Snippet #2586243

To Tanya's relief, Everette didn't seem intent on charging or attacking the flame-Variant. Now, she knew that the man had a reputation for indiscriminately killing every Variant. (Which was something that Tanya found incredibly distasteful. Not only was murder morally bankrupt, it also prevented the government from learning more about Variants in general. Specific cases aside, a live Variant was more useful than a dead one.)

Regardless, she was pretty certain that suddenly murdering people in a coffee shop, of all places, would draw even more attention. She hoped that Everette would choose to incapacitate instead of kill, but she wasn't very hopeful. Tanya blinked when she realized that Everette looked... scared. And had he actually whimpered? Tanya quickly ignored the surge of concern. That could wait until after the conflict.

"AGAIN YOU CONSORT WITH OUR ENEMIES! YOU MUNDANE HUMAN! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DEATH AT ONE OF US WHO YOU HUNT!" Tanya really wanted to roll her eyes, though she barely managed not to. God, could you get anymore melodramatic?

"OI!I know they're out of croissants, but you don't need to get so hot under the collar about it!"

Tanya felt like slamming her face against the wall. Another one? Are you freaking kidding me? Apparently, yet another Variant had appeared out of nowhere. This city is goddamn insane. This particular Variant looked vaguely like a superhero. The strange person was wearing tight-fitting bright blue spandex... and a yellow cape. A cape.

The scout's eyebrows went up when she realized that the wannabe-superhero actually wasn't useless. In fact, she seemed fairly effective. Though the spandex-girl's uniform caught on fire, she sent a punch to the psycho's face. Nice, admitted Tanya grudgingly.

But most importantly, the girl had given her an opening by distracting the opponent. In one smooth move, Tanya fired her gun. The tranquilizer darts in the gun were a work of art. Fireproof, indestructible, and capable of piercing anything, the darts were filled with a gene-suppressant that temporarily dampened or suppressed powers, while at the same time sending a blast of chemicals that would knock out an element.

Just as fluidly as before, Tanya reloaded, prepared to shoot again if needed.