Chapter 5
The Battle of the Rooftop
Terry dragged his right arm in a circle, a midnight black disc of energy forming on his right arm. It flickered weakly. Oh dear.That's not good. Damn diagnostics. He rolled out of the way as the men peppered the satellite dish with holes. On his left, the man who'd gotten him into this spot in first place, also rolled out, a brightly shimmering blue shield on his right arm. Who the hell is that man? Urrgh...Terry come on you need to focus on not becoming riddled with holes. Questions later. Terry came up standing and poured all the remaining power he had into his shield.
Several rounds of 35 caliber later and his shield had taken significant damage. It was barely holding on, the light flickering like a faulty light bulb. Luckily at that moment, the jellyfish man himself provided a distraction. The man dispelled his shield and jumped forward, transforming in mid air, and landing in front of the two gunmen as a fearsome...A poodle. What? Is this guy off his rocker? The poodle barked in the most intimidating voice it could muster while Terry looked on in confusion almost missing the two bullets that proceeded to shatter his shield. As he dropped to the ground, and fired off a curse, he finally realized that it was probably his scrambler that was responsible for the poodle that was now running under the legs of the other gunman.
In front of him, the other armed gunman dodged his curse, and proceeded to leave several holes in the spot that Terry had just being standing on. He attempted to conjure a fire wall but the spell refused to charge up. Why did this have to happen right after I cast that three hour diagnostic chain? Gahh. He took a quick look back. The roof's edge was only a few feet away. He fired off a weak black lightning bolt to keep the man occupied as he retreated to the edge.
The gunman in front of him dodged the lightning bolt, and stopped to reload. Further away, a very angry dude had replaced the poodle and was currently blasting the other gunman with several volleys of slashers and shards of ice. Well time for me to leave before that one decides to come after me. That's not a fight I'm going to win in this condition. He only hesitated for a moment before he did a backflip right off the edge.
As he fell, he saw the other lady, glowing an iridescent pink, land on the roof where he'd been moments ago. Oh lord, with a shade of pink that ridiculous, it's a small wonder no one runs away after one look at that color. Terry twisted in the air, righting himself. He used the last of very depleted magic reserves to slow his fall down just enough to avoid fracturing anything. He landed heavily, a spike of pain running through his already bruised leg. Thank the gods I wore that armor. If I had forgotten today...I don't even want to think about that. He glanced up at the battle still taking place on the rooftop.
It was a complete warzone. The assault rifles were running through their ammo faster than an ice cream truck on a hot summer day. Blue and Pink curses flew everywhere. Poodle man was goading the gunmen on and darting about doing all sorts of fancy gymnastics. Pink lady was sticking to basics. Her movements were stiff. A flash of guilt ran through Terry. She was just in the way . There's nothing I could have done. Terry continued to study the two. He wanted to leave, get started on looking for wherever that damned woman had taken the briefcase to. I am not letting that case go to them. Not today. Not ever. But that look...why what was she so scared of?
Terry continued to puzzle over it, keeping one eye on the fight. The woman's henchmen had finally run out of ammunition. Beams of energy, orange and brown had joined the fray. They were much duller than the positively glowing pink and blue curses but the sheer number was keeping the other two, probably tired from fighting him, occupied. Terry turned to leave and began walking. I have to get out of here. Or else, without teleportation or magic, I'm a sitting duck. He stopped. Wait a minute. Those two have the other case...I could just as easily follow them to their hideout or whatever. Maybe even go help them in the fight and gain their favor. Yes that’s much easier. He turned back towards the building and charged inside. Now where is the damn elevator?
There was a bored looking receptionist behind an ancient wooden counter. The walls were painted a drab beige color. He looked around frantically. There were several under watered potted plants near the desk and tucked away in a corner....two steel elevator doors. He ran towards them, ignoring the receptionist's half-hearted call for him to stop, and frantically pressed the button. The display lit up, indicating that the car was currently on the 20th floor. He barely managed to stop himself from punching the control panel.
After twenty grueling seconds, the elevator doors finally opened with a pleasant 'DING' and he rushed in, punching the button to take him to the top floor. The elevator began climbing. Classical music played in the background, only increasing his anger. 24 floors later he charged out, looking for the staircase leading to the roof. That took him another thirty seconds to locate. Why are these things not marked clearly? He charged up the stairs, taking them four at a time. Terry burst through the door and immediately had to duck as an orange beam missed him by inches and blasted the door behind him, splitting it in two.
He concentrated and tried to summon something, anything, to his hand but it was still only the barest flicker of black light. Note to self: Do not charge into battles without a plan. He moved away from the destroyed door, surveying the scene. Poodle man and pink lady were back to back. They were alternating between the offensive and defensive, their fighting styles flowing together like they were executing a well practiced dance. Pink lady was firing off spell chain after spell chain, interlaced with poodle man's shards of ice and lightning bolts. An impressive dome of energy flickered around them. Pink and Blue light interwoven together into one translucent shield that moved with them, absorbing the weak orange and brown light headed their way. As Terry watched, another brown beam bounced off the shield and headed right for him. He rolled under it and slowly approached the two henchmen. Looks like I have to do this the old fashioned way.
He walked up to the men, taking care to stay right behind them to avoid being hit with a lethal jet of pink light or skewered by an ice shard. After a lot of tiptoeing, he came up right behind the man, getting ready to attack from behind. As he positioned his feet to lash out with a punch, a foot connected squarely with Terry's nether regions and he folded like a collapsible lawn chair. The man turned to face Terry, mouth twisted into a sneer. Apparently he had not been fooled by the tiptoeing.
Fortunately for Terry, that was a big mistake on the part of the man. The pink and blue duo, probably spotting the distraction, both sent out attacks in his direction. The already weakened orange shield the man was hiding behind shattered, and a pink spell chain slammed into the man. Whatever the damage was, it wasn't visible, but the man doubled over in pain.
Terry staggered onto his feet, trying desperately not to fall to his knees as the remaining henchman, distracted by his fallen partner, was skewered through the knee with an ice shard. The man collapsed beside his partner.
The light show on the opposite end of the roof stopped as the shield was dispelled. Both of them were breathing heavily as they walked over to the two fallen henchmen. Before they could do anything, the two henchmen both produced two grenades from their pockets, popped the pins and teleported away. Holy crap.
The poodle man acted fast. He jumped at the grenades, transforming into a gorilla and grabbing them before launching them skyward. Not a moment too soon. The grenades, flung much higher than any man could have flung them, had barely reached the apex of their climb before they exploded, raining shrapnel down on the three of them. A big umbrella shield by the pink lady deflected most of it, with only a couple of the larger pieces falling harmlessly onto the roof, robbed of their momentum.
Terry breathed a sigh of relief as he bent down, putting his hands on his knees, still recovering from the earlier attack. He took a moment to catch his breath and straightened. He straightened, legs still shaky, before offering the two a smile. Time to see if I they are up for a deal.
"Ahh...so Mr. Dirt King, you got a name?" asked the man.
"Clarke. Terry Clarke," replied Terry in between deep breaths," and yours?"
"Oh that's not important...I just need your name for the report," replied the man.
"Wait a minute...what report?" asked Terry.
"You are under arrest as per the orders of S.W.O.R.D the Strategic Worldwide Operations and Reconnaissance Division," said the pink lady moving behind him and roughly grabbing his hands. He felt the cold metal of handcuffs slide around his wrists. Well that backfired spectacularly.
"Arrest report," explained the man," thank you for your cooperation."
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