Bring The Heat

56. Destructive Tendencies (CB ARC 5)

Ingrid and Rebound both rushed each other simultaneously. Ingrid knew that all she needed was for him to tire out so she could get one clean hit on him, but Rebound felt more energized than ever.

Once more, Rebound paired his rush with a ball drop that was sent flying towards Ingrid. She pushed her hand out in front of her, trying to catch it, but it just bounced off of her palm, and back into her face. Overcoming the momentary stun, however, Ingrid took a quick step back, dodging Rebound's initial swing.

She reached out to grab at his ribs, but he brought his elbow down on the hand swiftly, and shoved her back. The new distance between the two caused them both to take a quick breath, before it was instantly closed again as they both approached each other. No more playing it safe.

Ingrid lurched forward with a swipe towards Rebound's stomach, which he just barely stretched away from. He threw his ball at the ground, and it bounced up, smacking Ingrid hard in the chin. He smiled cockily to himself, before Ingrid quickly returned with a punch to the face - which Rebound barely blocked by pulling his shirt over his head.

Thinking on his feet, Rebound wrapped his shirt gingerly around Ingrid's arm, and pushed it down over her head.

Ingrid cursed, unable to activate any of her lines without tearing her own chest open unless she revealed more about her ability.

"Eya eya, guys just take any excuse to get shirtless, huh?" she complained sarcastically.

She huffed out an annoyed breath, and the neon pink line faded from her chest. Rebound smirked, and took note of this - though he no longer had any more clothes to block attacks with, he now had a rough idea of a last resort plan if he got lines on his direct skin.

As Ingrid struggled to get her arms out in the shirt, Rebound took the opportunity, trying to shove her to the ground. But Ingrid remained upright, and returned a powerful headbutt, knocking Rebound back as her arms at last shot out of the sleeves. As he fell, Ingrid also monopolized on his momentary inability to fight back.

She slapped him across the face, the bare face, illuminating his jaw with a thick line of neon pink.

Rebound took a deep breath, and everything began to move in slow motion. Ok, ok, it had happened. His arm snapped out and grabbed Ingrid by wrist, dragging her violently towards him. Before the line could burst, he slammed his cheek into her face, and held it there. This whole plan revolved around her not being willing to give her life to kill him... which at this point, didn't seem all too reliable, but it was all Rebound had. If he didn't try this, after all, he would die anyway.

He felt a strange sense of peace - he was struggling for his life, but he was right on the very edge of death. He waited, and waited, and waited for it all to be over - but with his face pressed up against Ingrid's, she was hesitating.

Come on. Come on. He didn't want to die, not today. If she activated the line, she'd burst her own head apart right alongside his, and she knew it. She struggled against his grip, but he just held her face tighter and tighter to his.

Ingrid desperately tried to escape Rebound's grasp, but he did not relent. He held their faces together, and fell backwards to the ground. Sliding his hands down from her face, he spun Ingrid around, and wrapped his arms around her throat tightly.

"Get rid of it." Rebound commanded, whispering it faintly into her ear. He repeated it calmly as Ingrid fought for breath. She was strong, probably stronger than he was, but being on the verge of death made him fight a hell of a lot harder.

"Get rid of it." he repeated. Ingrid's jaw clenched shut as she fought for breath, clawing at Rebound's arms feebly. "I'll kill you if I have to, but I won't if I don't." he asserted, so calm and collected that he was even surprising himself.

He could see it in his peripheral vision - a neon pink glow buzzing at the edge of his eyesight. It persisted despite his warnings.

He tightened his arms around Ingrid's throat, and she let out one final wheeze before her arms fell limply away from Rebound's. Did her losing consciousness make the line disappear? Rebound couldn't see the buzz in his peripherals anymore, but didn't want to take any chances.

He rifled through his pockets... comb... other comb... hair gel... third comb... ah, his face mirror was in his leather jacket.

Dragging Ingrid with him, still clinging her face to his, Rebound grabbed a shard of his mirror from the ground and examined his face.

Lineless and handsome as ever.

Rebound sighed in relief, and dropped Ingrid limply, looking around for where to go next. He got up and poked his head out into the hallway... only for his gaze to meet that of some weird ass robot waiting outside the medbay!

He dodged back into the training room quickly as a shot zipped straight past him. He ran all the way to the back wall, remembering the path he and Robin used to take to sneak back into the compound after going out at night. He tore one of the panels off of the wall as a shot clattered into the wall just next to him, and he crawled hastily under the layer of insulation behind it.

On the other side was a surprisingly well lit and spacious vent, as if BM had made the compound knowing that teenagers with god complexes would end up back here eventually.

From here, Rebound knew he should be able to crawl his way to he roof, and probably through the vents to most of the rooms in the compound.

As the robot turned back to return to it's post outside the medbay, Rebound scaled the inside of the vent system, until he had reached the very top - the roof access.

However, the roof access part of the vent narrowed a considerable amount, and Rebound had failed to consider that his shoulders had become broader with age. He got ahead of himself, and... ended up stuck at the top of the ventilation shaft.

He sighed dejectedly. Yeah... things had been going a little too well for him, hadn't they?