LUCAS ROSATI
No sooner had he huffed and puffed his way towards the first strangely dressed guy when another showed up with what looked like water guns and a boy's sailor uniform, rattling off a series of nigh-incomprehensible sentences that Lucas could only partially parse as probably addressed to Flowers. It took him a moment to catch that "Lien" was the name Sailor Water Guns used to address Flowers and he did his best to keep the name in mind. No guarantees with what seemed to be going on at the moment.
Especially no guarantees when Water Guns turned one of the pistols towards Lucas and fired just after he had advised Lucas to take cover.
"Wait--" the protest was cut off as a bubble enveloped Lucas. He held his breath for a moment, thinking the watery sphere would drown him, but realized soon enough that he was simply surrounded by a translucent, blue barrier that held him suspended at its center. He tapped against it gently, testing its firmness and was surprised by how much his hand bounced back at him. So a shield, then. Okay. This could be a good thing if these whimsically powerful people(?) weren't planning on wiping his memories later or killing him because he had seen too much.
Sounds came through the watery shield a bit distorted, but Lucas still managed to make out most of what Water Guns said to Lien.
"Lein-kun!...single civilian and multiple shadow's coming. I'm unaware...our remaining mates are. But...captain! I'm sure they...soon!"Single civilian had to be him, Lucas figured. But what was the rest--multiple shadows? Was he talking about literal shadows or...
Lucas's gaze darted to the dark, irregular shapes bleeding into existence all around them, rising in a jerking stutter from the ground. Shadows. Yeah, that made a lot of sense.
And it sounded like there were more of these fancy guys on the way.
On cue, repeated flashes of movement caught Lucas's eyes as he scanned the buildings, wondering if shadows would burst from everywhere else, too. A giant card flipped in and out of existence as some distant figure deftly alighted on card after card, making them disappear and reappear on a forward path. Before he could get a good look, however, a rush of dark gray and black wisps swirled beside the bubble and Lucas turned quickly in that direction, coming face-to-face with a blond-haired teenager wreathed in a thick, froufy cloud of smoke that wrapped around one shoulder like a cloak, giving the guy a lot more presence. Was this guy a shadow, too? The more fascinating concern was that the new arrival had just stepped into physical being from ribbons of vapor.
“Have no fear. I’ll get you out of here soon,” the stranger spoke. Maybe not a shadow? Lucas didn't think he had a choice in the matter, anyway, given his state. And as much exhilaration as Lucas had felt earlier, he still wondered how wise it would be for the stranger to free him from the bubble when Water Guns had seemed worried enough to pop the shield onto him in the first place.
His concerns were dispelled the moment Smokey the Bear casually picked up the bubble with Lucas in it, hefting it into position with both arms before walking at an unconcerned pace away from the amassing horde of shadows.
Lucas rapped his knuckles against the bubble again, feeling that repeated repulsion on impact. He hoped the movement would attract the attention of the guy carrying the bubble containing one very shocked and confused--albeit a little excited?--civilian.
"Hey!" he shouted, not worried enough about his well-being to consider that maybe talking to superpowered individuals he had just met was not the smartest idea when he hadn't assessed how hostile they were. Water Guns had seemed friendly enough, at least.
"What's--" going on? What is all this? What are you guys? What are those things? What the fuck? Too many questions starting with that word raced through Lucas's mind and he didn't think the prep time before impending combat was the moment to ask them all, going by what Water Guns had said about more shadows incoming.
"Am I gonna get to ask anything after you guys are done with those...whatever they are? Shadows or something, I heard?" he asked instead.
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