[color=E5D0FF][CENTER][h3][b]E L I[/b][/h3][/CENTER][/color]
[hr]

Woah.

Eli had never seen her abilities in action like this. It filled her with a great sense of purpose and pride. It was rewarding to see a security officer look grateful for her presence. Even if it was Radvi, it still felt comforting that one human out there didn't think that all parahumans were like the three stumbling creatures before them.

The creatures were clearly stunned for the moment, which left Radvi and his metal-armed friend plenty of time to gather the resources they would need to finish them off. Radvi immediately took the spike from the wall and advanced towards the scorpion, and his badass friend rushed the woman with the whip-like arms as if she didn't have [i]blades[/i] coming out of her skin.

This left the giant cheese grater for Eli to handle. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel relieved that this was the inmate she'd been left with, or if she felt [i]extremely[/i] intimidated by this 6'6" body builder. It also made her wonder when she'd last gotten a tetanus shot. 

Eli made one last glance towards her two human partners to make sure that they were getting along. They seemed to be holding up, although her heart jumped as she saw the scorpion's tail wrap around Radvi's neck. She shook her head and turned away from them, allowing the illusions to fade from all three inmates so that she could focus solely on her opponent.

He was big and covered in danger, which meant that Eli wanted to stay as far away as possible from him. Close combat wouldn't be an option unless she was going for the final blow. He didn't seem to have any visible features. Did he have ears to hear with, or eyes to see with? How did this guy get around? Were his buddies his guide dogs? This made it difficult for Eli to deprive him of these senses. If he couldn't see in the first place, what was the point of making him think the world went dark?

Either way, the inmate slowly began advancing towards her. He knew somehow where she was, which was all Eli needed to know. She tested his vision by moving around, and the two began slowly circling each other. [i]Somehow[/i] this thing could see.

A rough, grating laugh seemed to emit from the muscled metal heap. "ꜱᴄᴀʀᴇᴅ, ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ɢɪʀʟ?" It spoke, sending shiver's down Eli's spine. Her steps hesitated for a moment, but she kept moving. She couldn't be a still target. Her best chances were to keep moving and wait until the right moment to act.

"ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʙɪᴛᴄʜ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɢᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴀᴄʜᴇ," he continued, flexing what muscles could be seen beneath the metal shards. "ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀ."

The metal man lunged forwards, raising his arms into the air as he prepared to tackle the young woman to the ground. Eli suddenly lost all courage at the sight of this [i]thing[/i] running towards her. She was trapped between it and the metal door to the public shelter. She cried out in fear and immediately shrunk to the ground, covering her eyes so that she wouldn't have to see her own demise.

The creature was satisfied that his prey gave up so easily. He increased his speed and waited for the delicious squish her body would make as his body would engulf hers. A laugh erupted from the inmate's body, only to be cut immediately short as a second from impact with the girl, she disappeared right in front of him. His body made a loud [b]ᴛʜᴜᴍᴘ[/b] as it flew straight into the door of the public shelter and he released a gargled "ᴀᴀᴄᴋ!"

Eli stood a safe ten feet away from the creature, unscathed. She'd managed to slip his eye as they circled, and had produced an illusion strong enough to make it seem like she'd stopped in front of the shelter. She watched as the metal protrusions sunk into the door. It was thick enough that the shards wouldn't reach the other side; the sheltered residents inside may have heard the impact, but they were still entirely safe. Perhaps just a little frightened, though.

The massive man jerked for a few moments, slowly wrenched his metal body from the door, and stumbled a few feet away. Eli tensed and took a step backwards. Just as she thought that she would have to face him head on, he fortunately fell to his knees and then faceplanted the ground. The impact with the door, along with the fading dizziness, had been just enough to render the inmate unconscious.

Eli immediately relaxed and released the breath she had been holding. She reached up to brush her hair from her face and realized that her hands were shaking. She hadn't felt this scared since the day she was boarded onto a shuttle and shot into space. This was obviously much, much worse than that day; she almost had to kill a man to survive. She might still have to kill him, if he didn't stay unconscious for long.

Without waiting to find out, she cautiously backed away and turned to search for Radvi. To her relief, he had emerged unscathed despite a few scratches to his face. His friend only had marks on her metal arms, and Eli didn't want to imagine what she would have looked like if she didn't have prosthetic limbs.

"[sub]Are you okay?[/sub]" Her voice came out a lot smaller than she intended, and she quickly cleared her throat to regain some dignity. "I didn't... I couldn't kill him. He's just unconscious for now." She paused, glancing back at the man to make sure he was still zonked. "What should we do?"

[@SepticGentleman]