A boisterous yell from behind Lou drew his attention back in the direction of the kids he'd gifted his chain to. When he looked, the man found a short but remarkably broad man charging his way, which necessitated a double take. Where had that guy been hiding!? He even held a sword, readied in such a way that left little doubt as to the little knight's intent. On second glance, however, Lou noticed that the sword itself didn't quite look real, and neither did Gawain himself. Lou didn't get any farther along in his thought process, for the knight drew close enough to launch himself upward for a jump attack. It was the final predictable nail in the predictable coffin. 

“Tch. What a maroon.” Being unarmed himself, Lou had no intention of trying to block that crushing blow. Instead he stepped to the side, his sandy footing giving the evasive maneuver a rocky start, but he did really have all the time in the world. Gawain's weapon cleft nothing but air before it smacked into the sand with a [i]poff[/i], and Lou aimed a ponderous kick at the knight's chest. “Got past my epithet, huh? You musta not seen it. That means someone's summonin'.” He let loose another kick for good measure. “I hate summon epithets! Fight like a man!”

A moment later, however, he realized something. The strident light of his own epithet, radiating from the bling he'd discarded, shone no more. “What? I didn't...” His gaze fell on the kids. One of them did it for sure, using an epithet probably. Did they destroy his chain? Send it elsewhere? Well, he could figure it out once they got wise, because right now one was on the attack. “My gold ain't cheap trash, you chumps!” he exclaimed angrily. “You rotten kids just don't know quality when you see it!”

Another one of them, the boy, seemed to be digging in the sand. While he wondered why, the suspense didn't last long. After a moment the glow of his chain shone forth, drawing all eyes once again. “You buried it?!” he cried in disbelief, affronted that the horrible kids would do such a thing to his bling. He watched as it jumped into the air and sailed his way. “Oh hey, thanks.” Only after a moment did he notice Jude hitching a ride, a spectacle so comical that for a second Lou stood as still as a deer in headlights.

Just a second, though.

Putting the gears in his head into overdrive, Lou quickly canceled the radiation from his chain, imbuing his epithet instead into his bangles in brief but explosive fashion just as Jude got into melee range. “Flash in the Pan!” This burst of light didn't draw attention, but it did dazzle, the strength of the flash hitting Jude like an airbag. As the kid dropped, Lou's chain wound itself around his neck, and the man smirked. “Heh, how 'bout them apples? One down, one to...hggghh!”

He turned a moment too late. Noelle charged into him at full tilt, her momentum passing through Lou as if he were no more than a bug on a windshield. He toppled instantly, hitting the sand hard, and the next moment Noelle ran straight over him. A moment later the woman slid to a stop in the brook, nearly falling over in the process. She was breathing heavily, and her face was wet with tears, but Noelle's reddish-brown hair bore an unmistakable fiery luster. When she looked back, she found Lou trampled and half-buried in the sand. “Wuh...what the hell?” The others, including his group, Noelle's and Penny's circled around him. In a daze, he looked this way and that. “Anyone...get the numba on that truck what hit me?”

Noelle glared at him, looking as fierce as she possibly could. “Train.”

Lou might have said something else, but Rosco kicked him in the side, leaving him a wheezing lump. “Damn lunatic. You might've had a point, but nobody's with you now.” He looked over at Jude, Jessica, Penny, and even Haywood. “Good job keeping him distracted and taking down his epithet. That was a nasty one...takes a real self-centered motherf...uh, jerk to pull that out.”

Heath took the chance to offer a helpful reminder. “Okay, now that's over with, we can get to work. Our kids are still out there, maybe trapped or in danger. Every second wasted here is another they have for their lives to tick away.”

Nodding fervently, Noelle grabbed Heath's arm. “We should split up. Cover more ground.”

Harry raised his hand. “Make sure you're in groups of at least three! If you split up into ones or twos in an unknown area, you're basically asking for an accident or to get picked off. Happens all the time in movies.” He looked over the kids, who'd been the most under fire in the fight with Lou. “Um, are you all okay? I can use my epithet to heal you if you're hurt. Even helps with headaches.”

As he spoke, Noelle and Heath broke off to head up the beach northward, following along the treeline. Every few seconds one of them called out, either for Lucy or for Tucker. While the implication that anyone who could should be helping remained in effect, the others received no explicit directions. The world, such as it was, was their oyster.