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Oh boy, it was finally happening. All the fighting, the boom of his own mask, loud rap music - Grim was getting tinnitus.

Kind of weird that it didn’t actually sound like ringing. Yet as HotRod tried first saying something to the side - at Wraith? - and then yelling at Grim, all his words came out muffled, as though underwater. Threatening to slap him? Maybe Wraith? What a weird threat.

“Keep your eyes on me, bone boy. I’ll have you know the internet says I’m very protective of Wraith.” The shadows wrapped around Hotrod expanded upwards, wrapped around his bare - and weirdly thick - neck. The tendril began compressing against the sides to restrict blood flow to the brain, but - he wasn’t falling unconscious.

What the fuck was going on? Everything seemed [i]off[/i]. Which was absolutely not a good thing to be experiencing in the middle of a fight!

Frustrated at the lack of [i]falling unconscious[/i], Grim made a low noise that rumbled through his mask as the shadows lifted HotRod high in the air, before slamming them down into the concrete.

“Come on, I just came from the rails and bought you an express ticket to SleepyTime Junction. You don’t want to miss your train!” He lifted HotRod again, going to slam him -

And then Grim’s vision distorted. It was almost like an old TV distorting as it tried to correct the picture, and for a moment the hero’s hand raised up to grasp his mask as though it were the problem. Then, his vision righted itself and-

“Wraith?” The shadowmancer hesitated, keeping the man suspended as he looked around. To the side, Kitsune had crashed into Mindraker and brought him to the ground, but he wasn’t even … part of the fight…? And HotRod behind Wraith was pinned to the ground?

Slowly the shadows lowered Wraith, bringing him closer to Grim. The latter took his glove off and reached out from below  to pat at the hood and cloth mask, confirming their reality.

Abruptly Grim brought his hand back and replaced the glove, the shadows dropping off Wraith as though they had suddenly turned liquid, and disappearing at their feet.

“I am [i]so[/i] sorry,” He rumbled, deep voice surprisingly soft. “I - you looked like HotRod. Because of Mindraker?” Grim tilted his head to look over again, raising his voice.

“Thanks, by the way, Fox!”