Bring The Heat

33. Blackout (GOJS ARC 4)

Robin panted as she struggled to follow Mint down an even longer maze of alleyways. How the hell was Mint so in shape? And how did she know where she was going?

"Hurry now, Robin. Not much further." she hissed back quietly.

But in the darkness of the dusk, Robin tripped over a metal trashcan, causing a loud crash as she stumbled to the ground.

"Shit!" Mint exclaimed quietly, grabbing Robin's arm and dragging her down to huddle in a small indent of the alleyway.

"Sorry! But why the hell is it so dark? The streetlamps-"

Robin was quieted by Mint's hand clasping over her mouth. She was about to protest, but then she heard it.

Heavy metallic footsteps.

They were approaching fast, loud clangs echoing around the alleyways as the source of the noise had almost reached them. And then, right in front of the indent, Robin could barely make out a massive, looming figure in the pure black darkness. The knight.

It stood only a few meters from Robin and Mint, and at the sight of it, Robin pushed herself further into the corner... rattling the mesh metal gate she was leaning against. The knight's silhouette turned ominously to face them.

"Go, go, go!" Mint yelled hurriedly, shoving Robin up as she clambered the mesh gate, and beginning to climb up behind her.

Robin wondered why she couldn't hear the knight running up behind them, but didn't take the chance of turning to look, and hopped down onto the other side of the gate.

A powerful hand in a metal gauntlet shot out and grabbed her by the neck. Robin was lifted effortlessly off of the ground, suspended as she choked and the knight readied it's sword to impale her. Struggling against it's grip, she tried to send out some vines to slither underneath it's armour, but found that she could still only form slow and weak little shoots. She kicked out in terror as the knight was about to fling it's sword through her torso.

A shot rang out. Mint had fired a bullet into the knight's helmet, denting it, and making the knight drop Robin as it flinched.

"Go on and get! I've got this!" Mint commanded, knowing that every gang nearby would be on their way to the sound of the gunshot. Hey, maybe she could give Robin and Ben the distraction they needed to get out of here.

Doing as she was told, Robin shot down the alleyway, shoving the knight aside, but stopped to wait at the end of it. If Mint got hurt... maybe, just maybe, she could help!

The knight swiftly recovered and looked up at Mint, now locked on to it's next target. It slowly, menacingly approached the gate, but Mint held her fire for some reason. It reached the gate, and...

Disappeared into the floor. It fell to the ground like it was made of shadow itself, and appeared again on the other side of the gate.

Robin gasped, but Mint held her gun steady. She fired another shot right into the knight's helmet once more. The knight didn't flinch this time, and instead retaliated with a powerful punch that Mint expertly dodged before running back to the gate.

She jumped up and rolled over the top elegantly, landing like a cat on the other side. But as she did, the knight teleported again, reappearing just in front of her and swinging it's hand out. Mint tried to dodge again, but the edge of the gauntlet smacked her heavily across the face, sending her falling to the ground on her back.

The knight raised it's sword above it's head, but instead of dodging the plunging blade, Mint fearlessly lined up another shot, and shot the knight in the helmet for a third time. It flinched for half a second, which Mint gratefully accepted as an opportunity to slide to her feet from under it's legs and send a good measure bullet quickly into the back of it's helmet, sending it staggering forward.

Robin wondered why the hell Mint was staying at the gated area even though it put her at a disadvantage, but then noticed something. Wispy purple trails of smoke left behind by each of the four bullets she had shot so far...

Mint hopped over the gate one last time, stood right on the other side of it.

"What got you knighted? Or is that costume just something you found in a store?" she jeered.

The knight turned, clearly infuriated. It threw it's sword aside, and spoke for the first time;

"I'm gonna crush your head in my hands!" it spoke in a deep woman's voice, filled with rage and vitriol.

The knight stomped over to the gate and flung it open wildly, smashing it into Mint and sending her to the ground once more. But Mint just smirked. Robin noticed that all of the smoke trails were now perfectly lined up, aimed directly at the knight's head. Mint opened her mouth to speak:

"Fire."

Suddenly, multiple gunshots rang out, and the knight's helmet was lit up with sparks as four bullets clashed into it. Robin ducked instinctively, and looked around in a panic to see where they had come from. But... there was nobody else around.

The knight fell to the ground, it's helmet crumpled and blood leaking from the visor.

"That's my Two In The Chamber for ya!" Mint exclaimed cockily.

"Is... is she dead?" Robin asked, concerned.

Mint sighed, rubbing her jaw from where she had been punched.

"No... I'll finish her off."

But, suddenly, the footsteps of many gangs started to boom down the streets like thunder. Cars screeched towards the sounds of the gunshots, hoping to be finding Ben at the end of their gun's barrels.

Mint and Robin froze up, and their gaze met through the mesh metal gate.

"Fuck. Run!"

The two tore away from the fight area in opposite directions, Mint running down the alleyway and Robin running across the street. As Robin crossed, the flash of gunfire was all she could see, and turned and ran from them, disorienting herself and scrambling for cover behind a small wall of a garden. She crawled along the ground, hugging the wall, and found the house that it was attached to, hiding inside until the noises went away.

The men must have searched the streets for about 20 minutes, at least that's how it felt to Robin. But eventually, the voices faded and cars drove away, leaving the street in silent darkness once more. Slowly, Robin crept out of the house, and slowly snuck across the road. But right as she reached the middle... a streetlamp just down the road turned on.

Robin turned in horror to see a figure stepping out into the light, looking right at her. Twig.

"Hey... I don't recognize you. And I know everyone here... you're a fed, aren't you?"

Shit. Robin turned to run, but Twig's crossbow was in his hands faster than lightning. How the hell could he do that!?

Robin fell to the ground with a yelp of pain as a crossbow bolt shot deep into her calf, piercing straight through it. She seethed with pain as she snapped off the end of it, and created a small plant fibre cover for the wound to stop bleeding, and a substance to help with the pain. But her powers were still weak, and she still couldn't fix her leg properly...

"Hey... you have an ability too?" Twig continued curiously.

Suddenly, something struck her back. Not a bolt... something light, something plastic. As it hit her, she felt a rush of air around her, and a quiet pop to her right. She looked over at Twig and saw that he was much closer... wait... no!? The streetlamp had moved too! How... no. SHE had moved! But how?

Twig examined her confused face and laughed.

He grinned, and jeered, "That'll make this even more fun!"