Scene 12 - November 6th

Exterior Training Grounds, Continuous

Abraham Armstrong

“Newton just said something that I couldn’t catch, then Journey appeared to evacuate them,” Anima reported. They were definitely coordinating even without earpieces, then - as I suspected, Loki was connecting the group. I wondered if they had chosen a specific leader - probably Hypnos, who hadn’t been seen yet. “I couldn’t quite tag them - they’re quite good at dodging,” she commented approvingly.

“Did they get you at all?” I asked.

“Once, but not enough to take me out. I’m making sure it’s all scrubbed away now.”

“Good.”

“I was wearing Sequoia down, but Journey dropped Newton off a moment ago, and she’s holding me off to allow Sequoia to escape,” Starling said crossly.

“I’ll swing by to assist,” I said in answer to him. “Also, it’s they, not she.” Anima was closer, but I was faster - well, she was nearly as fast when she was wearing an aura, but to get that fast ate through her stores of energy pretty quickly. I, on the other hand, was able to get to him in less than 30 seconds.

When I arrived, Starling was sparring with Quinn on what looked like pretty even ground. Both had enhanced senses of some sort, and I could only guess that Quinn’s TK was making up for their comparative lack of experience as a fighter. Both had a similar amount of paint decorating them, although not enough to have disqualified either, yet.

Jack, meanwhile, was leaving. It took me a moment to realize why he wasn’t being evacuated by Simone - unlike Vulcan, his wooden composition left him not much weightier than he was normally, and certainly within Simone’s capacity. But Starling was an expert at throwing weapons, and could easily tag out Simone if she appeared simply by throwing one of his daggers - even if it might come at the cost of another hit from Quinn. Simone’s transportation abilities were one of the few advantages that the Journeymen had over us in this match, so Holly was probably unwilling to risk her.

On the other hand, I thought as I leapt towards Jack, the dryad’s enhanced strength would be necessary if they wanted to free the flag from the icy prison Vulcan had placed it in. What use protecting their queen if they left the king vulnerable?

Jack spun to face me as I came in to land, heavy bat out first, and managed to grow a wooden shield just in time to block me. The shield, covered in my dark red paint, was discarded a moment later, breaking apart as easily as if it had been made of dry leaves. He swung his bat through the cloud of particles, probably hoping that it would surprise me.

It had been a good idea, but I had dealt with such things before and wasn’t surprised even a little. I used my shorter bat to block his - twisting with my kinetic power to stop the force of his blow - and swept his legs out from under him. Sweeping a man made from hardwood stung a bit, but he was on the ground and defenseless against my heavy bat as I brought it down, and...

An amazonian figure materialized beside me, grabbing my arm and causing the world to twist around us.

I twisted the bat’s kinetic energy, turning its downward swing into a sideswipe before Journey could vanish again, and was rewarded with a wet-sounded thump as it struck Journey, who sagged, knowing that she was out.

It took a moment, as her teleportation had no doubt thrown the watching agents off momentarily, but John’s deep voice spoke around us only a few seconds later. “Journey has been taken out by Canaveral and is disqualified.”

One down - four to go.