied myself with the other goons leaping at us. While Josh was battling a smaller group of them, some had chosen to smartly avoid the fire-powered superhero who'd chosen to join us, advancing in my direction instead.

Apparently, I looked like the easier target.

To be fair, you were just bleeding out of your nose like a second ago, so you probably don't impose a sense of bone-rattling fear at the moment.

My own subconscious truly was the vote of confidence everyone wanted. Nevertheless, I sunk lower, preparing myself to attack whoever came at me first. As things turned out, it was not a person who attacked me but rather a bullet — which I probably should've seen coming. Either way, I dove out, knees colliding hard with the concrete floor as I rolled out of the way.

Hearing them advance, I hopped back up, balance swaying as I steadied myself. I'd need to take down two of them at once, something my very-tired myself did not wish to do, but would have to considering I'd be riddled with holes otherwise.

My eyes slid to Josh, who was busy with his own dance partners, if you will.

Great. So much for teamwork.

As two of them raised their guns at me again, I used my powers to draw a wall of particles, swiftly building into a hard shield in front of me. Manipulating it so that it moved in time with my own steps, I used it to maneuver my way forward, grimacing at the impact on it from the bullets raining down on me.

They're not really worried about wasting ammo here, are they?

Not that it mattered to me, as it allowed me to creep closer, step by step until I let the wall fall, and lunged at the first guy. A bonk on the head was all it took for them to become unconscious, their grip on their firearm slackening. I took a second to grip it, tossing it far away, sending it skittering into some dark corner of the factory.

The other individual was swiftly changing their mag, which I took as an opportunity to take a running leap toward them, landing with a groan as my body slammed theirs to the concrete. My bones rattled as the two of us went down hard, grappling for a grip on the other, attempting to gain the upper hand.