Act of Will - Part Three

Act of Will - Part Three

He was fast.

Deadly fast.

Before Toxic had even finished pulling the trigger, the Mist Claw had already fired a burst of magic that sent him sprawling.  His shot went wild as he fell on his back.  Thaddeus cast a worried glance at his partner, but was relieved to see he had merely been stunned.  Feeling a surge of righteous anger, he charged at his opponent.

The Mist Claw flung several blasts at the approaching knight, but each one was absorbed by his magic-resistant armor.  That didn't seem to concern him much.  He stamped a foot on the ground, sending out a shockwave that lit up several of the stones in the cobbled street.  They rose into the air, glowing soft orange.  With a flick of his hand, he sent them whizzing the medieval warrior.

Thaddeus deflected the first two easily, using his large shield.  The third one struck him in his right shoulder, staggering him.  A fourth one caught him full in the chest, throwing him to the ground.  He grunted in pain as he clattered to the street.

Toxic Cowboy had recovered by this point.  He got back to his feet just in time to see Thaddeus go down.  He squinted at his quarry, making sure to aim his "hot" weapon at the dark mage.  The heavy pistol bucked as he emptied a round.

Not missing a beat, the Mist Claw lifted one hand, a translucent bubble forming around him.  The lead bullet crashed against the shield, crumpling up and falling to the ground uselessly.  The shield shimmered but did not break, though the Mist Claw did seem to stagger a bit, thrown off by the weapon's power.

"Big weapons you've got there," he said with a smirk, "You know, someone might think you're comp-"

Another bullet bounced off his shield, interrupting the clichéd insult.  With a steady hand, the faux cowboy emptied round after round into the magic bubble.  The orange tinted sphere grew more and more opaque as it reached the breaking point.  Meanwhile, Thaddeus had risen to his feet and readied his spear.  He flung it at the already weakened shield, expecting it to pierce through.

Upon contact, the shield yielded for a moment before blasting outwards in a brilliant flash of light.  Both of them were flung outwards by the blast.  Windows all around shattered, raining crystalline shards into the roads below.  Thaddeus crashed through a wall, smashing into a table and crushing it beneath his weight.  Toxic Cowboy spun as he was knocked back, dashing his head against a support beam on a building and slumping over unconscious.

The Mist Claw stood panting in a crater, sweat beading down his face.  They weren't bad, he had to give them that.  Certainly no match for him, but not bad.  He lamented not having a partner to help him with the next task, but manpower was tight, especially with recent casualties.  First things first, though...he had to dispose of those arm bands.

---

Thaddeus moaned as he woke.  His body felt stiff all over.  As his vision settled he began to realize why.  Dank, gray light seeped through a hole in the wall.  He followed the trail of rubble to his armored boots and realized he'd made the hole.  With a discomforted grunt, he lifted himself into a sitting position.  Bits of brick and wood slid off his armor.

"Nnnnggg...Elijah?"

No response.

"Elijah!"

With a renewed vigor he got himself to stand.  He wobbled a little bit, still unsteady from his sudden journey through a wall.  With an uneasy step he exited the newest doorway to the building.  He frantically searched the streets for any sign of his comrade.

"Elijah?"

There was a crater where the Mist Claw had been.  A few stones were ripped from the street.  The windows were shattered and their glass littered the path.  No sign of the Mist Claw.  Or Elijah.  Finally steady again, he stepped into the middle of the road, hoping for the slightest sign of his missing partner.

There was nothing.  He'd disappeared.  He must have either been captured or killed by the Mist Claw...unless he left.  But he wouldn't leave.  Would he?  Thaddeus blinked, surprised at himself for even thinking such things.  Where had that thought come from?

The bracelet.

Thaddeus checked his wrist.  Sure enough, the small bracelet he'd been given to ward off the fog's effects was gone.  Closing his eyes, he meditated on his thoughts for a minute.  Sure enough, he could feel a small presence.  Something was niggling at the back of his mind.  He shut it out, refusing to listen to it.  He had more important things to attend to.

He'd lost his partner, his armband, and was no closer to finding the trinket than before.  Things weren't looking good.  Then something caught his attention.  Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a black ring that looked to be made of some sort of writing.  Upon closer inspection, he recognized it as magic runes.  He grimaced, but forced himself to read them.

"Tra...trans...trans location..."

---

"Mmmmmph..."

Toxic regained his consciousness to the sensation of cool cobble on his face.  He blinked his eyes open, slowly gathering his fractured mind.  All at once everything came rushing back.  The Mist Claw.  The blast.  Thaddeus.

His hands went to his holsters immediately.  Somewhat surprisingly, he found both his magnums neatly tucked away.  Wasn't he using them before he was knocked out?  He spun around, not sure what to expect.  What he saw was an empty street.  No signs of a battle, or his partner.  But it wasn't the same street he was on before, so that would make sense...

Wait.  Why wasn't it the same street?

He looked all around, but as far as he could tell, there was no way he should have ended up here.  If he'd been thrown over a whole block, he'd have been a lot less in one piece than he was right now.  Besides, his head was still aching from hitting that support beam, and he certainly didn't see it anywhere around here, let alone where he'd woken up.

Speaking of where he'd woken up...what was that weird black ring?  He knelt down next to it, squinting.  It appeared to be made up of a few tiny runic letters repeating over and over.  He had no idea what they meant, but he could feel a strange power pulsing off of them.  They must be what had gotten him here.

He put his hand forward to touch them, but stopped halfway.  A cold tingle of dread passed through him.  His bracelet was missing.  He was out in the mist, completely exposed.  Shauri's words echoed in his mind.

"I haven't heard of anyone resisting it indefinitely"

He could deal with hired guns.  He could deal with soldiers.  He could even deal with metahumans.  But magic...he wasn't trained for magic.  He didn't know anything about magic.  Magic didn't have to make sense, it just was.

It took him a moment to realize he was panicking.  That was exactly what Thaddeus had told him not to do.  He shook his head and tried to steady his nerves.  He just had to keep a clear head and focus on the task at hand.  First order of business: find Thaddeus so they could continue the search.

---

The Mist Claw agent perched on a rooftop, observing his hapless victims.  His eyes glowed a sickly yellow, magical vision allowing him to pierce the mist's veil.  Much to his pleasure they began walking opposite directions.  Had he had the time, he would have teleported the cowboy much farther away, but the current distance seemed sufficient.  The odds of them meeting up again were slim.

And being the noble, selfless, paragons of virtue they were, there was no way they'd ever abandon each other.  So they'd chase each other's tails around Sarun, slowly growing more and more susceptible to the mist.  Before they knew it, they'd be under his power.

He cast one last glance at the cowboy.  The freelancer was reloading his weapons.  The Mist Claw grinned evilly.  Giving him those guns back was a huge risk, but once the idea had entered his head, he couldn't say no.  The boss didn't need that brute, the so-called Paladin.  Besides, he was the one who was truly becoming a thorn in their side.  He knew how to counter them.  And this particular Mist Claw wasn't so sure that once the mist left, he'd stay loyal.

No...the Paladin had to go.