Dinah Alcott watched Anakin leave, her face turning into a scowl as she considered what was gonna happen next, her fingers playing with the straw on her cup.
Being in Anakin's presence was… strangely relaxing. He completely messed up her power, making any prediction involving him highly unreliable but, when most of what she saw was terrible and any path she took resulted in her capture, not knowing was a blessing.
Dinah didn't exactly know when she had triggered, her power hadn't been obvious at first, but she could make a good guess. Even now, she still regretted covering up for her friend, if only she knew she'd never see Anna again…
Her teacher insisted it wasn't her fault. That nobody could have known what was happening. 'What were the chances?' Miss Brown had said. Well, now Dinah could tell her.
Yes, now she could see the future…
Unfortunately, that didn't change anything. She was just as powerless as the day she discovered Anna had died because of her, because she had lied.
At first, Dinah's power only caused her a headache and gave her a faint feeling, like her friends were likely to get home safe, her family was likely to be alive tomorrow, Miss Brown was likely to get slightly hurt if she left now instead of in half an hour.
Eventually, she got used to it, her headaches got better, and, over time, the numbers started appearing. Those showing up was when she knew she wasn't just getting hints but had an actual power. One question a day became two, then three and she was happy. Never again would she make the same mistake.
Her family hadn't believed her when she first told them. They'd thought she just wanted the attention and, in their defense, yeah, she admitted she had wanted to brag a little. Being a cape had seemed so awesome back then… She had even gotten a little smug.
Still, as the days passed and everyone she knew was always safe, Dinah started to relax. Her power was always so painful, maybe she didn't need to ask too many questions after all?
Perhaps she'd even have stopped using her ability entirely now that she knew Miss Brown had been right. That even in the Bay, with all of its crime, the chances of something happening to one of her friends or family were always so very small.
More than that, no matter how much she liked knowing the chances something was gonna happen, it wasn't a very… impressive power. Nobody wanted to be a Thinker when others could fly or punch things really, really hard.
Then the answers started changing, and the chances of something happening started increasing every day. Slowly at first, but the danger crept closer and closer with every morning.
Dinah hated that her power didn't exactly give her a reason for her percentages, knowing something was gonna happen was completely different from knowing why. Worse, her power was pretty clear that telling anyone only made her chances worse.
So she stretched her power.
Desperate for answers, Dinah pushed her power beyond anything she had done before, to the point she had to skip school several times because the headaches got so bad she passed out.
Too late she discovered she had only made things worse. It turns out that using her power so much had been exactly what had increased the chances of something bad happening. Unfortunately, at that point, stopping wouldn't help anymore.
It hurt. Asking any question caused her some discomfort, but going beyond her limit hurt more, a lot more. Still, she had power, she was a cape, she wouldn't let anything happen again. She refused.
It was then she discovered a new aspect of her power. Her power wasn't only to see the numbers; she could actually SEE the future, even if it was harder than anything she had ever done.
In her desperation, she had found a future where everything would be alright, where she would be safe. It hurt… it hurt so much, beyond anything she had experienced before, but she saw every action, every step… and she realized she couldn't do it.
It almost made her laugh… and cry, she could see exactly what to do, what needed to happen to make that future real, but that didn't mean she'd be able to do it. She was too weak, too helpless.
Heck, even if she had been an adult she wouldn't be able to copy exactly what she saw. She had seen the exact mechanics, but her body wouldn't be able to follow through.
More than once, she'd thought of giving up. Her feelings a mixture of fear, helplessness, and furious anger. To think there was a future where she could be perfectly safe but it was simply beyond her ability to achieve.
Huddled between the covers on her bed, she had quietly cried herself to sleep, knowing that her parents finding out only made things worse.
It took her almost a week to gather the courage to try again. She knew there was no future where she could completely avoid the danger; at least not one she was capable of acting on. So she searched for something different, a future where she'd see her family, where they would be safe. Again, she found one.
The day she had met Anakin she had known her fate. She had fled, yes, but she knew she couldn't have really escaped, even if she couldn't help trying… and then he appeared.
Anakin hadn't been in her vision, she couldn't predict him, the numbers simply broke every time she asked, and that had brought her more relief than she even thought possible. The lack of knowledge, the lack of control, it was the best feeling she'd had in months.
Even now, so many days later, being unable to completely predict him still made her feel… safe. Not only that but he was teaching her to be like him.
It hadn't even been a month since she started her Matukai training and she was already faster, stronger and more dexterous than before, not enough to have made a difference in her capture, but it opened up so many options. Anakin was making her think being a cape was cool again and Dinah kinda loved him for it.
Well, the chance to get her hands on her own badass laser sword didn't hurt either… but it was mostly about the training.
Dinah couldn't give up the chance, however small, to become able to do something about what she saw, to no longer be helpless in the face of the numbers.
She, more than anyone, knew how her own ability could affect her future, how many options were blocked to her just because she was weak.
Squeezing her hands into fists, Dinah looked at the display within her mask, checking the settings on Hal and making sure she could activate his weapons any time she wanted. Inside her bag, the droid beeped, giving her some comfort with its presence.
"Alright, we have a job to do," Faultline said, getting up from her chair. "Kid, how many questions can you answer?"
"Three, it will hurt, but I can answer three questions. Four if you want to carry me afterwards," Dinah answered, pulling the droid out of her bag and letting it float above her in the air.
Faultline gave the small drone a look, but just nodded.
"So, are we gonna try to hide or defend?" Newter asked, helping Labyrinth get up without touching her skin.
"Fighting Thinkers is always hard. It's best to assume they always know more than we believe," Gregor said, putting his chair back under the table and scratching at his chin.
"Defend. I don't think Coil knows all of our hideouts but, as you said, it's best not to assume against a Thinker," Faultline said, leading the team out of the bar.
"If you go to our hideout, we have a few defenses you can take with you." Dinah offered, her back straight as she tried to appear calm and composed despite her anxiety.
"What kind?"
"A surveillance system and a few automatic turrets made with Coil's lasers," she shrugged, her eyes paying extra attention to the droid's cameras as it swept the street for any hidden enemies with several different vision modes.
Faultline's crew had come in a large van parked a block away. Painted black, it looked sleek but a little dirty, not all that out of place in a city. The door slid open, revealing several comfortable seats.
Getting inside the car, Dinah sat between Labyrinth and Spitfire, the mercenaries mostly ignoring her as they discussed plans for the fight.
"The Travelers are heavy hitters, I don't know all of their powers, but they have a teleporter, a Changer and two extremely strong Blasters," Faultline said, her voice hard and professional. "More than that, I doubt Coil is only gonna use them."
"You think they're gonna have company?" Spitfire asked, leaning forward and grabbing the front seat, almost touching Newter.
"Watch it," the orange cape said, making sure their exposed skins didn't touch. "I know girls can't wait to get their hands on me, but we're going into a fight, no need to risk it."
"Sorry," the youngest member of the mercenary group said sheepishly.
"Coil was looking to hire us, I doubt we were the only ones," Faultline explained, her face focused on the road.
"The Undersiders?" Gregor asked, squashed against the door to give them space even in a van. "You did say you suspected they had a patron."
"Probably, but I suspect he's hired some of the others too."
"Don't think the Empire or ABB would do his bidding, bunch of assholes," Newter commented as they arrived, driving inside Anakin's hideout and stepping out of the van one by one. "Think he's hired the Merchants? They aren't that much of a challenge."
She and Anakin had tidied up before going to the meeting at Somer's Rock, her 'master' had said they were gonna find a new hideout once he dealt with the ABB.
Everything was neatly organized, with only the defenses still out in the open and ready to act.
"Probably independents like Circus or some of the supposed heroes like Sere and Dovetail, maybe someone from out of the city," Faultline answered, looking around the room. "Coil is the type to try and recruit moles amongst the 'good guys' and he did hire the Travelers."
Dinah stretched her neck and looked around, making sure to grab one of the laser pistols from a turret she knew was too well installed for the team to take with them when they left.
"Nice place, a little bare, but it seems to be well defended," Gregor commented. "Since we're not hiding, you think this place is better than our hideout if we want to hold out?"
Faultline stepped into the middle of the place, looking around with a critical eye for a few moments while her team watched her.
Dinah herself stuffed the pistol on her waist and took a deep breath, trying to focus on Anakin's lessons about meditation to calm herself. Correcting her posture, she put both hands behind her back and said. "We reinforced the walls with some spare metal, enough that guns won't be able to pierce them."
Gregor seemed to give her an amused look, but she didn't pay it any attention.
Labyrinth sat on Dinah's bed, her legs crossed as the girl looked around with some interest, "You're cute," she smiled behind the mask, grabbing a pillow and putting it on her lap before resting her arms on top of it.
Dinah only snorted, not dignifying that with an answer.
At her side, Spitfire climbed on top of an empty crate, her legs swinging in the air as she waited for their leader to make a decision.
"Hmm, there are a lot of turrets here, and, with Labyrinth, we can improve the terrain…" Gregor offered.
"Yes. Unfortunately, we're dealing with a Thinker, any place he's had time to watch won't be safe," The mercenary leader considered. Finally, she turned towards Dinah. "Still… what are the chances you'll stay safe here?"
"Sixty-one point nine, two, nine, seven percent chance," Dinah answered promptly, a small spike of pain hitting her as she made the prediction, but she simply ignored it. "Two questions now."
"Almost ten percent less than before despite the increased security," Faultline commented. "Well, that's it, get everything in the van and let's go."
Together, Gregor and Newter managed to put four small turrets on the back of the van. The devices had enough charge to last a night and could be installed quite easily in their new place.
Half an hour later, Dinah sat in a meditating position on a strange bed, she took deep, even breaths as she readied herself, her mind rebelling at what she was about to do.
The house they were in was big, even if it had been abandoned, with the outside looking dirty and half rotted. The house had three floors with several rooms each, its location actually put ABB territory between them and the locations Coil controlled, hopefully causing maximum amounts of inconvenience to the Thinker's troop movement.
Faultline didn't have much hope that Coil would actually have trouble getting through ABB territory without notice, but she hoped it would take him longer, buying them a little more time.
The room she waited in was small. Without any windows, it had a single bed and a wardrobe, but it was the closest one to the living room where Faultline had installed the monitoring equipment, so Dinah stayed there for the moment.
Her problem was that Coil's power messed with her own, her predictions said there was less than a 30% chance that she'd get kidnapped today, but that number had already changed once, it was likely to change again.
Unconsciously, her nails dug into the palm of her hand and she grits her teeth behind her mask, her eyes watching Hal's video of the outside where there was no movement.
Even with the small time she had been doing it, her training had made her stronger, both in body and mind, the number of questions she could ask had grown and her headaches got more manageable… stretching her power shouldn't hurt so much anymore… right?
There was no denying it, she was afraid… angry too, but mostly afraid. Dinah feared the pain, she feared that Anakin wouldn't come back; she feared she'd be captured and stuffed with drugs, desperately hoping a villain of all things would save her.
Remembering Anakin's words, she breathed out, trying to release all the fear she was holding.
.
.
.
"I'm not saying you should not feel such things. Both fear and anger are useful in the correct amounts, but do not feed them; do not let them guide your actions; do not make them your goal.
"As you're learning about the Force, it is important that you focus both your mind and your actions into what you desire for your life, not what you are fleeing from,"
.
.
.
She had been tempted to change the fear she felt into anger, it was so much easier to deal with but, instead, she focused on what she wanted, who she wanted to become, what she desired, not what she feared.
Eventually, she acted, moved not by her fear, but by willpower. She activated her power not because she was afraid of Coil —of the world— but because she wanted to take charge.
The pain was immediate, like someone had driven a nail through her head to the point she lost control of her limbs, falling back on the bed and whimpering, her nose bleeding.
"Shit, you alright there?" Spitfire asked under her modified gas mask. "Fuck, Gregor, a little help here!"
Quickly, the larger monster cape ran into the room and, gently, lifted her into his arms.
"Bathroom," Dinah managed to mumble.
"What happened?" Faultline asked as they guided Dinah into the white porcelain bathroom.
"Fuck if I know. She just started convulsing and fell over."
"She's shaking," Gregor said as Dinah, with trembling hands, managed to push her helmet slightly up, freeing her mouth so she could throw up. "You think it's an attack?"
"Used… my power again," Dinah grunted, cleaning her mouth after spilling out the contents of her stomach, her voice almost killing her. "They're gonna attack soon."
"How soon?" Faultline asked, immediately focusing on the important part.
"25 minutes, more or less," Dinah gasped out, managing to get her body back under control and pushing the helmet back down. "You'll need Labyrinth at full power."
This time, all three of them stared at her for a full second before the mercenary leader asked, her voice hard. "Are you sure?" Dinah just nodded, causing Faultline to turn toward the young woman. "Are you alright with it?"
Labyrinth nodded, "Yes, I can do it," her eyes were still lucid, but she still had some distance in her voice. "I like her."
Gregor continued to help Dinah, getting her body back into bed and asking. "Is there anything I can do?"
"You have any painkillers?"
Turns out they did have a medical kit filled with painkillers; one of them would even work on her headache, making it slightly better even if it couldn't cure it.
Laying her head on the pillow, Dinah concentrated on recovering, her eyes closed to avoid any more stimulation. Outside her room, she heard the mercenary team moving, getting ready for what was about to happen.
For twenty minutes, she rested as best as she could, doing her best to focus on keeping her mind clear and empty, giving it time to rest. Finally, she opened her eyes, her vision going directly toward Hal's monitors outside the house.
Immediately, her eyebrows rose at what she saw. She knew what Labyrinth's power could do and had even seen it when using her own power, but to watch things happening in reality?
From the ground up, a large wall rose, pushing the houses out of the way like in that Harry Potter movie her cousin had made her watch, bricks and roads moving in a disturbing manner to give way to the new buildings.
Their own house was greatly changed, one of the cameras was blocked by a new metallic wall, but there were dozens able to see the house standing taller than everything else in the block, with two other houses seeming to be… sticking out of its place.
From the middle of the house, there was a wooden tower, the structure almost mixing with the bricks of the building, one of their turrets installed on top of it for better aiming.
There was a metal statue sprouting from the middle of the street as if it belonged there and, in the central room, Labyrinth herself swung up and down in a chair, her eyes having lost focus as Gregor helped her, a hand on her uncovered shoulder while he produced some kind of substance from his body.
Getting up, Dinah walked into the room, the entirety of Faultline's crew stopped to look at her.
"So, had a nice nap, shortie?" Newter asked with a smile on his face.
Dinah ignored him, she was not short, just young. "They're here. Do you want me to attack first?" Dinah asked, looking up at Faultline.
The mercenary stared down through her own metallic mask before finally asking. "And how are you going to do that?"
"Hal here lets me activate the turrets," she confessed, pointing at the droid following above her head.
"I'm not entirely alright with letting a kid take the first shot," Gregor said, his face frowning at Faultline.
"Dude, they're after her for how long? Let the kid take her shot, it's not like she has to kill anyone, just keep them away," Newter shrugged.
"You alright now?" Spitfire asked, her voice softer than the others as she approached.
"Don't worry, I'm not that weak," Dinah answered. Her head was still killing her, but she made sure to keep her stance, her arms behind her back as she considered the images on her screen.
She knew she was just copying Anakin, but it helped her feel more secure, what was it her Uncle always said? Fake it until you make it?
"I'm not saying you are, but you scared me when you collapsed," the older girl said, shuddering. "I really don't want to know what Polaris would do if you died on us."
Dinah actually smiled behind her mask. Yeah, she couldn't see what Anakin would do if they betrayed him, but she could certainly imagine. Good thing they weren't going to.
"Alright, according to the girl the Undersiders won't be attacking us, but Coil will have other capes here. Gregor, was Labyrinth lucid enough to anchor anyone?"
"Yeah, she anchored Newter, me and Spitfire," the large monster cape said, stepping away from the blonde girl.
"Good, it's always best when her power is working well," Faultline said, turning to Spitfire. "Are you sure you're up for this? You're new to the team and we didn't have time to fully train you, if you're not comfortable you can stay out of the way guarding Labyrinth and the girl."
"Ah, yeah, I can fight."
"Alright," taking a breath, Faultline looked at everyone and nodded. "We were contracted to last until the morning. If it was anywhere near sunrise I'd say to keep delaying them but, at this point, not starting the fight just gives them time to get into better positions and learn more, can you give me control?"
"No," Dinah wanted to say 'fuck no!' but she had a better education than that. "Only I can activate them."
Faultline looked like she didn't fully believe her, but she nodded. "Alright, go ahead and start then, aim to wound or block their advance for as long as possible."
Crossing her legs, Dinah sat on the ground in a meditating position, her eyes focused on the dozen cameras on her helmet's display. With a command, she activated all the turrets, keeping them lowered but ready until they had a target.
Behind the wall created by Labyrinth, there were a few abandoned houses similar to their own, their yards covered with vines and tall grass. An old car missing its tires was parked in the street and there was quite a lot of trash, several discarded needles just laying in the gutters.
The street itself was filled with potholes, but there were a few trees that helped make the place a little less… ugly, even if they were surrounded by overgrown weeds.
Watching the mercenaries moving around the perimeter trying to find a way around the wall, Dinah blinked and gave the order.
In less than a second, the turret on top of the tower lifted up, it had two gun barrels that started to rain lasers on the locations.
Everything seemed to just… explode into movement at the same time, to the point Dinah was quickly unable to pay attention to everything, letting Hal's programs aim the turrets as she focused on the droid itself.
Outside, Coil's mercenaries returned fire, lasers shooting toward the tower and chipping away at its structure, but Anakin had built the turret with enough metal to shield it… for a time.
Faultline stared at a television, watching the video from her own cameras with great concentration. From a different direction, an entire truck flew towards the wall, moving so fast Dinah almost missed it.
The vehicle smashed into the wall with so much strength it burst right through it, pieces of metal and brick flying everywhere before it hit a different empty house and plowed all the way through. Finally, it stopped, the front almost completely destroyed.
A second car flew through the opening, smashing right into their building and nearly exploding against the wall. The first layer of brick flew everywhere, but Labyrinth had interposed more than one building in the same location and one of them had metal walls that resisted the blow.
Immediately, Hal, her droid, took control of the turret on top of the tower and moved it. With a beep, it bobbed in the air and rained lasers upon the approaching villains in an almost gleeful manner while the other three turrets kept the mercenaries pinned in place.
Moving the droid, Dinah used the confusion to sneak the small flying drone through the building, using what she saw with her power to find a spot looking straight at the metal statue growing from the middle of the street.
Finally, the lasers from the mercenary overwhelmed the defenses and melted the turret on the tower, allowing the hired men to sneak around the other turrets since they had limited range.
Without the covering fire, Trickster appeared on top of the wall, changing places with some of the barbed wire there. His top hat almost fell off his head and, with a quick look around, he managed to swap one of the turrets with the exposed engine of the truck, causing its barrels to aim into the vehicle and away from any targets.
Still, the turrets had done their job; of the initial fifteen mercenaries only six were still on their feet. The others, having suffered wounds of one kind or another, forced the remaining six to keep back and take care of them.
Suddenly, a monster smashed its way through the opening in the wall; it looked kinda like an elephant-sized rhino with feline claws and dinosaur-like plates protecting its hide.
The beast roared and smashed through the place, breaking off the statue and trying to smash into the building only to hit the metal wall and bounce back. Still, its claws allowed the enormous beast to climb the building, smashing its head and claws everywhere to look for an unprotected entrance.
In the middle of the walled area, a piece of rubble suddenly disappeared, substituted by Sundancer as she crouched behind cover. Lifting her hands, flickers of fire started appearing between then, taking time to form into a small, ball-sized orb.
Releasing the power, the flaming ball lifted into the air, floating up and towards the house while causing the wooden rubble and plants all around to catch fire.
Even inside the house, the temperature started increasing, causing everyone to start sweating the closer the artificial sun got to them.
"Labyrinth, please," Spitfire touched the blonde's shoulders.
The entire street shook, an enormous fountain starting to grow from the middle of the asphalt, pushing everything away as it sprouted water everywhere.
A lot just… evaporated when it came close to the artificial sun, but most of the water still ran through the streets, soaking the rubble and putting out a lot of the fires.
Inside the house, the heat immediately started lowering, a third building being superimposed in the same location, with white floors and an extremely cold temperature.
Finally, the enormous beast, Genesis, jumped away from the house. Unwilling to be burned by the Sun, it circled around and came closer to Sundancer, acting as a protector, allowing the blaster to get up and slowly walk towards the house.
With another step, Sundancer walked right by the fallen bronze statue and Dinah smiled as the woman crossed her aim. With a command, she activated Hal; the droid opened up and shot a single laser before darting away.
The shot was perfect, hitting the villain right in the middle of the chest and causing her to collapse against the Changer, her artificial Sun losing cohesion and collapsing into flames that struck the house, igniting the roof.
Dinah hadn't killed the woman, Sundancer's power was able to normalize the temperature around herself, rendering most of the laser's damage useless, but Anakin had modified the weapon a little to give some kinetic aspect to the weapon, enough to break bones with a good hit.
"Damn, it's great to have a Precog in our team," Newter whistled, watching everything that was happening in one of the surviving cameras.
"Keep in mind Coil would still beat her without Polaris," Faultline simply said, keeping her eyes on the image. "Spitfire, try to ambush the Changer next time it tries to attack. Gregor, Newter, get ready. I doubt this is everything they have."
Outside, Sundancer disappeared, substituted by a car door from outside the wall. At the same time, something heavy slammed into the spot where her droid had been, making a huge dent in the metal wall.
With a roar, Genesis charged the building again, aiming for a different spot where the metal wall wasn't so thick. Spitfire watched the beast move for another moment and darted away, moving through the walls that had appeared around the room as if they weren't there.
In the blink of an eye, another member of the Travelers appeared, darting out of the tall grass, his hand briefly touching the car door used to swap Sundancer out and sending it flying toward the wall with a sonic boom.
The door crumbled against the wall, but still actually broke halfway through. Crouched, Ballistic touched the fallen bronze statue, preparing to send it flying towards the same spot when Dinah controlled Hal and opened fire once again.
"Fuck, it's a drone, not another turret!" Ballistic yelled, jumping behind a piece of rubble and sending the statue flying wide.
The bronze piece bounced off the metal roof, the head snapping off as it flew up before falling back down on top of the building with a loud noise, sending pieces of brick flying everywhere.
Dinah directed Hal, making it circle Ballistic's protection but, before she could take another shot, the cape was swapped out, revealing a clown-like girl that immediately jumped away from the spot, a knife appearing in her hand and flying towards the drone in one fluid motion.
The weapon hit the droid with such strength it was sent reeling back, giving Dinah vertigo as she watched the camera's feed twist in the air. A second knife flew at the drone, driving it back further, quickly followed by a ball of fire that covered the camera, blocking its vision.
Dinah gasped, quickly glancing at the droid's monitors and relaxing when she saw the flames weren't strong enough to cause any damage, but they still managed to block her view and forced her to order Hal's retreat.
Before she could get her bearings, an entire car smashed into the weak spot on the wall, partially sticking out of the building. With another roar, Genesis noticed the weakness and, using its large claws, moved towards the car, aiming to use her large paws to pull it out and open up an entrance.
Suddenly, Spitfire's face poked out of the wall right below Genesis, her modified gas mask allowing her to spit a wave of liquid on the creature's exposed belly, soaking its entire body before almost exploding into a ball of fire.
The heat was such that the air distorted as the beast reflexively jumped away, screeching piteously and attempting to uselessly roll on the ground as the napalm-like substance ate through its flesh and bones until it was left immobile. Alive, but without limbs and grievously wounded.
A moment later, a dagger flew right where Spitfire's face was, causing the girl to cry out as she pulled her head back, sweating heavily as the blade bounced off the wall less than a second after she had retreated.
In a few seconds, the Changer collapsed, dissolving into dust and revealing a second Circus, this one with large, gangly limbs and a polka dot dress.
"What?" Faultline almost yelled, uncrossing her arms for the first time since the start of the fight. "What the hell is that?"
From the opening made by the truck, they could see five other figures standing, each one slightly different from the other, but all of them clearly demonstrating they could use the same power.
Out of nowhere, a long, spear-like piece of metal pierced through the building, the small surface area facing little resistance as it flew through the walls.
Faultline flinched, ducking down as the projectile burst through the room, destroying one of the monitors and continuing on with such strength it pierced out of the building.
Looking around, the mercenary narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking about the situation.
"Fuck, Boss, you alright?" Spitfire asked while running into the room.
"He's aiming up where it's unlikely to actually hit anybody, just putting pressure on us without much risk of hurting their target, maybe trying to make us move Labyrinth," Faultline said. Glancing at the remaining monitors, she put a hand to her ear and activated her communication devices. "Coil hired some kind of cloning Cape. I don't see the real Circus anywhere so feel free to use lethal force."
"Understood," Gregor answered.
"Fine by me," Newter spoke as well.
Another projectile burst through the building, larger than the previous one, it still pierced the outer metal wall, but lost momentum and struck against something inside the house before falling to the floor.
Labyrinth drew her legs closer to her chest, her head twisting sideways in interest as she brought more of the metal building into their reality, reinforcing their location and pushing things out of the way.
Putting all her attention on Hal, Dinah regained full control and opened fire again; one of the laser shots pierced through the first Circus's left knee and caused them to collapse to the ground in pain.
Deep in concentration, Dinah started getting out of her meditating position, leaning forward with her tongue poking out from the side of her mouth as she targeted the others and guided her droid away from their thrown weapons. It wasn't easy.
One of the clones ran towards her, using the knuckles on their unnaturally long arms to push against the ground, Dinah shifted the focus towards it, but the Clone tumbled over the abandoned car, dodging several laser bolts before lifting one of his hands.
The Circus clone opened his pocket dimension, actually storing the air around his hand and creating a vacuum that drew her droid closer, with a jump, they barely touched the metal with the tip of a finger on their other hand, causing the small droid to burst into flames once again, those ones hot enough to start twisting the metal.
Squeezing her hand until her nails dug blood, Dinah shot. The laser hit the clone's head and caused it to actually explode before completely losing control of the droid, the device falling on the roof of a nearby building.
Snapping fully out of her meditating position, Dinah started breathing hard, the sight of the exploded head replaying in her eyes over and over again, she felt… cold, empty.
Faultline spared her a single glance, then looked at Spitfire and didn't say anything, just refocused on the images. Several of the cameras around the property had been destroyed, but there were still a few showing some of the Clones finding entrances into the building.
Dinah knew she had only killed a clone, but she had still thought she'd feel… something when taking a life. She didn't. It barely registered, and that was what bothered her. The act had been so easy, so fast, like playing a game, to the point she could easily see herself doing it again.
With a shiver, she swallowed, attempting to alleviate her dry throat before deactivating the monitors in her helmet since all her cameras had been destroyed. With another hard swallow, she looked up at the television.
On the second floor, Gregor faced one of the Clones; the thing had a bulging tumor on its back, but was still incredibly agile.
From the exposed skin of his arm, a jet of acid flew at the Clone, spraying in a wide arc, the Clone jumped up, then kicked against a wall, twisting midair to dodge as Gregor strafed his acid.
With lightning-fast reflexes, it threw a dagger aimed at Gregor's neck, but the Monster cape managed to intercept it with an arm, the blade sinking a few centimeters into his flesh.
Turning his back, Gregor squeezed his wounded arm without pulling out the dagger and started running, gas pouring from his entire body and filling the hallway. Another dagger flew at him, but it actually hit one of the hardened growths on his leg and only chipped off a small piece.
Releasing his wounded arm, he let the blood start dripping down the wound while grabbing at his pants, bursting right through a metal wall as if it wasn't there; he flicked the lighter and pushed his arm back, throwing the lighter at Circus.
The Clone barely had time to widen his eyes before the gas all around it caught fire, igniting into a ball of fire that shook the entire building.
Peeking through the damaged wall, Gregor looked out to see the still burning hallway, but there was something hanging in the middle of the air, a twisted space from which Circus's body seemed to… unfold, its clothes barely singed from the fire.
Before the Clone could fully return, Gregor aimed with both hands and released another jet of acid, causing it to cry out in pain as the substance ate through its body and killed it.
In another entrance, Newter fell from the ceiling, touching one of the clones and immediately causing it to collapse into a delirious mess, with a tail swipe, he attempted to touch a second clone, but the gangly thing jumped out of the way, a hammer materializing in its hand and almost taking off the monster cape's head.
Another projectile hit the building, this one large enough to collapse part of the roof and shake the entire structure despite Labyrinth's reinforcements.
Both the bombardment and Gregor's explosions hand rattled the building's structure and part of the ceiling collapsed into their room, a piece of rubble hitting Labyrinth in the mask and making her fall from her sitting position.
Immediately, Faultline's head snapped towards them and back to the only entrance to the room, watching as one of the clones finally found its way towards their location.
Pulling out the weapon from her waist, the mercenary snapped a few shots at the Clone, forcing it to duck back behind cover.
Kneeling, she touched the floor, immediately causing it to open, the crack extending towards the door and collapsing it, blocking the entrance. "Come on, we have to move."
Spitfire helped Labyrinth get back on her feet while Dinah uncrossed her legs and got up, pulling out her own laser pistol from under her shirt and holding it beside her body.
Faultline grabbed her empty arm and dragged the young girl towards the wall, touching it and splitting it open before barreling through, dragging Dinah over and waiting for her companions to follow while keeping a watch on the door of the room.
Labyrinth stumbled, her legs lacking strength and her head wandering aimlessly around the room as she acted drunkenly, Spitfire not being strong enough to guide her. From behind the collapsed entrance, a knife flew straight at the girl's back, forcing Faultline to block with her body, the bulletproof vest proving more than enough to block the weapon.
Hand free, Dinah lifted her pistol and shot back, hitting the second clone with a glancing shot to the shoulder before frowning. Damn, damn, damn! She still wasn't good enough to follow through on her power.
Looking at her weapon, she felt a bout of anger and frustration. She was supposed to have killed the clone, giving them enough time to think and plan again. At least her shot had forced it back.
In a single motion, Faultline gathered Labyrinth in her arms, put her in a firefighter carry and started to run towards the door, her weapon ready at her side.
Instead of opening the door, she opened a hole through the wall as far away from its location as possible, bursting through the place and into the hallway, her arm snapping up to take a shot at another Clone that had been lying in ambush.
Before she could finish pressing the trigger, the Clone used his pocket dimension to suck the air out of the room, creating a vacuum strong enough to suck them all in for a moment, causing the mercenary leader to stumble forward, the gun flying out of her hand.
Circus rushed her, but Faultline continued falling, turning the stumble into a roll, one hand reaching for her fallen pistol while the other touched the floor, causing it to open up into a basement. With unnatural reflexes, Circus jumped up, kicking against the wall to try and reach them, a metal bat appearing on its hands.
Using all her training, Dinah dived for her own weapon, sucked out of her hand by the vacuum. Desperately getting a grip on her pistol, she watched as Faultline was fast enough to block Circus's strike with a well-protected arm.
Before Dinah could finish aiming, Faultline's own gun barked, the shot coming from an awkward position but, at that distance, it had been pretty easy to aim.
Circus looked down at the hole in the middle of its chest, right where its lungs were supposed to be. Trying to suck up a breath, the Clone watched as blood and air bubbled out before stumbling back, the bat falling out of its hand as its foot slipped and it started falling into the hole behind it.
In one last act of defiance, the Clone activated its power again, creating another vacuum between its hands.
Faultline dropped her gun and grabbed at the wall with her good arm, but her fingers found no purchase as the vacuum dragged her body into the hole, Labyrinth tumbling after her as the both of them smashed into the basement.
2.5 meters wasn't a great height to fall, but Circus's blow had wounded her arm and Faultline was already out of position, Labyrinth falling on top of her didn't help.
The mercenary's mask hit the floor with a loud noise, the metal smashing against a fallen pipe and bouncing back with a sickening crack.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, this wasn't how a cape fight was supposed to go!" Spitfire yelled, looking down at her team leader. "Fuck, it feels like we're fighting the Teeth!"
Looking down at Faultline, Dinah released a breath when she saw the woman was alive, but the hit seemed to have left her sick, nauseous and unable to get up as her legs refused to sustain her.
Her own heart started beating hard in her chest. This wasn't supposed to happen, they were supposed to have time! She had messed up!
Spitfire looked down at Dinah and back at her leader, her own heart beating fast in her chest. "Shit!" she said, putting all her frustration in her voice before jumping down to help Faultline and an insensate Labyrinth who, miraculously, seemed to still be keeping her power active.
Dinah looked down at them, her feet stepping close to the edge, and then her eyes glanced up, seeing yet another Clone at the end of the hallway. Hand snapping up, she pulled the trigger.
Circus dodged, its reflexes and instincts enough to predict where Dinah was aiming. Still, despite her nerves, Dinah managed to clip the Clone's side before her tinkertech weapon jammed.
Crap, she didn't know lasers could jam!
Turning around, she ran, desperately trying to escape as she hit the weapon and tried to make it work again, that always seemed to work for her father, she had even seen Anakin doing it!
Her shoes clicked against the wooden floor before it changed into porcelain and then back to wood, the pieces of the house mixing randomly. Squeezing through a spot where the walls of the houses did match, she darted away, opening a metal door and stepping into a marble room.
Circus should have caught her; she knew she wasn't fast enough to outrun the Clone, but the wound on its side held it back, allowing her to actually gain distance.
Unfortunately, Dinah couldn't just run out, she knew Genesis would already be back outside, not to mention Trickster, ready to swap her with something the moment she appeared, and, while the house was big —particularly with everything Labyrinth had manifested— it wasn't big enough for her to hide indefinitely.
Opening another ornate door, Dinah burst into the last bedroom of the original house. Jumping over the bed, she desperately hit her laser pistol. "Come on, please work. Work!"
Being a room situated closer to the street, the bedroom had suffered a beating, there was dust everywhere and half the ceiling had collapsed, Labyrinth's metal wall having bent and damaged the real structure of the house.
Clothes lay strewn about everywhere, having fallen from the wardrobe when it crashed after Gregor's explosion and there were broken pieces from the now blocked window. A single marble wall divided half the room, but it was precarious, damaged by some of the projectiles that hit the house.
With a 'click', the weapon discharged another shot at a wall, the laser leaving a dark mark against the bent metal. "YES!"
For a second, Dinah aimed her weapon at the door, ready for Circus to enter, but then she remembered Faultline and swallowed, the Cape wasn't going to come through that opening.
Hands shaking, Dinah took a deep breath and looked up at the half-destroyed ceiling, but the Clone wasn't there yet, her weapon waving from the door to the opening constantly.
She had to do it, didn't she? But she had already messed up one shot! Even now, she couldn't fully follow through with her power!
Touching her forehead to the weapon, she squeezed her eyes, fear gripping her, she trusted Anakin, if she was captured, he'd save her, he promised, it wouldn't even take as long as before!
When she opened her eyes again, they had a newfound resolve.
She wouldn't act out of fear, her actions would be guided by what she wanted from her life, not what she feared or hated. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to have a say in things, not just watch as others achieved what she couldn't.
Putting one foot against the bed frame, she grabbed the mattress and pulled it above herself. Curling into a small ball, she adjusted the pistol to full auto and extended an arm to aim at the original wooden wall.
Pressing the trigger, she released dozens of laser shots at where she could already see the exposed support beam, shooting until the pistol clicked empty, a combination of heat and kinetic energy eating through the wooden pillar.
Already damaged and overwhelmed with the weight of what Labyrinth had brought into this reality, the support beam collapsed, bringing down the entire room above her.
A mixture of brick, wood, drywall and metal fell on top of her mattress, burying her body under the weight of four different houses occupying almost the same space, everything squishing her against the floor before it too collapsed, unable to hold all the weight.
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