Steven‘s foot slammed down onto the shield and he immediately pushed off, flinging himself into the air.

Buford’s snout missed his ankles by inches.

Faster!

Steven called another shield a little higher, keeping his momentum as he went.

Buford kept pace, his massive form plowing through the snow like it wasn’t even there.

Steven barely had time to flinch as a black blur slammed into his shoulder, knocking him out of the air. Noodle bounced off, but that was a point for Margie.

The dog could’ve sunk his teeth into Steven before he stopped him.

With Micheal‘s buff flowing through him, Steven just barely had the reaction time to call a shield above him.

He grabbed it and swung, his arms burning with the effort.

He released the shield and sailed forward.

Buford barked in excitement. Just before the dog leaped, Micheal ’s voice rang out.

“See me!”

Buford‘s head jerked around as Micheal’s taunt hit him.

Before he could shake off the effect, Steven called another shield to swing off of.

His timing was sloppy, and he barely got his fingers around its edge, but with the strength gained from passing his First Threshold combined with Micheal‘s buff, he was able to hold on.

He dismissed his previous shields before calling more for footholds as he started running again.

A snowball whizzed by his head, and Margie cursed.

He couldn’t just keep running. He needed to get some touches.

He glanced over his shoulder long enough to gauge Buford’s position.

Steven pointed, calling a Hand-Shield behind him and immediately activating one of his new Augments.

A Lot Goes A Long Way wasn’t the strongest Hand-Shield by itself. Only being able to shove the shield directly away from himself was limiting, and since the shields shrunk as they gained speed, Hand-Shield was too small to get that much momentum.

The Shield lurched away from him, shrinking as it moved through the air.

Buford shook off the taunt, but not in time to avoid the green oval smacking into his shoulder.

By the time it reached him, the shield had shrunk down to about the size of a closed fist.

The force wasn’t nothing. The maximum speed for Hand-Shields had them hitting a little bit weaker than one of his punches.

In an actual fight against Buford, those would do virtually nothing, but right now, a hit was a hit.

1-1.

The shield vanished after impacting the dog, its Augment consuming too much mass.

Buford chuffed and raced after Steven.

Margie lobbed another snowball, and Steven shot a shield at her in response.

Noodle darted in, leaping at him from the side.

Steven deflected him with a Hand-Shield then started climbing again, his lungs gasping at the cold air.

He started calling his tower shield while using Compass Push to toss a shield in Buford’s path.

And while doing that, calling one shield, using an Augment, and calling shields under his feet while running, Steven slipped.

He called a shield too early and a little too high, so instead of appearing under his foot, his toes slammed into its edge.

His snow boot stopped him from breaking toes, but it did nothing for his balance. Steven sailed forward face first, arms windmilling like he’d just been thrown from a bike.

With his focus split so many ways, all Steven could manage was a panicked curse before the snow came rushing up.

But then red filled his vision as he felt something cool wrap around him.

His momentum jerked up, slowing his fall enough that he landed with nothing more than a light thump and a small crater in the snow.

He turned in time to see Buford thump down from his massive leap.

He looked from the dog, then back to Margie, then back to the dog.

“Holy shit, that was awesome.”

Buford rushed over, snuffling Steven with concerned eyes.

“I’m fine, buddy. I’m amazed you two just pulled that off, though. You did do what I think you did, right?”

“If you’re thinking Buford jumped over you while I made his shroud sticky long enough to slow your fall? Then yes. That’s exactly what I did.”

Micheal, who had run over after Steven’s fall, whistled. “God damn.” He stared at Margie wide-eyed. “I was getting a heal ready, but you and Wonder Dog had it covered.”

Margie grinned. “I think we can chalk this round up as a win for me.”

“No argument here,” Steven chuckled as Buford nuzzled him.

Margie had been working on her timing with her Augments, but the snap teamwork between her and Buford still surprised him. It was the instinctive, automatic kind of cooperation that could only come from total familiarity.

They hadn’t needed to do something as clunky as speak. They acted and trusted the other to do the same.

Steven climbed to his feet. “Thanks again.”

Margie grinned. “You probably would have been fine, you have Micheal’s buff and a few feet of snow on your side, but I’d rather not have to find out.”

Steven opened his mouth, but Micheal’s phone went off, the sharp ring startling them.

Micheal quickly fished it out and then blinked down at the screen.

“It’s Markus.”

He answered, and within seconds his expression hardened. “How long?” He paused, and whatever answer Markus gave him wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He met their expectant stares. “A gang is taking over Markus’s neighborhood. He needs our help.”

He slid his phone into his pocket and raised his other hand in a placating gesture. “You two only saw him in the fight, so I understand if-“ Margie cut him off with a snort as she turned and headed for her car. “Please, as if we’d let you go alone.”

Steven nodded as he followed. “Come on, man, what did you think we’d do?”

Buford barked and ran to the car with Noodle at his side. Steven nodded. “What he said.”

Micheal shook his head and joined them, and despite the fact they were likely running into a fight, he was grinning.