Henry ran down another alley, a squad of officers behind him. They'd taken down three groups of escaped convicts, and now they'd gotten word of a psycho at a cafe. There was limited information, but Shiloh Gardner was high on the priority of escapees to recapture, and Henry was relatively close.
When the cafe came into view, Henry was slightly surprised to see someone else fighting Shiloh. He didn't recognize the costume, but there was probably a warrant out for him. The black and orange outfit was distinct if nothing else.
"Stop! Military orders," Henry barked, pointing his raygun at both of them. Shiloh laughed and shot in their direction. A translucent wall popped up between them, blocking the beam and the guy in black ran forward again, erasing the wall and creating a pair of handcuffs in his hand.
"I'll get him!" He swung the handcuffs at Shiloh, who backed up and shot at the other guy with a scowl on his face.
The handcuffs vanished and a shield appeared instead, which the guy in orange and black used to try and hit Shiloh. Unable to keep quiet, Henry took a step forward and shot his raygun at Shiloh. The beam landed, and Shiloh hissed in pain.
"Military orders! Both of you cease and kneel with your hands in the air."
"No way!" Shiloh shot back with a laugh, readjusting his grip on the raygun. Where in the sky had he gotten that thing anyway?
The other officers had their guns at the ready, waiting for Henry's orders. With a quick hand motion, several beams went off, pelting the two hostiles. Shiloh cursed as the heat rays cut into him, but the other guy just hid behind a new translucent shield - this one spherical.
"Don't shoot me!" he called. "I'm on your side here."
"Who are you?" Henry asked, glaring. Miracle wielders tended to be nothing but trouble.
"Manifest. We've decided to align ourselves with you for today. Can we just work together for five minutes?"
Henry frowned. Manifest. A member of Paris' Phalanx. No way he was up to any good. This was probably a case of villain factions battling it out, in which case the plea that he was on their side was empty - an opportunistic promise that would evaporate as soon as Shiloh stopped being a threat.
"Surrender," Henry said firmly, keeping his raygun trained on Shiloh, who was now curled up on the ground, suffering from several wounds.
"Hey, if it weren't for me, someone would have gotten hurt!" Manifest protested, refusing to come out from his ball. "Ask the witnesses. They'll vouch for me."
"You're both under arrest," Henry said coldly, stepping forward and motioning for an officer to go handcuff Shiloh.
"I can help!" Manifest pleaded.
In response, Henry walked up to the spherical shield and sent a current of electricity through it. Manifest wasn't touching it, but it seemed to conduct rather well. With a bit more focus, Henry sent a shock through the shield again.
This time it struck Manifest, who yelped.
"Fine. I'm out of here!" The sphere disappeared and Manifest bolted down an alley, throwing a blockade up behind him.
"Surround him! Bring him in," Henry barked. "He's not getting away from us this time."
His officers voiced their assent and scattered. They'd find him soon enough, and then they could move on to the next criminal.
General Evans would be very happy to have Manifest behind bars.
Light Master dodged another on of Whiplash's chains, then shot several more beams. Chains intercepted each of them, leaving them in a deadlock. It drove Light Master crazy. There were far more important things for him to be doing than dealing with some stupid small fry like Whiplash.
Chains closed in on him again, and he rolled away, then broke into a run, blasting behind him as he went.
"You're done for, brat," Whiplash said lazily, blocking off Light Master's escape route with a loose net of chains.
"You're the one who's done! Just go down already you stupid old oaf!" Light Master charged up a larger shot, hoping that the chains wouldn't be able to block it.
Before he could fire it, though, it vanished in his hands.
What? What was going on?
He tried shooting more bolts, but none of them worked.
"Dammit!" Whiplash screamed, looking around them. Only then did Light Master notice that the chains were gone too.
"Hey, Jacob!" Light Master spun and saw Mist, now in black and orange, waving from an alley.
"You little twit. Don't think you're getting away this time," Whiplash growled, stalking towards her. Mist, for her part, didn't move. She just stood there with a grin on her face.
"Your buddy says hi," Mist continued, skipping away from Whiplash as he got within arm's reach of her.
"He can go to hell, and so can you. Get over here, you coward!" Whiplash ran forward with a roar, grabbing Mist by the wrist and yanking her towards him. She headbutted him in the chin, then twisted free and hopped on his back, putting him in a chokehold.
"I think I'll say in Arx Nubibus, thanks." Whiplash slammed her against a wall, trying to get her off of him, but Mist seemed to only tighten her grip.
"You...little...bitch..." Whiplash started to weaken, and Mist took the opportunity to hop off his back, grab something off the ground and smack him in the head with it. He fell to the ground, and she gave him another whack, perhaps for good measure.
He went limp, and Light Master hated himself for letting such a long moment pass in silence and stillness. He wasn't scared of some little freak like her!
"Surrender or be roasted!" He flung out his hand, forgetting that his lasers were out of commission.
"You're awfully full of bravado," Mist said with a shrug, seeming to finally notice him. "But, see, without your Miracle, you're just a kid. And I'm an adult who knows how to fight. I think you should surrender or be choked." She walked towards him, her face betraying no emotion behind the half mask.
"Shut up! I can take you, Miracle or no Miracle." Light Master prepared for a fistfight, but Mist just shrugged.
"Come at me then."
He did. He went at her with everything he had. It didn't end well. First she spun him around and put him in a headlock, then proceeded to choke him out the way she had Whiplash.
And there was nothing he could do but wait for his consciousness to fade.
"Got them?" Aila asked anxiously, stepping out from the alley she'd been hiding in.
"Yup. Now we tie 'em up and move on to the next target," June said, letting Light Master fall to the ground. "Got the rope?"
"Yeah." Aila tossed her a length of it, taking the other one over to Whiplash. She quickly tied his hands behind his back, then set her hand on his shoulder, focusing her Miracle. Closing her eyes, she tried the thing she'd known she was capable of since the first time she woke up with a Miracle. Thirty seconds. Forty-five.
"What'cha doing?" June asked. Aila sensed her kneeling beside her, but she didn't respond until the last ten seconds had elapsed.
"Solving this. For good." Aila stood and walked over to Light Master, then placed a hand on his head and spent another minute on him.
When she was done, she stood and nodded at June.
"I'm ready. Let's go."
June nodded and checked her phone, then floated ahead of Aila.
Aila chanced a glance back at Whiplash and Light Master. Two down, too many to go.
But she would make sure she ended this once and for all, whatever it took.
