Amias pulled his hood lower over his face, slightly adjusting his mask as he did so. Any minute now, he'd get the signal from Rayne. Since he was hiding in an alley, no one should have seen him coming until they heard him snap his fingers.
Rayne had been excited about this heist. The store in question had a particularly nice bracelet on display that she wanted, and Amias had decided she could have it as long as she didn't wear it in public until everyone had stopped looking for it. Amias himself just wanted the money.
The small light on the security camera flickered twice before going out. Rayne was ready for him. Amias shook the last of the tension out of his shoulders and walked through the doors, which easily locked behind him thanks to Rayne's control over the security system. The employees looked up at him suspiciously, but Amias put a quick end to that.
With a snap of his fingers, they all fell like puppets with their strings cut. Four employees and no customers. Perfect for their plan. Now Amias just had to scoop up as much as he could before anyone realized something was amiss. First, he beelined for the cash register and set about transferring the money to the drive he'd brought with him. After that, he'd grab the bracelet in question, along with a few rings that would fit in a pocket easily.
Probably about five minutes had passed before a pounding on the door caught his attention. Amias spun around, ducking behind a table. Through the windows on the doors, he saw that Legion freak trying to get in.
Shit.
What the heck was he even doing here? Since the last major incident, he and Rayne had worked on tracking the Legion's movements. Fireface shouldn't have had a reason to be on patrol today. The only one they should have had to worry about was the weird plant guy.
Amias didn't have time to contemplate. He swiped a couple more jewelry pieces from the shelf he was hiding behind and started moving towards the staff door.
He was only halfway there when the glass on the door broke. The Legion freak was coming in - and he wasn't alone. The knight-looking guy was with him.
Fan. Tas. Tic.
Amias ducked behind the register counter. If they'd come this far, he couldn't risk leading them to Rayne. Sure, she was invisible, but Hot Stuff threw around those projectiles pretty indiscriminately. Sure, the Legion couldn't see her, but neither could Amias. If one of those fireballs accidentally caught Rayne...
Ten more minutes. If he could hold them off for ten minutes. Amias stayed behind the register desk, and heaved one of the unconscious employees on top of him. Hopefully that would be enough to trick the Legion into thinking he was long gone.
"I know you're in here, Sleeper." The growl made a shiver run down Amias's spine.
"Come out with your hands up and we won't have to fight," Knight Boy added. Amias would have much rather talked to him. Firefreak, however, would never be interested in actually talking.
"I know you're back there!" A blast of fire fizzled out on the wall behind the counter, leaving a round black mark.
Amias did not want to meet one of those head-on. All he could really do was continue hiding under the employee and hope nobody looked too closely at his clothing.
"Come out, come out," Knight Boy said. Amias focused on slowing his breathing. Panic would just make it easier for them to get him.
And he was ready to panic. Last time he'd faced the Legion, he'd almost died. They didn't care about innocent bystanders, making said bystanders useless as hostages. Sure Amias was a criminal and a coward, but he didn't want to hurt people. Even when working for Angela, he and Rayne had stuck to the jobs where no one else had to get hurt. People like Jacob were perfectly capable of beating money out of the poor sops who'd made the mistake of borrowing from Angela.
"Found him!" Amias had barely registered the voice before he pushed the employee off of him and rolled further under the desk. It was lucky too - a red flame fizzled out where he'd just been laying.
He pulled a chair in front of him to stop the next projectile and quickly snapped his fingers.
Go figure - he was still waiting for his timer to expire. Even if he knew it wouldn't do anything, Amias couldn't help seeing if the world was willing to do him a favour. Maybe this would be the one time he was able to use it after six minutes.
Useless wishful thinking. More light and heat came at the chair, until the back was starting to melt, the temperature got downright uncomfortable and Amias decided to move.
He shoved the chair as hard as he could with his legs, hoping it would hit one of his adversaries and stop the firestorm for a few moments. Without watching to see the results, Amias ran for the door, desperately hoping Rayne had gotten out.
One step.
A surprised yelp from behind him.
Two steps.
A crashing sound.
Three steps.
Firebrand's swearing voice.
Four steps.
A burning sensation spread across his back, and he tumbled toward the wall.
He hit the wall hard, his back in agony.
The two Legion members stood a few short steps away. One held a glowing sword. The other held a ball of orange flame.
Amias started to stand, and the fire came at him, growing bigger as it approached. When he dodged to the side, the sword was waiting for him. It drove through his shoulder and he gasped in pain. He could feel blood pooling on either side of the wound, and he wouldn't have been surprised if the sword broke through the bone.
The next fireball hit its target.
Knight pulled his sword out of Sleeper's shoulder and hopped back as Hot Rod's last fireball erupted into an inferno around Sleeper. The light and heat made him take a few more steps back, lowering his sword. No way anyone was getting out of that. They finally had him.
"Good riddance," Hot Rod muttered as the flames died down to reveal what was left of Sleeper. He was red all over, his mask melted onto his face. The smell and sight made Knight turn away and walk towards the door. As he did, he frowned at a red stain along half of his sword. What in the big blue sky was that, and what was it doing here?
He didn't have time to contemplate it, though. He caught a glimpse of a black and orange outfit, then he was on the floor with something sharp and metal at his throat.
"Call an ambulance. Now." A girl's voice came from above him as Hot Rod turned to glare at her.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Hot Rod asked, glaring coldly at whoever was sitting on Knight's back.
"Call. The. Ambulance." The blade - it had to be a knife, right? It felt weird, but the pain and trickle of blood from Knight's neck indicated that it was probably a knife. He winced and glanced at Hot Rod, trying to figure out how to deal with the newcomer.
"I don't think so, little girl," Hot Rod replied coldly. He lifted one hand and a ball of fire appeared above it.
Wait, wait wait! What was he doing?
Before anyone could react, the flames flew towards them. Conrad's heart stopped as the heat whizzed above him, probably aimed for the girl's head. Based on the sound, it dissipated on the wall behind them, so Hot Rod had probably missed.
"Idiot." The knife clattered to the floor, and the weight had disappeared off of Knight's back.
He took that opportunity to roll away and stand back up, holding his sword at the ready. The girl who'd caught him floated in the air, her black and orange outfit billowing around her. Based on the powerset and build...could it be Mist?
She glared at the two of them, fury burning in her eyes. Knight didn't wait to see what she'd do next. He lunged forward and stabbed at her with his sword. She dodged, but he did graze her face.
Then he froze.
Just under the mask, where his sword had managed to hit her, a line of blood started to ooze out. She frowned, then backed away and up to the ceiling where it'd be hard to reach her.
"Good work, Knight!" Hot Rod called.
Conrad couldn't respond. He just stared at the blood slowly dripping down Mist's face, horrified. How had his sword drawn blood? It only caused pain sensations. No actual injury had ever come from his blade.
"You're shocked that I got scratched, but that's okay?" Mist asked coldly, pointing towards Sleeper.
Conrad could barely bring himself to look, but when he did, he saw a rust-coloured stain on Sleeper's shoulder. Right where he'd stabbed him earlier. A small pool had also formed under the wound, which had burned shut.
Dread dropped down into his stomach, and he thought he was genuinely going to be sick.
