The hawk and the fly shot toward him at astonishing speed, but Duncan still held the range advantage. His conjured red flail lashed out, its chain rattling like actual metal. Yet it did not obey the laws of physics at all. The launched flail turned sharply, curving into a trajectory that attacked the hawk-masked figure from the side. He didn't evade and to Duncan's surprise, the flail passed harmlessly through its target. The fly-masked woman did dodge, her movements small and instantaneous as she ducked down in her sprint.
They were upon him now, two against one. He also vaguely registered the heat that was building behind him - likely Clementine's doing. It was the hawk-masked man who crashed into him first, attacking with hand and feet against his raised shield. The other tried to slip past him, but he wouldn't let that happen so easily. Not while he still had cards to play.
Duncan pivoted, but the shield kept hovering in place to block the hawk-masked man. The red flail separated - the spiked ball flattened into a buzz saw, while the chain retracted to take the shape of a broadsword. The buzz saw sped toward his hawk-masked attacker without warning or wind-up, while he cut at the other with his broadsword. Both were forced to leap back, shifting the momentum of the battle in his favour.
He shot a glance at the buzz saw and it scattered into a cloud of daggers that shot toward the fly. Then the shield burst forward, which Duncan had aimed to bash into the hawk. It was a good counteroffensive, but he would need more red to keep this up and there weren't a lot of opportunities to scan his surroundings. The second he looked away, the fly-masked woman returned. Her suit was torn and her right arm was out of commission, but that hadn't stopped her.
Then there were other distractions too. In case of Noa, a helpful one at least.
"I'm working on it!" Duncan called back. The broadsword evaporated into a thick red mist to obstruct the fly-woman's view. He couldn't control the red energy properly like that, but it'd buy him some much-needed time.
Duncan glanced at Clementine, saw her state of being, and began to doubt his decision. Not that he had other options though. "Stay calm Clementine. We've got this." As he spoke, Duncan seized back control of the red armour - with Clementine still in it. The whole package catapulted toward Noa and once there, stopped instantaneously, faded to release Clementine, and began returning to him as a single stream of colour.
In that same view he caught a glance of Errol. His half-brother seemed to be on equal footing too, and there were more hostiles than they were currently facing.
That made this feel like a good time for the red traffic lights.
What had been a lit red sign on one of them became dull gray, its colour fired as a bolt of energy. Not at the brute of stone, the unnerving fly, or the uncatchable hawk. At Errol.
The bolt would hit his hand and wrap around the base of his fingers into semi-transparent knuckledusters. "Charge those!"
He was forced to the ground by a hard kick from the hawk-masked man. From the mist, the woman emerged. Perhaps he hadn't bought enough time after all.
They were upon him now, two against one. He also vaguely registered the heat that was building behind him - likely Clementine's doing. It was the hawk-masked man who crashed into him first, attacking with hand and feet against his raised shield. The other tried to slip past him, but he wouldn't let that happen so easily. Not while he still had cards to play.
Duncan pivoted, but the shield kept hovering in place to block the hawk-masked man. The red flail separated - the spiked ball flattened into a buzz saw, while the chain retracted to take the shape of a broadsword. The buzz saw sped toward his hawk-masked attacker without warning or wind-up, while he cut at the other with his broadsword. Both were forced to leap back, shifting the momentum of the battle in his favour.
He shot a glance at the buzz saw and it scattered into a cloud of daggers that shot toward the fly. Then the shield burst forward, which Duncan had aimed to bash into the hawk. It was a good counteroffensive, but he would need more red to keep this up and there weren't a lot of opportunities to scan his surroundings. The second he looked away, the fly-masked woman returned. Her suit was torn and her right arm was out of commission, but that hadn't stopped her.
Then there were other distractions too. In case of Noa, a helpful one at least.
"I'm working on it!" Duncan called back. The broadsword evaporated into a thick red mist to obstruct the fly-woman's view. He couldn't control the red energy properly like that, but it'd buy him some much-needed time.
Duncan glanced at Clementine, saw her state of being, and began to doubt his decision. Not that he had other options though. "Stay calm Clementine. We've got this." As he spoke, Duncan seized back control of the red armour - with Clementine still in it. The whole package catapulted toward Noa and once there, stopped instantaneously, faded to release Clementine, and began returning to him as a single stream of colour.
In that same view he caught a glance of Errol. His half-brother seemed to be on equal footing too, and there were more hostiles than they were currently facing.
That made this feel like a good time for the red traffic lights.
What had been a lit red sign on one of them became dull gray, its colour fired as a bolt of energy. Not at the brute of stone, the unnerving fly, or the uncatchable hawk. At Errol.
The bolt would hit his hand and wrap around the base of his fingers into semi-transparent knuckledusters. "Charge those!"
He was forced to the ground by a hard kick from the hawk-masked man. From the mist, the woman emerged. Perhaps he hadn't bought enough time after all.
