Sonic Squad

5 ~ Story Time with Ugogo

There was a bunch of things I could have done. I could have grown some vines to keep her there a bit longer. I could have tried to follow her. I could have told Adrian or Blaise to do something to stop her.

I didn't do any of that.

Instead, I watched as she disappeared, with no clue where she was going. I scanned the sky, wondering if maybe she'd turned into a bird and flown off, but there was nothing.

"Taron? We should get going," Blaise said. I followed her gaze to where the onslaught of police cars was rushing toward us.

"Yeah. Let's go," I said. I followed her to an alley where Adrian was already hiding. In his hands, he had a bunch of napkins he'd probably gotten from the juice bar and he wasn't in his Tsunami costume anymore.

"For your head," he said, offering them to me.

I was starting to feel lightheaded, so I accepted one and pressed it to my head where it was bleeding.

"That looks bad," Blaise said, taking one of the napkins and holding it out to Adrian. "Water, please."

He rolled his eyes. "I am not your personal spigot," he said, but he moistened the napkin anyway.

"Hold still," Blaise said to me quietly. She pulled the bloody napkin away from my head and I felt her start to wipe away the blood. "And do not scream."

"Wait, why would I scream?" I asked, and then I felt the answer. I gritted my teeth and groaned in pain as something searing hot pressed against my head.

"Relax, you big baby. I cauterized the wound. No more bleeding," Blaise said. Her entire body became flames for a moment and when she reappeared as a person, she was just Blaise Hassan again, holding a handful of ash, which she dusted off her hands into the dumpster we were hiding behind.

I took a moment to survey my team. I didn't know how I looked, but it was safe to assume I was probably in the same state they were. Blaise was battered and bruised from her back-to-back fights with Shadow Sniper and her ponytail was lacking some of its usual shine. Adrian was limping from being tossed around, though he tried to hide it, and he winced every time he had to move his left hand. I still felt a little lightheaded from hitting my head and my butt was sore from constantly being knocked on it.

Yeah, we all looked like crap.

I changed out of my Greenstrike outfit. "I'll help you, Adrian," I said, looking around for something I could use as a splint. Next to the dumpster was an empty soda can. Kinda gross, but it'd work. Using my metal manipulation, I molded the aluminum into a makeshift splint and rested Adrian's sprained wrist against it.

"Here," Blaise said, handing me a black ribbon. Her hair wasn't in a ponytail anymore, which meant that the ribbon was what was keeping her hair up. Gently, I tied the ribbon around the splint to hold it in place.

"That better?" I asked.

"Still hurts, but yeah." He pulled out his trident and used it to support himself as he stood up and we left the alley.

"What happened back there?" I asked once we were a safe distance from the juice bar.

Blaise didn't say anything; she just shook her head.