[b]Zap![/b] Renat was fuming at the Stun Cuffs. He wanted to shout at the X3s, but tried to keep his voice level when he asked, "[color=0072bc]Can you please at least turn off the shocks from these cuffs? I'm not some devious interplanetary criminal. These things are getting ridiculous![/color]"

Before any response could come, if it would have come, there was a bright flash of light behind him; followed closely by a blast of wind that knocked Renat over. He stopped himself from from face-planting with his hands. Another pulse from the Stun Cuffs caused him to drop, landing on his right shoulder. He could hear the sounds of a fight, metal being torn and crushed, from the direction the flash had originated. He lay still, as if he could become invisible, and hoped that whoever was there would either not notice him or not want him dead. The scuffle then ended as quickly as it had started.

"[color=a36209]Cassie? Cass? You all right?[/color]" Whoever it was was not paying Renat any attention. He lifted his head and opened his eyes to see two people - a white-haired teen girl with a gun and an expressionless man with glasses - looking somewhat disoriented. There was a thing - it seemed to be a person made of stone - crouched over someone else. All that Renat saw from behind the red-stone person was some red-brown hair. "[color=a36209]Cass, wake up Cassie.[/color]"

Another shock was released from the stun cuffs, however this one did not feel as painful to Renat. Puzzled, he looked at his wrists and - with a shock (thankfully, not from the cuffs this time) - realised that the ground had 'grown' a few centimetres onto his skin. Most of the right side of his body had some of the ground crawling a couple centimetres up. 

[i][color=7bcdc8]Ah! Get off! Get off! Get off![/color][/i] Renat panicked. He felt the grip of the Earth loosen and, as soon as he could move his right side again, he pushed himself up - his heart rate and breathing both rapid. A sparking sound on the ground caused him to jump again. The cuffs had fallen off him, bent with lips at the ends, as if they had instantly molten, fallen off his wrists, then solidified again. Or been repelled by his skin. Where he had been lying was now a slight indent into the ground, again with a ridge on the edge. Fortunately his unwanted, but for once useful, power had the common sense to leave his clothes on. 

Renat turned to the four people, his heart still pounding. He recognised the woman as soon as he had looked around the rock-man's broad shoulders. He should have realised from the flash and blast of wind. That was the woman who had teleported in front of the net. She must have teleported again. "[color=0072bc]Is she alright?[/color]" he asked, not sure what else to say.