It suddenly seemed so long ago that they'd made the decision to break out together, Hanne thought, standing frozen in the middle of the fracas. She could hear the screams of the guard tussling with Ivy behind her, and though turning to help the older girl was certainly the only logical choice at the moment she could hardly move, barely breathing as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea of escape.
The situation hardly allowed for time to be contemplative, though, as Hanne realised quickly when a fist went crashing into her cheek, almost knocking her off her feet. Her attacker swung blindly, advancing on her and forcing her to back up. With few other choices, Hanne instinctively curled her right hand into a fist and punched forward - her knuckles struck home, striking the guard's throat hard. He fell backwards, choking and gagging, and Hanne would have been home free if she hadn't been grabbed from behind, huge arms snaking around her waist.
Hanne screamed and twisted in his grasp, but before she could even try to defend herself Ivy stepped into view, reaching up to hold the guard's face securely between her hands. Almost immediately he let go of Hanne, grabbing Ivy's arms to try to pry her off him, which only resulted in more burns rapidly developing on his hands. In no time at all his legs buckled under him and he sagged to the ground, Ivy moving out of the way as he fell. Hanne suppressed another shriek, instead reaching out to Ivy, pausing at the last moment before making contact with her skin. "Ivy - thank you." She'd had no reason to defend the blonde, and Hanne knew it.
"Hawke! It's us!"
Them. He had already been struggling with holding the mental assault against everyone but the three of them, and Novak's voice was all the push he needed to break concentration, turning to look at the other trio that had just skidded around the corner. Relief flooded through him as Vlad strode towards him, a hand landing on his shoulder. "Are you ok? Were you hurt?"
Hawke shook his head, grasping Vlad's arm in return. There was hardly time for it, but he took a quick second to scan Vlad up and down, checking for injuries and finding none. "I'm fine. But we might not be if we don't get out soon." He chanced another look around them, trying to find even a single weak spot in their adversaries - none that he could see.
"There's too many of them." Specter's words inspired no confidence, but all the same a familiar old rage flared up in Novak's core, and it took all of their willpower not to launch themselves right at the closest target. Instead they reached an arm out to the younger boy, ready to protect him if the need arose.
"Stand down, now... And you'll keep your pathetic excuse of a life." The voice came from just out of Novak's line of sight, but they refused to let it distract them, continuing to glare at the guards standing in front of them. They knew very well where they stood on this matter, now that they'd come this far - they would live free, or die trying to today. A vague plan began formulating in their mind, trying to take on some semblance of logic... If only they could make it out of this ring, just perhaps...
Novak's train of thought was cut off when Ivy attacked. They could almost smell the burning flesh as the stun gun fired, but they couldn't waste a moment worrying about her. A guard leapt at Novak, and they stepped aside, tearing a portal open just in time for the guard to lunge into it, carried forward by his momentum. Right at the last moment, before they lost him forever in the empty space beyond the portal, they opened an exit, dumping the guard what they estimated to be a few floors below, hopefully on his head.
"FREEZE!" Everything stopped, just for a moment, and Novak seized their chance. Taking a cue from Specter, they began opening portals in the floor, dropping guards left and right through what was solid concrete only a second ago. Some made it through the exit they were kind enough to provide... some didn't, and would likely drift in the nothingness for a little while before ultimately being erased from existence. At least they wouldn't spend an eternity wandering around in there, which, Novak thought, was a pretty generous deal, given what they'd suffered at the hands of the guards.
The surroundings were a mess to take in, so instead of leaping into the fray like everyone seemed to be doing Hawke dodged aside, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as he could, and began working away at the guards' minds like he had before. With what little practice he'd had earlier he could set up the block quicker and stronger than before, and it was immensely rewarding to see the guards suddenly clutch at their temples, swaying on the spot as if to shake off a bad migraine. Once he'd stabilised the block, Hawke leaned against the wall, trying to manage taking in everyone's thoughts at once. A boot smashed into the wall beside him, and he almost didn't register it, lashing out with his fists just in time to send the guard reeling backwards and away from him, where Hanne - thankfully - was waiting to fry him like she'd did the first time.
"You may need this." Hawke raised his gaze to see Ivy standing in front of him with a stun gun. He took the proffered weapon. "Thanks. How are you holding up?" It seemed the silly question to ask, and it wasn't like she was going to answer with "Perfectly well, just trying to avoid recapture," but the strain of using his powers was getting to him. Doctor Pender was right, he really should have practised harder.
Despite the continued assault on the group, with the combined effort of Specter and Novak moving guards out of the way and Hanne and Ivy putting them out of commission the number of guards began to dwindle, and Hawke was able to glance around the hallway to try to gauge the situation. A quick sweep told him that no one seemed to really be hurt... No, wait.
He couldn't see Vlad anywhere.
Hawke scanned the hallway again, trying to spot the familiar mop of dark hair. It took a moment before he spotted Vlad, leaning against the wall - but when he did, his heart leapt up into his throat. Dropping the mental block immediately, Hawke sprinted across the hallway to his brother, dropping the stun gun on the floor. "...Hawke?"
"It's me, you'll be alright, just - sit down, here," babbling incoherently, Hawke supported Vlad into a sitting position, kneeling beside him. He put his hands over Vlad's, trying to staunch the flow of blood, but it just kept coming, staining Vlad's uniform a sickly red. "Where's Hanne!" he yelled at Specter as the boy passed, desperate to do what he could.
But Specter didn't have to do anything. Hanne, just a few feet away, heard the cry, and turned back, distracted. The guard she'd been defending herself against took the opportunity to deliver a solid kick to her solar plexus, and she fell backward, coughing hard. The burly form of her opponent leaned over her, leering. "Well now, I suppose I could spare a pretty young thing like you..."
"Don't count on it," Novak snarled, appearing out of nowhere to push him away from Hanne. As Hanne watched, Novak delivered a series of quick and apparently rather painful blows to the guard's torso before dropping him into a portal. "What are you waiting for? Move!" they turned and barked at Hanne, startling her into action. She scrambled to her feet, almost tripping over herself as she hurried to Vlad's side, dropping to her knees on his other side. "Okay, okay, um, here..." She moved Hawke's hands aside, placing her own on either side of the wound. "Sorry," she whispered, right before she started stitching the wound up, knitting skin and flesh together until the bleeding slowed. Her hands shook terribly, so the job was done clumsily, but on the surface Vlad's skin seemed whole and complete again.
"You little bitch!" The healer had barely a moment's warning before a heavy boot slammed into the back of her head. Static exploded through her vision and she pitched forward, slumping over Vlad. In a flash, Hawke surged to his feet, gripping the stun gun tightly. With Hanne unconscious, the guard turned his attention to Vlad, and would have kicked him too, if Hawke hadn't jabbed the stun gun hard towards him, catching him on the side of the neck. He fell back, and Hawke's momentum carried him forward, tumbling onto the other man. He ended up on top of the guard, and finding his hands empty - having dropped the stun gun again as they were going down - resorted to assaulting him with his bare fists, punching the guard over and over until his face was a bruised, bloody mess.
Novak, watching it all go down, was the first to recover. "Stop it! Hawke, stop it!" they screamed, shoving another guard into a portal as they raced towards Hanne and Vlad. "There's no time for this, we need to go!"
The situation hardly allowed for time to be contemplative, though, as Hanne realised quickly when a fist went crashing into her cheek, almost knocking her off her feet. Her attacker swung blindly, advancing on her and forcing her to back up. With few other choices, Hanne instinctively curled her right hand into a fist and punched forward - her knuckles struck home, striking the guard's throat hard. He fell backwards, choking and gagging, and Hanne would have been home free if she hadn't been grabbed from behind, huge arms snaking around her waist.
Hanne screamed and twisted in his grasp, but before she could even try to defend herself Ivy stepped into view, reaching up to hold the guard's face securely between her hands. Almost immediately he let go of Hanne, grabbing Ivy's arms to try to pry her off him, which only resulted in more burns rapidly developing on his hands. In no time at all his legs buckled under him and he sagged to the ground, Ivy moving out of the way as he fell. Hanne suppressed another shriek, instead reaching out to Ivy, pausing at the last moment before making contact with her skin. "Ivy - thank you." She'd had no reason to defend the blonde, and Hanne knew it.
"Hawke! It's us!"
Them. He had already been struggling with holding the mental assault against everyone but the three of them, and Novak's voice was all the push he needed to break concentration, turning to look at the other trio that had just skidded around the corner. Relief flooded through him as Vlad strode towards him, a hand landing on his shoulder. "Are you ok? Were you hurt?"
Hawke shook his head, grasping Vlad's arm in return. There was hardly time for it, but he took a quick second to scan Vlad up and down, checking for injuries and finding none. "I'm fine. But we might not be if we don't get out soon." He chanced another look around them, trying to find even a single weak spot in their adversaries - none that he could see.
"There's too many of them." Specter's words inspired no confidence, but all the same a familiar old rage flared up in Novak's core, and it took all of their willpower not to launch themselves right at the closest target. Instead they reached an arm out to the younger boy, ready to protect him if the need arose.
"Stand down, now... And you'll keep your pathetic excuse of a life." The voice came from just out of Novak's line of sight, but they refused to let it distract them, continuing to glare at the guards standing in front of them. They knew very well where they stood on this matter, now that they'd come this far - they would live free, or die trying to today. A vague plan began formulating in their mind, trying to take on some semblance of logic... If only they could make it out of this ring, just perhaps...
Novak's train of thought was cut off when Ivy attacked. They could almost smell the burning flesh as the stun gun fired, but they couldn't waste a moment worrying about her. A guard leapt at Novak, and they stepped aside, tearing a portal open just in time for the guard to lunge into it, carried forward by his momentum. Right at the last moment, before they lost him forever in the empty space beyond the portal, they opened an exit, dumping the guard what they estimated to be a few floors below, hopefully on his head.
"FREEZE!" Everything stopped, just for a moment, and Novak seized their chance. Taking a cue from Specter, they began opening portals in the floor, dropping guards left and right through what was solid concrete only a second ago. Some made it through the exit they were kind enough to provide... some didn't, and would likely drift in the nothingness for a little while before ultimately being erased from existence. At least they wouldn't spend an eternity wandering around in there, which, Novak thought, was a pretty generous deal, given what they'd suffered at the hands of the guards.
The surroundings were a mess to take in, so instead of leaping into the fray like everyone seemed to be doing Hawke dodged aside, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as he could, and began working away at the guards' minds like he had before. With what little practice he'd had earlier he could set up the block quicker and stronger than before, and it was immensely rewarding to see the guards suddenly clutch at their temples, swaying on the spot as if to shake off a bad migraine. Once he'd stabilised the block, Hawke leaned against the wall, trying to manage taking in everyone's thoughts at once. A boot smashed into the wall beside him, and he almost didn't register it, lashing out with his fists just in time to send the guard reeling backwards and away from him, where Hanne - thankfully - was waiting to fry him like she'd did the first time.
"You may need this." Hawke raised his gaze to see Ivy standing in front of him with a stun gun. He took the proffered weapon. "Thanks. How are you holding up?" It seemed the silly question to ask, and it wasn't like she was going to answer with "Perfectly well, just trying to avoid recapture," but the strain of using his powers was getting to him. Doctor Pender was right, he really should have practised harder.
Despite the continued assault on the group, with the combined effort of Specter and Novak moving guards out of the way and Hanne and Ivy putting them out of commission the number of guards began to dwindle, and Hawke was able to glance around the hallway to try to gauge the situation. A quick sweep told him that no one seemed to really be hurt... No, wait.
He couldn't see Vlad anywhere.
Hawke scanned the hallway again, trying to spot the familiar mop of dark hair. It took a moment before he spotted Vlad, leaning against the wall - but when he did, his heart leapt up into his throat. Dropping the mental block immediately, Hawke sprinted across the hallway to his brother, dropping the stun gun on the floor. "...Hawke?"
"It's me, you'll be alright, just - sit down, here," babbling incoherently, Hawke supported Vlad into a sitting position, kneeling beside him. He put his hands over Vlad's, trying to staunch the flow of blood, but it just kept coming, staining Vlad's uniform a sickly red. "Where's Hanne!" he yelled at Specter as the boy passed, desperate to do what he could.
But Specter didn't have to do anything. Hanne, just a few feet away, heard the cry, and turned back, distracted. The guard she'd been defending herself against took the opportunity to deliver a solid kick to her solar plexus, and she fell backward, coughing hard. The burly form of her opponent leaned over her, leering. "Well now, I suppose I could spare a pretty young thing like you..."
"Don't count on it," Novak snarled, appearing out of nowhere to push him away from Hanne. As Hanne watched, Novak delivered a series of quick and apparently rather painful blows to the guard's torso before dropping him into a portal. "What are you waiting for? Move!" they turned and barked at Hanne, startling her into action. She scrambled to her feet, almost tripping over herself as she hurried to Vlad's side, dropping to her knees on his other side. "Okay, okay, um, here..." She moved Hawke's hands aside, placing her own on either side of the wound. "Sorry," she whispered, right before she started stitching the wound up, knitting skin and flesh together until the bleeding slowed. Her hands shook terribly, so the job was done clumsily, but on the surface Vlad's skin seemed whole and complete again.
"You little bitch!" The healer had barely a moment's warning before a heavy boot slammed into the back of her head. Static exploded through her vision and she pitched forward, slumping over Vlad. In a flash, Hawke surged to his feet, gripping the stun gun tightly. With Hanne unconscious, the guard turned his attention to Vlad, and would have kicked him too, if Hawke hadn't jabbed the stun gun hard towards him, catching him on the side of the neck. He fell back, and Hawke's momentum carried him forward, tumbling onto the other man. He ended up on top of the guard, and finding his hands empty - having dropped the stun gun again as they were going down - resorted to assaulting him with his bare fists, punching the guard over and over until his face was a bruised, bloody mess.
Novak, watching it all go down, was the first to recover. "Stop it! Hawke, stop it!" they screamed, shoving another guard into a portal as they raced towards Hanne and Vlad. "There's no time for this, we need to go!"