Shell aimed another kick at Achilles' abdomen, which he blocked with his forearm before trying to grab her ankle. She dodged, then ducked under his fist before grabbing him around the middle and trying to slam him against the wall. Instead, Achilles spun her around so she landed hard at the wall. A plate that had just grown from above her ear shielded her, and she jabbed a particularly sharp one at Achilles. It glanced off of him obviously, and the fight continued.
He didn't know how long they'd been fighting. The world seemed slightly off-kilter, so she'd probably hit him in the head a few too many times. The ground made them both stumble, so he'd probably given as good as he got.
Then, suddenly, the fight was over. A translucent barrier surrounded Shell, trapping her. When Achilles glanced around, he saw Barrier Maiden walking towards them, exhaustion on her face.
"So this is where you've been," she said with a sigh, glancing at Achilles. "How many have you captured?"
"Maiden!" Achilles bounded over to her, stumbling slightly as he did. "Glad you're okay. It's been hairy out here."
"How many have you caught?" she asked again, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"I've been busy taking care of Shell. Haven't had time to do anything else."
He wasn't sure what to make of the look in Maiden's eyes at that moment.
"None?" she finally asked, sounding exasperated. "Not a single one? I've been running around working my butt off and you've just been playing around with Shell?"
"I wasn't playing around!" Achilles insisted, trying to figure out what was wrong. What was she mad about, exactly?
"You're so useless you can't even lock up one person? Or, like, restrain her and call for the military to take her? I've gotten thirty of these jerks and I have had it up to here!" She glared at him coldly.
What was going on? Where had his sweet girlfriend gone?
"Maiden?" he asked cautiously. Was this some Miracle-powered trick to defeat him?
"Go." she said coldly. "We'll talk later. If you stay here for much longer, though, I'll probably hand you over to the military too."
Achilles couldn't figure out what was happening. Was this a hallucination?
"Move it, blockhead!" Maiden snapped, giving him a rough shove. Achilles found himself obeying, stumbling away even as he tried to make sense of everything with his aching head.
It was okay. They'd meet back up at HQ, he and the real Maiden. Whoever this was, they could deal with Shell. He wouldn't risk their wrath.
As he ran, he couldn't help the distinct feeling that the city was tilted to one side. He'd really taken one too many blows to the head, hadn't he?
After restraining four or five of the other escaped convicts, Brennan was running through the alleys, hoping to shake his latest military pursuers. He'd quietly go back to jail once the crisis was over, but until then he was determined to do what he could to help.
Things seemed to be calming down at the very least. It would be best if he could run into Achilles or one of the others before he went back, just to assure them that he was alright, but he hadn't seen any of them.
As Brennan rounded a corner, he almost ran into someone in a black and orange outfit. He seemed to recognize Prime, as he cursed, then ducked behind him just in time for Sergeant Griffin to charge into view.
"Prime!" Sergeant Griffin stumbled to a stop as the guy he was pursuing paused to catch his breath.
"This guy on the arrest list?" Brennan asked, glancing behind him.
"Frick," he muttered. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar, but Brennan couldn't put his finger on what.
"He's been wanted for months," Griffin replied coldly. "And you should be back in prison."
"Sorry. Ferry tossed me out here and I figured I should at least help clean up the mess before I go back to jail." Brennan watched the guy in black and orange carefully, waiting for a good chance to grab him.
"Goody-two-shoes," the fugitive muttered, then hopped back and made a big round ball to protect himself. That Miracle...
"Manifest?" Prime asked, somewhat surprised.
"Long time no see. Can you tell that guy we're on the same side now?"
"I seem to recall you and the Phalanx causing no end of trouble," Brennan replied, quickly moving to the other side of the ball to at least keep Manifest relatively in check.
"That was Paris. Now we're back to being perfectly respectable criminals," Manifest replied with a sigh. "Shoulda never gotten involved with that idiot in the first place. Boss thought it would be decent money and protection, but Paris was way more trouble than he was worth. Now we're working to keep people from dying, same as you. Why don't we deal with the actual problems first?"
"Will you turn yourself in when we're done?" Brennan asked, a frown on his face.
"Heck no! But you can at least chase me and try to catch me." Manifest stuck his tongue out at Sergeant Griffin.
"I'd rather take you in now," Griffin said, walking up to him with sparks dancing between his fingers.
Manifest shrank back, then ran towards the sergeant as fast as he could, the ball rolling over him and letting Manifest go free, even as electricity danced over the ball.
"Get back here!" Griffin yelled, scrambling to his feet as Prime ran past him, determined to catch Manifest.
Suddenly, the ball vanished and Manifest fell forward, landing square on his face. Brennan caught up to him and grabbed his wrists, then handed him over to Sergeant Griffin. Manifest kicked and fought to escape, so Griffin gritted his teeth and placed his palm on Manifest's chest.
Manifest kicked him hard in the gut and scuttled away while Griffin looked at his hand in shock.
"You're taking too long."
The flat voice carried through the alley, and a girl in black and orange stepped in front of the stumbling Manifest. Brennan would recognize Mist's voice anywhere.
"I got the worst pull!" Manifest protested, hiding behind her. "That sergeant just won't let me go, no matter what I say."
Mist looked at them blankly, then shrugged.
"Let's go." She turned and dragged Manifest behind her, tugging on his wrist. He followed obediently, then they were joined by a third person in all grey. At first Brennan wondered if it was Jumper, but the grey was the wrong colour and he couldn't think of any reason for Jumper to work with the Phalanx.
"Sergeant, let's go," Brennan said, glancing at Griffin. "They're going to just walk away." He offered his hand to help the sergeant up, but he didn't move, just staring at his hand and taking shaky breaths.
Brennan couldn't leave him there by himself like that, not when all kinds of trouble was brewing. Neither could he just let Mist and Manifest walk away. He grabbed Griffin and hoisted him over his shoulder, wincing slightly at the effort, and started running after them.
"Run," Mist said flatly, breaking into a run. She pushed Manifest to the right at the intersection, while the figure in grey ran left and Mist herself hopped over the railing. Brennan couldn't get all three, so he decided to run after Manifest. He was the known quantity, and he could actually follow and capture him. Mist would be impossible to get.
As he took a step, though, an electric shock ran through him, sending him to the ground. He groaned in pain as Sergeant Griffin sat up and stared at his hand, frowning.
"What was that for?" Brennan asked, moaning. "Now they're definitely getting away."
"My Miracle disappeared," Griffin said shakily. "But now it's back. I don't know why."
"Can we figure this out later?" Brennan asked with a sigh. "I thought you wanted to catch Manifest."
Griffin glanced at the direction Manifest had gone, a glowing ladder indicating the path he'd last taken.
"I think that's it," Griffin sighed. "He's gone. At least I caught you."
"I woulda come back either way. I'd just like one chance to talk to Achilles, but I know that might be too much to ask."
"This entire day is a failure," Griffin spat. "General Evans trusted me with taking care of things, and look at the mess we're in."
"I don't know what Team Chaos was after," Brennan replied slowly, "but I think we've all done our best given what the situation was. Let's check on the situation at least. I heard Cold Snap was causing a lot of trouble until Lightning and some others took care of her, but I'm curious about the rest of team Chaos."
"If I know him, Corrosion's going to be in the thick of it," Griffin spat with a glower. "Have you heard anything about him?"
Brennan paused for a second to think, then slowly went pale as realization pooled in the depths of his stomach.
"I haven't heard a thing. What could he be doing?" He glanced at Sergeant Griffin, who hopped up, a look of renewed determination on his face.
"Let's find out."
Without another word, he ran off, followed closely by Brennan.
