Snippet #2807275

As was always Cerys' first instinct, she tried to find somewhere elevated to take aim, somewhere that would give her a better vantage point. But before she could do so, a voice called out, taunting her about letting the adults fight. She'd heard a similar taunt before, and notched an arrow, waiting for her to show her face again. She saw Red Witch glancing towards one of the other villains and released. She didn't hit her target, but the arrow still scratched the villain's mask, and Cerys smiled. But when Red Witch started fighting back, Cerys realised she was overpowered in these close quarters. She stashed her bow back behind her back and instead went in with her fists. Drawing blood was only going to give Red Witch more of an advantage anyway. She didn't think for a minute she'd be able to take the villain down by herself, not unless she got a really lucky punch in, but she just needed to buy time.

Backup came in the form of Aaron, who actually managed to draw blood. The villain was temporarily distracted, and turned her back to Cerys. Cerys took the opportunity to run, scouting for a better vantage point. She spotted a walkway and scaled her way up to it, sticking to the shadows to give herself some cover. But one thing that Red Witch had said stuck with her. Something about them planting the ambush. She seemed as angry about it as Cerys was. But she didn't have time to dwell on it, because Red Witch had spotted her and had joined her on the walkway.

Cerys laughed as Luciana made a bow from blood. "You really think it's that easy?" She taunted. "I bet you don't even know one end of that thing from another. Come on, the least you could do is be origi- what the fuck?" Cerys swore as the sprinklers suddenly came on, the water shifting almost immediately to form a barrier between her and Red Witch. "Gemini, what the hell?" She called, leaning down over the balcony to spot him. But he'd come to the same conclusion she'd been working towards. Neither of them had set this up as an ambush. Somebody else had called them here.

"The blackmail..." she breathed. "How many other people here have received these... messages, the ones that tell us to stay quiet, that know who we are and know the secrets we're trying to keep?" She called.

Atticus' first instinct was to get the hell out of there, before he got dragged into something he really didn't want to be involved in, especially not without the protection of anonymity. He'd already broken a hero's nose, and he really didn't want to get any deeper into it. They, however, did not feel the same. As he ducked to retrieve his knife, they grabbed the back of his shirt and tossed him away from the weapon. He rolled and leaped back to his feet. This wasn't a fight he was going to be able to run away from. They did, at least, give him the courtesy of giving back his knife, but just drew two knives of their own and spun them, clearly waiting for him to make the first move. He was so far out of his comfort zone. He just needed a break- a chance to run.

When he finally reached out towards the hero, they easily dodged, bringing an elbow into his stomach when they got close enough, and taunting him. But their mask was damaged, and the audio was crackling, distorted. The hero noticed that as well, and was momentarily distracted by it. Atticus took his chance then, landing a few blows on to her arm and thigh, before darting away from a projectile from above. The hero recovered quickly and went for his stomach, Atticus darting away from it. But before he could make an assault of his own, the sprinklers came on, forming walls of water to separate them almost instantly. And, of course, blocking off his route to the nearest door that didn't involve running past even more heroes that would probably also try to kill him.

And then one of the heroes spoke. Something about the heroes not organising this, and that the villains hadn't earlier. He exhaled heavily, still a little winded from Malfyre's elbow landing in his stomach, and looked around as somebody- Artemis, he was presuming by the bow in her hand- asked if anyone else had gotten the messages. The ones threatening to expose them and their secrets. And slowly, one by one, people started to confirm that was the case. He ran a hand through his hair. This was... this was worse than they'd imagined. Atticus hadn't asked to get involved in any of this. He wasn't prepared to deal with any of this. Here he was, in a room full of superhumans, with nothing more than a knife and a gun and an ability that made him more of a liability than anything else. He scanned the room- and his eyes landed on one face, the only other unmasked face in the room.

Well. As if things couldn't have gotten any worse, they suddenly had just gotten a little more awkward and uncomfortable. Because, still dressed like a hero but just missing his mask, was Dhani. Of all the people in the entire goddamn city...