Just Gems, Downtown, Meritas City. October 13th, 2014, 14:00

  Razor wasted absolutely no time. He threw five of the playing cards in his deck towards us, each one shooting through the air like rockets. We’d seen one of them cut clean through solid glass like it was nothing, I couldn’t risk Elena getting hit; I could take it, she couldn’t.

  Immediately, I dove to the side, the cards landing with a series of soft thunks behind us. I looked around to check on Elena; she’d crouched behind one of the display cases some fifteen feet away from me.

  She met my eyes and gave me a thumbs up; I nodded, running towards Razor as I focused my power into my hands, the bones erupting and wrapping around them like gloves.

  But as I got a few steps forward, Twist literally spun forward, landing in front of me in a twirl, letting Razor jump away. I jabbed forward at her; she immediately turned to the side, narrowly dodging me. I jabbed again, again she turned to the side, effortlessly.

  It was like trying to punch the wind, she was just turning from side to side, dancing around me like it was the easiest thing in the world.

  If punching wouldn’t work, then-

  I dropped down, trying to sweep her legs out from under her. That didn’t work either; she just jumped up, twirling in the air gracefully before she extended her legs to kick, heading right for my head.

  Shit!

  I raised my arms up right as the first kick hit me, crunching against my arms. I ducked as the second kick soared right over my head, before a third kick came down like an axe, right on the top of my skull. My mask absorbed most of the blow, but that wasn’t the worst bit.

  The instant the kick hit my face, I felt my head jerk down like it was being twisted. It almost felt like my neck was about to snap.

  The force was sudden enough that I stumbled, almost toppling over before catching myself. I tried to bring myself up to my full height, staring down at Twist and trying to look somewhat forceful. But she looked nonchalant, just staring up at me with a smirk on her face, giving me a look that felt like it said ‘is that it?’

  As much as I was focused on her, I could hear the thuds of Elena spitting out projectiles and Razor throwing different objects in return, like some kind of gunfight going on behind me. I quickly spun my head around, watching as one of Razor’s cards split one of Elena’s jawbreakers clean in half, causing it to hit the ground with a pair of thuds.

  “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know!” Elena shouted from behind her display case.

  “Part of the charm, love, part of the charm!” Razor shouted back, flinging another card.

  I turned back around, only to come face-to-face with Twist as she spun towards me again.

  I immediately ducked down, letting her soar over me like a wayward rocket. Bolting back up to my feet again, I spun around as she skidded to a halt about five feet away.

  I turned to look at her, but then I realised something: Razor was behind me now, focused on Elena. Not paying attention to me.

  I immediately spun around, bolting for him. He turned and saw me, then threw three playing cards, clearly panicking. I didn’t bother to dodge as I ran forward. One flew past me, but two hit me square in the shoulder and chest, cutting into my flesh like knives. It hurt, but I’d had worse before, I could push through.

  I stared up at Razor, who looked at me with a look of genuine fear.

  “Twist!” He shouted, looking past me “Grab and Smash!”

  I got about one step closer before I felt a hand grab my leg. Before I had a chance to realise, I felt my leg twist as something launched me to the side, sending me spiralling through the air before I slammed into a display case with a thud, hard enough to crack the glass. Pain lanced down my back as I impacted, hard enough to completely knock the wind out of me.

  “Come on, dude!” I heard Elena grunt as she grabbed onto me, pulling me behind the display case she’d crouched behind. I took a breath as I sat next to her.

  “Uh…” Elena was pointing. I noticed that she was staring directly at my chest. I couldn’t help blushing under the mask.

  Then I looked down, realising that the two playing cards Razor had thrown at me were embedded about an inch deep in my chest.

  “O-oh…i-it’s fine.” I said, pulling myself up into a crouch as I pulled the cards out of my chest, the wounds starting to seal up already.

  Elena just shook her head. “We’ve gotta try to pin them down somehow, they’re relentless.” She said, keeping her voice low.

  “T-Twist hits hard. I can’t figure out w-what she can do but I can’t get a solid hit in e-either.”

  Elena nodded. “Yeah that Razor asshole’s a pain too. You up for something spicy?”

  I blinked. “What do you mean-”

  She reached into one of the pouches on her chest. “I’ll distract Twist, you try to nail down Razor..”

  “Y-you sure?” I asked, genuinely worried, “I-if she gets a solid hit on you s-she could-”

  “Dude I’ll be fine, I can keep her busy-”

  Something smashed into the glass case above us.

  “If you two newbies aren’t into this, we’ll just go!” Razor shouted.

  “Fuck this!” Elena shouted, pouring the canister’s contents into her mouth; whatever she’d poured was bright red and steaming, and I could feel the heat wafting from it.

  “God that’s hot,” she said, coughing slightly, “Don’t stand too close.”

  Then she jumped onto the display case.

  “Twist this, bitch!” She shouted, rearing her head back, her throat glowing a bright orange-red.

  She opened her mouth, a jet of roaring flame rocketing out of it and directly towards Twist.

  What did she eat to let her do that?! I thought, before realising I didn’t have time to worry. I shot out from the side of the display case, rounding the corner and running towards Razor again. In the corner of my eye I could see the jet of flame that Elena had spat out enveloping Twist; it was curling and fanning around her, sure, but it was enough to distract her.

  Razor, clearly distracted by the human flamethrower that Elena had become, didn’t catch me running towards him. I jumped up to the display case he was standing on, focusing my power into my right hand as the bones of my fingers burst from my skin and lengthened into long, thin claws before I started slashing.

  Razor finally noticed I was there, swerving to the side; my claws caught the end of his jacket, cutting jagged lines through it.

  “Bitch!” He snarled, turning to look right at me, “This thing’s custom, you know!”

  I didn’t respond, swinging with the claws again; he ducked down, so I quickly focused my power into my left arm, making the bones surround my hand like a glove, before I swung a punch up at his chin.

  My fist collided with his jaw, sending him flying back with a crunch. He landed on the floor on his back, groaning as he impacted.

  “S-stay down!” I shouted, glaring down at him from behind the mask. He just choked out a laugh as he pulled himself to his feet, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.

  “Fat chance!” He said, voice slurred slightly as he spat out blood, before pulling out two more playing cards, one in each hand. Almost immediately, he rushed towards me, swinging those cards like they were knives. I tried to block with my claws and-

  The card cut through three of my claws like they weren’t even there. Three lengths of bone clattered to the ground, as a sharp pain shot through my hands.

  “Nice try, love!” Razor shouted, laughing with a hand on his hips, “But you can’t block shit from me, why do you think I’m called Raz-”

  CRACK!

  Something smashed into the side of his head. It felt like slow-motion as his face warped from the impact, hitting him hard enough to shut him up and make him stumble.

  I looked at what had hit him; a baseball-sized jawbreaker.

  I quickly turned over to look at Elena; now that her flamethrower trick had worn off, she was backing up away from Twist while spitting up different foods at her. Twist was looking over at me, looking distraught as Razor stumbled over.

  That gave me an opening. I punched him in the side of the face again, then kicked out his legs from under him. He dropped like a stone, slamming into the ground with a thud.

  I stepped over Razor as he lay flat on his back dazed.

  “I’m w-warning you,” I said, trying to keep my voice firm, “Stay. Down.”

  Razor choked out a laugh, blood bubbling from his lips.

  “If you think I’m gonna let some two-bit newbies-” He threw out a pair of cards in Twist’s direction, before shouting, “Deuce!”

  I immediately slammed him in the side of the face, knocking him out, but the two cards shot towards Twist as she threw her hands out to the side. As the cards reached her, they started spiraling around her like cars caught in a tornado, orbiting her.

  For all of about three seconds, before they suddenly shot back out, spinning like sawblades. I ducked, letting it whizz over my head as I heard it grind into the wall behind-

  A scream rang out. A raw, guttural howl of pain.

  It was Elena.

  The sound hit me like a gunshot to the chest. My head shot up to look at her.

  The second card had flown right into her, slamming directly into her left shoulder. It was still spinning, sending a spray of blood into the air.

  My hands clenched, the bone grinding against bone.

  One single thought dominated my mind: these two had hurt Elena.

  To hell with the robbery, the employee they’d hurt, even the way they’d hurt me; they’d hurt Elena.

  I roared. Not anything coherent, just a noise of pure, unfiltered rage. I shot towards Twist, her expression dropping as I charged towards her. The claws of my right hand - what was left of them, anyway - quickly receded back into my arm as the rest of the bones exploded outwards, forming the shape of gloves that were spiked and jagged at the knuckles.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I swung forward, fast. Clearly faster than she expected, as I felt my fist barely graze the side of her face. The first actual hit I’d landed.

  A single thought sounded loud in my brain.

  Hit her again!

  I wasn’t thinking, wasn’t planning. So I just followed that thought on pure instinct, the rage I felt fueling me like an engine; I punched forward again, and again, landing heavier and heavier hits on Twist. One punch grazed her face, the second clipped her in the ribs, the third one struck her in the chest. I was knocking her back with each hit.

  Again!

  That thought, that basic, primal thought, pushed me forward. I reared back and punched her again, managing to slam her right in the jaw, sending her stupid hat flying off of her head. She spun on her heel, stumbling for a moment before she righted herself again. Her bright red hair hung freely now, obscuring some of her face, but I could see a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth.

  She looked up to me and grinned, before dropping into a boxer’s stance; that just made me angrier as I charged forward again.

  She swept her hand up, catching mine and batting it away; again there was that twisting sensation, like my arm was being wrenched to the side, and that was enough of an opening for her to spin-kick me right below my ribs. The impact was hard enough that I felt bile rising in my throat, but I fought through it, throwing another punch as-

  Twist caught my right fist with one open hand, the impact sounding like a dull slap. Then she twisted her hand a little to one side like she was turning a dial.

  My right arm twisted with it. A sickening, grinding noise echoed up the length of my arm as it turned far beyond what it should have. I tried to pull away before-

  CRACK!

  A horrid snapping sound echoed from my arm, before a chain of rapid, wet pops followed it, the bones snapping like twigs beneath my skin. I screamed as the skin twisted and tore with them, pain rippling through me.

  She let go. I stumbled back, gasping. I looked down at my right arm; I really wish I hadn’t. It dangled uselessly at my side, spiralled, swelling and discoloured, looking like a wet towel that had been wrung out, dripping blood onto the floor.

  The pain was horrendous, my arm throbbing violently while a sharp stabbing pain shot through it every second.

  My vision swam, my head pounded. I felt like I was going to collapse. But I couldn’t back down, not like this. I didn’t back down against Slaughterhouse, and she nearly killed me. I wasn’t going to let a couple of random thieves take me down.

  I stood up, raising my left arm in front of my face to defend myself, despite the pain shooting through my right. Twist’s face dropped, dumbfounded as she stared up at me, her eyes wide underneath her domino mask.

  I didn’t say anything, just breathed to try and centre myself, and desperately fought to not vomit from the pain.

  I didn’t care that my arm was broken, or that I could barely stand. The only thing that mattered to me right now was taking Twist down.

  I charged forward, roaring as my right arm hung limply behind me.

  I spun, aiming to kick Twist in the side. She was slower to dodge, but just barely spun out of the way. So I spun the other way with the other leg, kicking into her spin. That got her, I felt my leg slamming into her side causing her to stumble again, despite that twisting, wrenching feeling shooting through my leg as I pulled back.

  As Twist righted herself, she stared at me, her teeth bared. She pulled her arms up in front of her, then took a step forward, rearing back to punch.

  I darted to the right, my right arm trailing behind me.

  Through the pain, I focused my power into my left arm. The bones extruded, forming crude spikes that jutted across the entirety of the arm.

  Twist raised her arm like a hammer to meet it, ready to slam down-

  PLEGH!

  Something smashed into the back of Twist’s head, causing her to stumble forward as a spray of ice cream scattered around her.

  Kill her.

  As she fell towards me, I let out a roar of agonised rage, slamming my left arm into her chest with all the force I could muster. I felt the spikes bury themselves into the skin.

  White-hot searing pain shot through my right arm again, just from the force. Bile raced up into my mouth, but I kept it at bay.

  Twist was launched up into the air for a second before landing with a crack, bouncing slightly against the ground.

  Is…is she dead? I thought, clarity slowly coming back to me, the adrenaline wearing off. Horror began to set in, making my blood run cold.

  Had I killed her?

  You should have.

  I froze for a moment, blinking. What was I thinking?

  I looked up at Twist, my vision blurring. I was panting, breathless. She lay there, her body twitching slightly. Then she pulled herself up, shakily but still conscious, blood spotting her shirt and jacket.

  Are you kidding?! I thought to myself, panting. The pain was becoming unbearable. I couldn’t handle this for much longer.

  Suddenly, there was a loud crash, the sound of glass shattering as light streamed through.

  Twist and I turned up to look at the window of the shop floor; as the light shone through, a single silhouette floated in the centre: Red Rabbit hovered in the open air. But her armour looked different; the plating around her left side looked much more sparse than usual, while her right arm was replaced with what looked like the barrel of a large rifle.

  “This is your first and final warning!” Her voice blared, amplified by her helmet. “Stand down and put your hands up, now!”

  Twist looked up at Red, then back to me, before putting her hands up.

  “Called in backup!” Elena shouted, almost sounding apologetic.

  My head slowly turned back to Twist; she was swirling both of her raised hands round and round in a circle as shards of glass began to circle around her.

  My eyes widened. She wasn’t surrendering.

  She threw her arms forward, sending shards of glass rocketing towards Red in a spiral.

  My stomach dropped.

  “Red!” I shouted.

  Red took that as her cue. There was a thunderous bang as a shot fired from the cannon on her arm, and something slammed into Twist hard enough to launch her across the room, where she slammed into the back wall.

  I turned to look at where she’d landed. She tried to pull herself up again, but couldn’t, dropping to the ground.

  As the dust cleared, I rushed over to Elena, trying to ignore the pain in my arm. She was pressed up against a nearby wall, one bloody hand over her bleeding shoulder.

  “E-El- Spitter!” I shouted, correcting myself quickly, tears streaming down my face from inside the mask. I skidded to a stop and crouched down beside her. I couldn’t tell how badly she’d been hit, but the cut to her shoulder looked deep.

  “P-please, please be ok!” I gasped.

  There was a soft metallic clank as Red landed a few feet away, rushing over. The massive cannon that was on her right arm came apart with a series of hydraulic hisses, the plates and mechanisms sliding back across her armour until she looked the same as she normally did.

  “Are you two ok?” She asked.

  I turned to look between her and Elena.

  “O-one of them, he could t-throw these sharp cards, one of them hit her in the shoulder and-” I rambled, sounding like I was on the verge of sobbing.

  “Dude, don’t worry about me! Look at you!” Elena shouted, looking down at my arm. I followed her gaze to look at it; it looked like it was already starting to turn purple, like one giant twisted bruise.

  “Oh my god!” Red shouted, “How are you so calm?!”

  I looked at her, then down at my arm.

  “I-I’m fine-”

  “No, you are not fine!” Red cut me off, “I know you can heal, but we need to get you looked at, now.”

  I wasn’t listening. For some reason, the first thought that entered my mind was - of all things - Droptail, and how he could control his body as it came apart. Maybe I could do the same to my bones, make the healing easier?

  I tried to focus my power into my arm, through the broken bones.

  I tried to shift the bones inside like putting a puzzle together, seeing if I could put them back together. I could feel the pieces of bone slowly shifting and grinding under my-

  Bad idea.

  Something inside moved a bit too far in the wrong direction. The pain hit me like a tidal wave. I felt my stomach lurch before I vomited on the floor, the bile that had been building up finally winning.

  And now that the adrenaline had worn off, I could barely stay upright. I collapsed, Red barely catching me.

  “Come on, there’s paramedics outside. Police are here to take those two in.”

  Outside the shop, two police cars and a police van had rocked up outside, as well as two ambulances. According to Red, this was a pretty standard precaution whenever super-criminals were involved, especially if they were pretty destructive.

  Elena and I were sitting on the door of one of the ambulances being looked over. Elena’s injury was just a flesh wound, and looked worse than it was. It’d need some stitches, but otherwise the worst it would leave was a nasty scar. They pulled her aside to get that looked at.

  As for me-

  “Well,” the paramedic, a taller dark-skinned man with tied-back black dreads, said, “What you have here is what’s called a spiral fracture. And a pretty bad one, too.”

  I grimaced.

  “Good for you, though, from what Miss Red over there says, you can heal fast, right?”

  I nodded, “Y-yeah, though I d-don’t know how fast…” The pain was pretty constant, burning up most of my right arm. I felt pretty lightheaded now that the adrenaline had worn off, though the paramedic had given me painkillers to take the edge off of it.

  “So, good news: from what I can see here and based on what she’s told me about your healing, your arm should mend itself within the next couple of days, and you’ll be right as rain. Bad news, it’s gonna hurt, so we’re gonna need to get you a prescription written up. Plus we’ll need to get you in a cast to minimise movement and any risk of damage. Hang tight.”

  He stepped inside the ambulance as I sat there, looking down at my arm. It looked pretty bad, twisted and purple, hanging at my side.

  How had I done this to myself, again? Gotten myself maimed, twice in one month?

  I can take it, though. I thought to myself, I can heal, I can get back up from it.

  I turned my head towards where Elena was. I couldn’t see her fully, but I saw enough: her seated on the ambulance’s bed, getting stitched up, chatting and laughing with the paramedic.

  She was taking it in stride, but she still got hurt.

  She can’t heal. Most people can’t. If I can take it, it’s my job to keep them out of harm’s way…

  The paramedics spent the next few minutes getting my arm in a cast; it hurt like hell, obviously, but I tried my best to not let it show too much. They advised to keep it as level as possible, not move it, and take it easy until it healed. Which meant no Physical Fitness class or Martial Arts class for a couple of days, which was annoying.

  I thanked the paramedics before making my way to a nearby bench, out of sight and away from the noise, before slowly pulling off my helmet with my good arm. I just sat there for a moment, feeling myself decompress.

  Now that I was sitting here, I realised that I’d gone completely nuts in there, swinging at Twist like a wild animal. She’d broken my arm badly but I’d kept going without a second thought.

  They hurt Elena.

  That was all that had mattered to me.

  Eventually, Elena walked over, dropping next to me. She’d taken off the right sleeve of her costume, leaving the shoulder exposed, with the bandage wrapped tight around where she’d been hit.

  Neither of us said anything for a while. Just sat there, listening to the sounds of the paramedics, police, and some reporters talking. Red was taking charge of speaking to the news reporters, thank god.

  “So.” Elena said, leaning back, “You doing ok, dude?”

  I nodded, “Y-yeah, I’ll be ok. I-it looks worse than it is.” I said, lying; it felt exactly as bad as it looked.

  Elena just looked me up and down. “You don’t have to play tough girl with me, y’know. She literally wound your arm up like a spring.”

  I let out a laugh, looking at her. “O-ok yeah, i-it hurts. A lot. B-but they say I should be ok in a day or so-”

  “Oi!”

  I looked up.

  It was Razor. He’d been handcuffed, with Twist alongside him; she’d also been handcuffed. He was looking right at us.

  “When we get out, we should do this again sometime. You two are mental!” He shouted as he was being pulled towards one of the police cars.

  “Sure, man!” Elena shouted back, sarcastic, “Once you get out, give us a call!”

  Razor just laughed as he was pushed into the car. Twist didn’t say a word, she just gave me a small, cocky grin as she was pushed in. As soon as they got in, the cars took off, sirens blaring.

  “T-those two are weird.” I said, taking it all in.

  Elena laughed. “Right? I kinda dig their whole vibe though?”

  I just stared at her flatly, “Really?”

  She shrugged. “What? I like the whole thief vibe they’ve got going on, sue me.”

  That got a laugh out of me.

  After a few minutes, Red stepped over. She looked worn out, as if talking to all those reporters had sapped her energy.

  “You two doing ok?” She asked, concern clear in her voice.

  Elena shrugged. “As fine as we can be, Red. Hell of a first patrol, right?”

  Red laughed. “Not the most eventful patrol I’ve ever seen, but it’s up there! For what it’s worth, I think you’d both handled this well for a first-time patrol, so well done! The injuries you’ve sustained are…less than ideal, but they unfortunately come with the territory.”

  “H-how were the…the employees?”

  “They came over to me as soon as they got out. They were very thankful towards you both.”

  That made me feel at ease, especially with how much I’d been worrying before.

  “We’ll do a proper debrief once we’re back on-site. No point in taking the tram back, so I’ll organise some transport. Are you two ok to sit tight?”

  I nodded.

  “We’re all good here, Red.” Elena said, leaning back.

  Red nodded, before stepping away and tapping on her earpiece.

  While she left to organise the transport, Elena and I just…sat. Neither of us said anything for a while; she was lying almost flat on her back, eyes closed, while I was just sitting, thinking.

  I found my eyes drifting over her again, looking her up and down, before my eyes locked onto the bandage on her shoulder. I felt a pang of guilt stab in my chest; I should’ve been the one to get hit by that, not her.

  “Skye?” Elena asked, her voice soft.

  I flinched slightly, turning my head away. “Y-yeah?”

  She opened one amber eye, looking at me, smiling. “You got any plans on Saturday?”

  That made me feel tense. Why was she asking?

  “N-no. Why?” I asked.

  Elena pulled herself up into a proper sitting position. “I was gonna get some stuff to eat, there’s this amazing arcade at the pier I wanted to try out, then there’s a big nighttime fireworks display on the beach they do every month.”

  I just stared at her, nodding slowly, waiting for whatever she was going to ask next. I almost felt scared to ask her to continue.

  “And I was wondering…” She said, turning to look at me, “if you wanted to come with?”

  My brain felt like it short-circuited for a second.

  “I- uh- I-I’d need to ch-check with Dad and-”

  Elena laughed, “Just need a yes or a no-”

  “Y-yes!” I said, fast.

  Elena smiled, looking right at me.

  “Sick.” She said, her voice softening, “Guess it’s a date then.”

  I felt myself blushing red. Did she mean that like I thought she meant it?

  “Oh, also!” She said, turning back to look at me. “Might be some swimming involved…so bring a swimsuit.”