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[center][@Hitman][@Jumbus][/center]
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Negotiations, unfortunately, did not turn out as planned. Chad nearly jumped as a wave of water flew from behind Sea Serpent, smashing into Starbright. As the wave shifted course towards Chad, the younger hero barely had time to start running - he didn't make it far before being caught up by the current, however. Whether it was because he was shocked by the sudden attack and didn't move fast enough, or the poor traction caused by the rain, it didn't really matter. Whatever the reason, he was now stuck in a giant ball of water - that's what mattered.

Chad, luckily, had the time to hold his breath before being submerged. If he hadn't, things would have been a bit worse for him. Of course, holding his breath didn't buy him much time. Even as an athlete who trained his lungs to help him run faster, Chad never held his breath longer than 3 minutes before, and the last time he got close to 3 minutes he nearly passed out and got yelled at by his mom-

Now wasn't the time to be thinking about pointless things. The sphere of water he was trapped within was moved over the edge of the helipad, hovering over open air. Chad displayed a surprisingly calm reaction as he realized the chance of him dying within the next few minutes were incredibly high. He expected the chances of him dying to be really high - that's what he was warned about several times, both in his Psychological evaluations as well as from actual heroes. 

But dying right now, hovering over the side of a building while drowning... That was kinda lame, right? Even if it was Sea Serpent's Signature Move, Chad always imagined THE BULLET being killed in a blaze of sacrificial glory, and to later have a statue built after him in a park. And since this was his first official mission, he definitely wasn't going to get a cool statue after dying from this...

Maybe he was actually super freaked out by dying, and his coping mechanism was thinking about incredibly stupid crap? Chad was focused on something else now - How to escape. The Problem: He was hanging in a ball of water, controlled by one of the strongest Hydrokinetics in the country, and was hundreds of feet above the ground. His backup was Starbright, who while incredibly powerful, couldn't fly and save Chad from falling to his death. Chad was unable to swim, and not only that, everything Sea Serpent and Starbright were saying was distorted to the point Chad couldn't understand clearly.

Chad assessed his situation within 9 seconds. He lucked out in that regard - time was his biggest enemy right now. And it left time for the much harder part - finding a way to survive. Chad's vision was a little distorted by the water, but he could see decently enough. Starbright was saying something that Chad couldn't make out. Maybe he could use that as a distraction? Activating his power, Chad tried swinging his arms and legs as hard as he could to escape.

It was almost disheartening how pathetic his attempt was. Maybe if he actually knew how to swim and Sea Serpent wasn't so skilled Chad could have escaped so simply, but flailing like a toddler just ended up burning precious seconds of oxygen. Now Chad [i]definitely[/i] wasn't going to last 3 minutes in here. It didn't cross Chad's mind, but it was probably for the best his escape failed - he would have ended up falling to his death, or grabbed onto the ledge of the helipad only to be trapped again. Chad continued to look around - if Sea Serpent noticed his failed escape attempt, he couldn't see her reaction. Chad was about to begin pretending that he was already drowning, if only to get Sea Serpent to skip her monologue (she's a villain now, and villains have to have monologues!) and show his 'corpse' off or something. 

However, something caught his eye - one of the minijets was partially sticking out of the wall of the building. It was a pretty big distance to fall, and Chad would have to try really hard if he realistically wanted to land on it. But falling a few dozen feet was far better to falling hundreds - if Chad was lucky, he might even avoid breaking any bones. And even if he wasn't lucky, landing there at all would mean he was closer to allies, who would be able to help him if he lost consciousness from the fall. And Sea Serpent probably wouldn't expect Chad to try and swim [i]towards[/i] his death - maybe she would even let him, thinking he was trying to kill himself? Objectively speaking, that was the best plan he had thought of thus far.

Chad didn't do it. He had no intention of doing it either, in fact. That would be running away - and while Tactical Retreats were perfectly fine for heroes, running away was only something villains did! Starbright hadn't left yet because he knew that, and leaving Chad alone against Sea Serpent wasn't something a hero would do. Chad wouldn't be able to race back to Starbright if he landed on the minijet - not only was there a high chance he'd break his leg, but he'd have to run through floors that almost certainly have guards. 

It's been just over 30 seconds. Chad only had one option left open - or, at least only one he had managed to think of. He just had to survive long enough for Starbright to defeat or distract Sea Serpent. If given a chance, and he used his power well enough, he might be able to launch himself to the ledge of the helipad. Chad tried to slow down his racing mind - he overthought things when he was in a bad situation. And right now, the last thing he needed was to stress himself out. Chad could feel a slight strain in his chest begin to form. How much longer would his breath last - a minute and 30 seconds? Maybe two minutes, if he could slow his heart down. Chad would have to hope Starbright could somehow distract or defeat Sea Serpent.