Definitely precognition, or at least super reflexes.  Mary watched Sidestep’s return to her earth-bending buddy, frowning slightly.  Sidestep [i]had [/i]attacked someone who looked rather innocent, after all.  It was hard to tell if the proper response was to kill her, or just scare her off.  Gladius was in a strange grey space: they weren’t chaotic like Wonderland, but they seemed to have the same disregard for normal lifeforms as all the rest of the big groups.  And if Sidestep was willing to take a Gladius contract even though she didn’t like it, just because it paid, didn’t that mean she didn’t have that strong a moral backbone?  What would stop her from taking a contract that endangered or directly harmed innocents?

Nothing.  She should have killed the cape when she had the chance, not warned her away in a panic.  That softness in her was a weakness.  Someone would die because of it.

Dragon was obviously thinking along the same lines.  Her eyes had narrowed to slits as she watched Sidestep escape, and now she slowly turned her attention to Mary.  [color=f26522]“I thought that was the one that you were shooting?”[/color]

[color=00aeef]“Yes.  A mercenary, apparently.”[/color]

[color=f26522]“Ah.  An especially wholesome one, I assume.  [i]I[/i] took out [i]my[/i] target.”[/color]  They looked out over the battlefield, Mary miffed at Dragon’s attitude, but less so when they saw that Pipeline’s corpse had disappeared.

[color=00aeef]“Uh huh.”[/color]

[color=f26522]“Hmmmm.  Should I find and kill him again?  Perhaps he was 2/9ths cat.”[/color]

[color=00aeef]“Do we know who he was?  If he took down that VTOL, he could take you down, too.”[/color]  Mary put a hand on Dragon’s still-hot armor, and Dragon shrugged.  [color=00aeef]“We should find a new target, or leave.  Nobody in the center of the fray.”[/color]

Said center of the fray had obviously become the newcomer in red, who methodically and brutally took down a half-dozen targets, regardless of alignment.  Another crazy, killing for the sake of it.  And, it looked like he was using blood powers, which meant his strength grew with each drop of blood spilt on the battlefield.  This was his ground, now.  There would be no facing him directly.

But neither of Maryland liked it.  They had targeted Pipeline for the same reasons: strength, a crazy laugh, joy in the face of destruction.  This was a dangerous individual, one that they should have been taking down.  Dragon should have stayed and fought before he could create such an advantage.

But, he had arrived with allies.  Perhaps they were more vulnerable, and taking out one of them would temper the damage that Blood Red could do.  Shield Lady, Jester, and Hobo… none of them seemed especially strong, but looks could be deceiving.  Was it wise to attack any of them?  Likely not, together as they were.  [color=f26522]“Let us leave,”[/color] Dragon suggested, and Mary nodded, moving to strap in again.

But then the situation changed.  A portal appeared, and two of the three disappeared.  Now Shield Lady was alone.  Mary paused, and shared a look with Dragon.  [color=f26522]“Yes, I will distract her,”[/color] Dragon accepted, stepping away again, dropping down from the roof to land in front of the shield.  She paused, drew in a quiet breath, and then opened her jaws to release a torrent of fire, her most fearsome weapon, at the shield and the three people that it protected.

Mary quickly prepared herself, swapping a knife for the gun she had held all this time.  It was a real blade, unlike her fake firearms, and deadly-sharp.  She dashed across the rooftop, quickly, quietly hopping to the one across the way so that she could stand just over the shielder.  As Dragon drew breath, becoming the obvious target, Mary stepped off of the roof, knife brandished and falling directly for the target while she was distracted.  If she weren’t interrupted, her small weight would crash right into the woman, and her knife would end her life right afterward.

[@knifeman] [@Sickle-cell]