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"That was…scary," I whispered hesitantly.
Kyle nodded, "No kidding…"
"Let's just be thankful that……," Elliot frowned, "Zephyr, who was that?"
I shrugged, "How would I know?"
"He was probably Okrea," Kyle mused.
"More than likely," Elliot agreed.
"By definition, yes, I am."
I spun around to face the voice, "Can you please stop sneaking around," I snapped irritably.
The man who'd saved me just grinned, "I could, but that wouldn't be nearly so much fun."
I grit my teeth but Elliot just shook her head slightly. "Who are you?" Kyle asked, apparently not annoyed, or at least, he wasn't showing it.
"Not quite so inebriated tonight as you were at the wake, I see," the man commented, "You probably don't remember much from that night. My name is Luke, and I lead the Okrea against the Gredeans," the Okrea leader answered.
"Are you always so annoying?" I asked moodily.
Luke raised an eyebrow, "Not always, no, but taking lives isn't exactly my preferred line of work," he answered, an edge to his voice.
Elliot stepped in before I could retort, "We're sorry, we didn't know who you were, and we're all just a little bit upset at the moment. You know, with the whole 'being hunted and trying to rescue our friend while not getting ourselves killed' thing."
Elliot's pointed response surprised me, but it only provoked a grin from Luke, "I'll assume you're talking about finding Braiden?" he asked, inexplicably amused. I nodded warily and he rolled his eyes, "Braiden is fine, we got to him before the Gredean's did," he told us, shaking his head, "I left my katana behind though, and that thing was one of a kind."
Kyle held up a hand, "So let me get this straight: you guys went in, took Braiden before the Gredeans got there, and then anticipated that we'd be here and came in to make sure we didn't get fried for our indiscretions?"
Luke bowed his head, "Sounds about right."
I felt a little embarrassed now, almost guilty. Here was Luke, who'd saved our lives twice, saved Braiden's life, killed Gredeans even though he didn't like having to, and I was giving him shit when he hadn't really done anything wrong.
Kyle frowned, "So what do we do now?" he asked.
Luke grinned wryly, "What do you want to do? My job is to see you through safely, but there's more to being safe than staying cooped up in your little hideout, waiting for a time when you're safe. A time," he added, "That's not likely to come without some serious negotiations and fighting on our part."
"Let's go back to the reception," I blurted out, not wanting to have to observe the very serious problems we faced.
Luke looked at me with an amused expression, "I'm fine with that, under one condition."
Kyle looked at him with an exasperated expression, but Elliot smiled. I frowned, "What's that?" I asked warily.
Luke grinned broadly, "One free dance."
I rolled my eyes, "Sure thing," I agreed, "I mean, I have no idea how to dance, but hey, if it's what you want, I'm game," I told him dryly. I heard the soft sound of music drifting from the reception, and as a group, the four of us began walking back. Kyle looked to be deep in thought, and as we began to, once again, mingle with the people, he piped up. "Luke, where's Braiden?" he asked, his voice guarded.
Luke raised an eyebrow, "You'd don't believe me when I say he's safe?"
Kyle shook his head, "Sorry, but no."
Luke flicked his wrist, waving away the apology, "Good," he told Kyle, "Don't trust anyone if they haven't proved themselves to you first. That being said, I can assure you that Braiden is currently unharmed. Not necessarily safe, considering he's working with us at the moment, but I'd have been told if he'd been injured."
Kyle nodded, momentarily satisfied, but Elliot looked at Luke with mild curiosity. "How many Okrea are there, Luke? Are any of them Scions?" she asked.
Luke frowned, "For the moment, only five, if we include myself and Braiden in that number. As for whether or not any of us are Scions," Luke shrugged, "We're all human, so far as I know." Luke's ears flared as new music played, a waltz of some sort. He frowned and started muttering under his breath, massaging a spot on his shoulder. Elliot and I locked eyes. "Uhmmm…Luke, what's wrong?" Kyle asked hesitantly.
Luke looked up with a grin, "Nothing, just a bad shoulder. It'll heal with time, but being thrown into a pole has some lasting effects," he answered, amused. He turned to me, "Now, Zephyr, I do believe you owe me a dance," he said, holding out his hand.
I looked at Elliot, but she was looking over at Kyle, who was grinning. I sighed, "Fine, let's get it over with."
Luke led me to the edge of the dance floor, where couples where already dancing with varying amounts of success. I noticed while we danced that Luke, though his eyes remained on me, never seemed to stop scanning the room. I figured it was just something he did. Maybe a part of him just needed to know that there wasn't anything left to fight.
He smiled, "You're wondering why I keep searching the crowd, aren't you?"
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. While Luke was, apparently, an expert dancer and capable of leading me in such a way so that I wasn't embarrassing myself, I still found it difficult to keep from falling as we danced. Luke frowned, "I'm making sure there aren't any more Gredeans around. Considering that we've never dealt with just a single one, it seems likely that there's more."
"What if there are?" I asked, fear gripping me.
I stumbled, and Luke compensated to make it look less like a error and more of an improvisation to the dance itself, "Then I'll deal with them," he stated matter-of-factly, a far off look in his eyes, one of anticipation, resignation, sadness and determination. I saw him differently, then, at that point. He seemed less like an annoyingly smug, arrogant person and more akin to somebody stoic, someone who spat at odds and did what was right not because it was his job, but just because it was the right thing to do. Distracted, I stumbled again, and I felt heat flood my face as I careened into Luke. He stopped me from falling, absorbing my momentum with his body and hugging me close to keep me from collapsing. I regained my footing and looked up at him. I hadn't noticed before, but Luke had wonderfully deep brown eyes. My mind raced. I was, inexplicably, attracted to Luke. I'd only known him for, at the most, thirty minutes, and only moments before I'd been annoyed by what an ass he was, and now there was a palpable tension between us. He leaned in closer to me, "You know, you aren't nearly as bad at this as you think you are. You just over-think things, like you are now," he whispered, and his face was close enough to mine that I could feel his breath tickle a loose strand of hair that fell over my cheek.
"What do you mean?" I asked quietly, barely audible to even my own ears.
He leaned in even closer, his arms still wrapped around me. He'd placed one hand on my lower back, and his face was barely a fingers breadth away from mine. He reached with his free hand and brushed the strand of hair on my cheek behind my ear, "You know exactly what I mean," he whispered back as our lips met. It was soft and slow, light, almost airy in quality, but it still managed to take my breath away.
I inhaled deeply as his lips left me. He grinned when he noticed my heavy breathing. I glared at him half-heartedly, "What's so funny?" I asked, trying to sound annoyed, but failing miserably.
"Everything, but absolutely nothing at all," he answered cryptically, smile broadening. I opened my mouth to try and elicit a more sensible response, but I close my mouth when I saw his smile disappear abruptly.
"What's wrong?" I asked, worried.
"We need to find Kyle and Elliot, right now," Luke growled, grabbing my wrist, pressing down on the bracelet the Gredean had clamped onto my wrist less than an hour ago. He glared at my wrist, holding it up closer to his face, "Who gave this to you?" he demanded angrily.
I shrank back from him, scared, "The Gredean put it on me before you stopped him," I whispered.
Luke cursed, and pulled me to a table where Kyle and Elliot had sat down. "We need to go, now," he hissed urgently.
Elliot and Kyle stood without hesitation and followed Luke out of the reception area and outside. Letting go of me, he started walking briskly towards a motorbike. Jumping on, he turned to the three of us, who stood there gaping. "What the hell is going on?" Elliot demanded angrily.
"You need to run. Now," he ordered, point to a tall apartment building a few blocks away, "Zephyr won't be able to teleport because of that bracelet on her wrist, and I have a feeling that if she tries to take it off, it'll tighten itself painfully, fusing itself to her wrist."
I felt my blood run cold, and I reached for my wrist out of habit, disbelief pervading through my mind. I fumbled with the clasp, grinning with nervous relief as nothing happened. I was dimly aware of Luke shouting. I looked up to yell back, but I cried out in pain, my wrist burning. The pain forced me to my knees and blurred my vision.
"Goddamnit Zephyr, you're going to get us all killed!" Luke screamed, shaking me.
Kyle pulled him away from me, "Leave her alone, you psychopath!"
"I'm the psychopath?!" he raged, "Look at the bloody idiot who just made it impossible for me to remove that thing without using extremely specialized tools! Meanwhile, she can't use a single power, which makes her an instant liability because she can't fight or do anything remotely useful! And don't you even think about trying to melt that off her!" Luke ordered sternly, his face beet red.
"Why not?" Kyle asked, put off guard.
"Because you don't know enough to keep from melting that metal through her arm, that's why!" Luke yelled.
"Enough!" Elliot shouted, "Luke, get a grip on yourself!" she told him, glaring, "Now look, we'll run for that building still, or will that not help anything, now?" she asked, looking to Luke.
Luke was silent for a moment, breathing deeply as he calmed himself down. "Yes, Elliot, it should help," he answered slowly, "It will give me time to call Braiden for backup, and allow me to get to one of our weapon's caches. We keep several in every major city that the Scions are likely to visit," Luke added quickly, answering my questioning glance, "There's one about five minutes away from here, in a library."
"A library?" Kyle asked incredulously.
"Yes, you know, those buildings that have vast stores of books?" Luke mocked, "They're best for keeping things hidden."
"Scions!" a guttural voice yelled out. I turned to look down the street. I whimpered. There was a gang of about six Gredean's lined up on the sidewalk advancing slowly, confident in their superiority. Luke dismounted from his motorcycle, and slowly walked forward, "Start running," he murmured. Kyle helped me up, and both him and Elliot started pulling me forward. "I know how to run, thank you very much," I hissed, pulling my arms away.
"Then maybe you should start," Kyle snapped.
I looked back one last time. Luke was running towards the Gredeans, a pipe in his hand, presumably something he'd found on the ground. There was no conceivable way he'd be able to kill all six of them without seriously hurting himself. After all, he was only human.

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"I have to rest, guys, please!" Zephyr panted as we reached the base of the building Luke had pointed out. I rolled my eyes, but waved my hand in consent. Zephyr sat down on the building's front steps.
"Do you…do you think he'll be all right?" she asked, breathing heavily.
Elliot bit her lip, "I don't know…six against one isn't a fair fight to begin with. Add in superhuman abilities…" she trailed off.
"It didn't look good for him," I added quietly.
"Zephyr, have you tried teleporting yet?" Elliot asked warily.
She nodded, "It's not working…"
"Elliot, why don't you try taking her with you?" I suggested hopefully.
Elliot grabbed Zephyr's shoulder and closed her eyes, a frown forming on her face. She shook her head slightly, "I can't. I don't know why, but I can't," she muttered, frustrated.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I sensed somebody watching us. I spun around and nearly collapsed. Another gang of Gredeans approached us, this time numbering an even dozen. By unspoken consent, the three of us began running again. We ran inside the building, and unable to spare the time for an elevator, started running up flights of stairs. It was, a small part of my mind noticed, an apartment building. We took two stairs at a time, but we barely managed to keep apace of the Gredeans.
"Your flight is futile, Nataeans," a small warrior growled.
I threw a ball of fire into his face and he dropped with a scream of pain, "We might've been altered, but we're still humans, asshole," I muttered.
By the time we reached the sixth and highest floor, I'd already been forced to knock out the other nine Gredeans. They were just as quick as we were, and in far better shape. I was exhausted, and neither Elliot or Zephyr were much better off than I was. We stumbled through a hallway, only to reach a dead end as we turned a corner, a long hallway with a large window at the end of it. We walked to the window and looked out of it and down at the ground.
"You put up a good fight, Scions, but now it is time to accept your fate," a soft voice commended, "If you come peacefully, I can guarantee you will not be harmed."
I stepped in front of Zephyr and Elliot, "Like hell we're going with you," I spat.
The Gredean smiled broadly, a second beside him laughing silently, "I was quite hoping you'd say that, Nataean scum," he told me maliciously, advancing slowly. I barely had any energy left, and I knew that if I tried to burn these two Gredeans, I'd be completely incapable of anything else later on. I didn't have any other choice though. An earsplitting noise resounded through the hallway, three more following it in quick succession. The Gredeans dropped, blood pouring out of their backs. A figure clad entirely in black stood behind them, a shotgun resting on his shoulder. He had two pistols belted at his waist, and two more shotguns sheathed on his back. A sword hung on a belt, slung across the back of his waist. A massive pack was worn on his back over the shotguns. His face was covered by a hooded cloak. The three of us tensed as the figure spoke, "Good job holding them off Kyle, sorry I was late."
"Talk about great timing," Elliot muttered.
"It's good to see you again Luke," Zephyr said, sounding a little more than relieved.
Luke pulled back his head and I winced.
"Luke, what happened to you?!" Zephyr cried out, rushing forward. Luke's left cheek had a massive gash in it, and the other side of his face was a faint purple. It didn't seem like it was something hadn't gotten used to though, taking into consideration that he'd acquired a scar on his other cheek. It seemed like it was rather recent, too.
"Luke, let me take a look at that," Elliot offered with a smile as Zephyr fussed over him.
Luke grinned, "Maybe later, but right now, we need to get moving…awww, fuck," Luke cursed as we heard people rushing up the stairs. He pulled out the two pistols from their holsters at his waist and handed them to Zephyr and Elliot. He pulled off his pack and poured out the contents, quickly arranging them against the walls. There were two MP7s and about eight extra magazines of ammunition for them. Pulling out the shotguns he'd sheathed on his back, he laid them down on the ground. I recognized them as Benelli M4s. He had about a 100 shells for them. He tossed one to me, "I know you know how to use one, so aim carefully."
The Gredeans rounded the corner, and Luke opened fire. He didn't miss a single shot, and every Gredean he hit dropped like a stone. I waited until he needed to reload to start shooting. My aim wasn't nearly as good, but I managed to stall them long enough for Luke to get started again. He managed to halt the rest of them. "Okay, we need to get moving, now," he ordered sternly, picking up the two MP7s and pocketing the extra magazines, "Each of you grab a shotgun and some ammo."
Zephyr stayed put near the window as Elliot and I moved to obey, "Luke, this is scary," she whispered. Luke and I both turned to face her as we heard the glass in the window shattered. A Gredean pulled her out from the window and rappelled down the side of the building with her. We could hear her screaming in fear. Luke backed up, and MP7 in each hand, muttering a string of curses, eyes wide. "Luke…Luke, what are you doing?" I asked nervously.
"Get back to the safe-house," he ordered, running forward. I could only stare as he ran and jumped out of the window, spraying bullets as he flew downwards. Watching from above, I saw him fly straight down, shooting down at an idling sedan in the alleyway adjacent to the apartment complex. He somehow managed to nail each of the Gredeans in the car, and the one holding Zephyr, before he ran out of air. I could hear him yelling a string of curses on his way down. He landed on the Gredean's getaway car with his shoulder, rolling off of it and onto the ground. He didn't get up. Zephyr ran over to him as another car, a hummer it looked like, pulled up. She pulled out one of the MP7s. One of the Gredeans in the sedan stumbled out as Zephyr pointed her gun at the car that was pulling up. I yelled out but the Gredean grabbed her and twisted her arm. Zephyr screamed out in pain as her arm twisted to a sickeningly abnormal angle. The Gredean kicked her knee out of place and Zephyr dropped. A burst of gunfire dropped the Gredean as Luke rolled over a pulled the trigger on his other MP7. I watched as Braiden jumped out of the hummer and ran over to Zephyr. Luke stumbled to his feet, but dropped to a kneeling position as the pain overwhelmed him. He tried to stand up again, but he fell, and this time he didn't get up. I spun as I heard footsteps rushing once again up the stairwell. I locked eyes with Elliot, and with gritted teeth, we disappeared back to the safe-house.

Description
"That was…scary," I whispered hesitantly.
Kyle nodded, "No kidding…"
"Let's just be thankful that……," Elliot frowned, "Zephyr, who was that?"
I shrugged, "How would I know?"
"He was probably Okrea," Kyle mused.
"More than likely," Elliot agreed.
"By definition, yes, I am."
I spun around to face the voice, "Can you please stop sneaking around," I snapped irritably.
The man who'd saved me just grinned, "I could, but that wouldn't be nearly so much fun."
I grit my teeth but Elliot just shook her head slightly. "Who are you?" Kyle asked, apparently not annoyed, or at least, he wasn't showing it.
"Not quite so inebriated tonight as you were at the wake, I see," the man commented, "You probably don't remember much from that night. My name is Luke, and I lead the Okrea against the Gredeans," the Okrea leader answered.
"Are you always so annoying?" I asked moodily.
Luke raised an eyebrow, "Not always, no, but taking lives isn't exactly my preferred line of work," he answered, an edge to his voice.
Elliot stepped in before I could retort, "We're sorry, we didn't know who you were, and we're all just a little bit upset at the moment. You know, with the whole 'being hunted and trying to rescue our friend while not getting ourselves killed' thing."
Elliot's pointed response surprised me, but it only provoked a grin from Luke, "I'll assume you're talking about finding Braiden?" he asked, inexplicably amused. I nodded warily and he rolled his eyes, "Braiden is fine, we got to him before the Gredean's did," he told us, shaking his head, "I left my katana behind though, and that thing was one of a kind."
Kyle held up a hand, "So let me get this straight: you guys went in, took Braiden before the Gredeans got there, and then anticipated that we'd be here and came in to make sure we didn't get fried for our indiscretions?"
Luke bowed his head, "Sounds about right."
I felt a little embarrassed now, almost guilty. Here was Luke, who'd saved our lives twice, saved Braiden's life, killed Gredeans even though he didn't like having to, and I was giving him shit when he hadn't really done anything wrong.
Kyle frowned, "So what do we do now?" he asked.
Luke grinned wryly, "What do you want to do? My job is to see you through safely, but there's more to being safe than staying cooped up in your little hideout, waiting for a time when you're safe. A time," he added, "That's not likely to come without some serious negotiations and fighting on our part."
"Let's go back to the reception," I blurted out, not wanting to have to observe the very serious problems we faced.
Luke looked at me with an amused expression, "I'm fine with that, under one condition."
Kyle looked at him with an exasperated expression, but Elliot smiled. I frowned, "What's that?" I asked warily.
Luke grinned broadly, "One free dance."
I rolled my eyes, "Sure thing," I agreed, "I mean, I have no idea how to dance, but hey, if it's what you want, I'm game," I told him dryly. I heard the soft sound of music drifting from the reception, and as a group, the four of us began walking back. Kyle looked to be deep in thought, and as we began to, once again, mingle with the people, he piped up. "Luke, where's Braiden?" he asked, his voice guarded.
Luke raised an eyebrow, "You'd don't believe me when I say he's safe?"
Kyle shook his head, "Sorry, but no."
Luke flicked his wrist, waving away the apology, "Good," he told Kyle, "Don't trust anyone if they haven't proved themselves to you first. That being said, I can assure you that Braiden is currently unharmed. Not necessarily safe, considering he's working with us at the moment, but I'd have been told if he'd been injured."
Kyle nodded, momentarily satisfied, but Elliot looked at Luke with mild curiosity. "How many Okrea are there, Luke? Are any of them Scions?" she asked.
Luke frowned, "For the moment, only five, if we include myself and Braiden in that number. As for whether or not any of us are Scions," Luke shrugged, "We're all human, so far as I know." Luke's ears flared as new music played, a waltz of some sort. He frowned and started muttering under his breath, massaging a spot on his shoulder. Elliot and I locked eyes. "Uhmmm…Luke, what's wrong?" Kyle asked hesitantly.
Luke looked up with a grin, "Nothing, just a bad shoulder. It'll heal with time, but being thrown into a pole has some lasting effects," he answered, amused. He turned to me, "Now, Zephyr, I do believe you owe me a dance," he said, holding out his hand.
I looked at Elliot, but she was looking over at Kyle, who was grinning. I sighed, "Fine, let's get it over with."
Luke led me to the edge of the dance floor, where couples where already dancing with varying amounts of success. I noticed while we danced that Luke, though his eyes remained on me, never seemed to stop scanning the room. I figured it was just something he did. Maybe a part of him just needed to know that there wasn't anything left to fight.
He smiled, "You're wondering why I keep searching the crowd, aren't you?"
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. While Luke was, apparently, an expert dancer and capable of leading me in such a way so that I wasn't embarrassing myself, I still found it difficult to keep from falling as we danced. Luke frowned, "I'm making sure there aren't any more Gredeans around. Considering that we've never dealt with just a single one, it seems likely that there's more."
"What if there are?" I asked, fear gripping me.
I stumbled, and Luke compensated to make it look less like a error and more of an improvisation to the dance itself, "Then I'll deal with them," he stated matter-of-factly, a far off look in his eyes, one of anticipation, resignation, sadness and determination. I saw him differently, then, at that point. He seemed less like an annoyingly smug, arrogant person and more akin to somebody stoic, someone who spat at odds and did what was right not because it was his job, but just because it was the right thing to do. Distracted, I stumbled again, and I felt heat flood my face as I careened into Luke. He stopped me from falling, absorbing my momentum with his body and hugging me close to keep me from collapsing. I regained my footing and looked up at him. I hadn't noticed before, but Luke had wonderfully deep brown eyes. My mind raced. I was, inexplicably, attracted to Luke. I'd only known him for, at the most, thirty minutes, and only moments before I'd been annoyed by what an ass he was, and now there was a palpable tension between us. He leaned in closer to me, "You know, you aren't nearly as bad at this as you think you are. You just over-think things, like you are now," he whispered, and his face was close enough to mine that I could feel his breath tickle a loose strand of hair that fell over my cheek.
"What do you mean?" I asked quietly, barely audible to even my own ears.
He leaned in even closer, his arms still wrapped around me. He'd placed one hand on my lower back, and his face was barely a fingers breadth away from mine. He reached with his free hand and brushed the strand of hair on my cheek behind my ear, "You know exactly what I mean," he whispered back as our lips met. It was soft and slow, light, almost airy in quality, but it still managed to take my breath away.
I inhaled deeply as his lips left me. He grinned when he noticed my heavy breathing. I glared at him half-heartedly, "What's so funny?" I asked, trying to sound annoyed, but failing miserably.
"Everything, but absolutely nothing at all," he answered cryptically, smile broadening. I opened my mouth to try and elicit a more sensible response, but I close my mouth when I saw his smile disappear abruptly.
"What's wrong?" I asked, worried.
"We need to find Kyle and Elliot, right now," Luke growled, grabbing my wrist, pressing down on the bracelet the Gredean had clamped onto my wrist less than an hour ago. He glared at my wrist, holding it up closer to his face, "Who gave this to you?" he demanded angrily.
I shrank back from him, scared, "The Gredean put it on me before you stopped him," I whispered.
Luke cursed, and pulled me to a table where Kyle and Elliot had sat down. "We need to go, now," he hissed urgently.
Elliot and Kyle stood without hesitation and followed Luke out of the reception area and outside. Letting go of me, he started walking briskly towards a motorbike. Jumping on, he turned to the three of us, who stood there gaping. "What the hell is going on?" Elliot demanded angrily.
"You need to run. Now," he ordered, point to a tall apartment building a few blocks away, "Zephyr won't be able to teleport because of that bracelet on her wrist, and I have a feeling that if she tries to take it off, it'll tighten itself painfully, fusing itself to her wrist."
I felt my blood run cold, and I reached for my wrist out of habit, disbelief pervading through my mind. I fumbled with the clasp, grinning with nervous relief as nothing happened. I was dimly aware of Luke shouting. I looked up to yell back, but I cried out in pain, my wrist burning. The pain forced me to my knees and blurred my vision.
"Goddamnit Zephyr, you're going to get us all killed!" Luke screamed, shaking me.
Kyle pulled him away from me, "Leave her alone, you psychopath!"
"I'm the psychopath?!" he raged, "Look at the bloody idiot who just made it impossible for me to remove that thing without using extremely specialized tools! Meanwhile, she can't use a single power, which makes her an instant liability because she can't fight or do anything remotely useful! And don't you even think about trying to melt that off her!" Luke ordered sternly, his face beet red.
"Why not?" Kyle asked, put off guard.
"Because you don't know enough to keep from melting that metal through her arm, that's why!" Luke yelled.
"Enough!" Elliot shouted, "Luke, get a grip on yourself!" she told him, glaring, "Now look, we'll run for that building still, or will that not help anything, now?" she asked, looking to Luke.
Luke was silent for a moment, breathing deeply as he calmed himself down. "Yes, Elliot, it should help," he answered slowly, "It will give me time to call Braiden for backup, and allow me to get to one of our weapon's caches. We keep several in every major city that the Scions are likely to visit," Luke added quickly, answering my questioning glance, "There's one about five minutes away from here, in a library."
"A library?" Kyle asked incredulously.
"Yes, you know, those buildings that have vast stores of books?" Luke mocked, "They're best for keeping things hidden."
"Scions!" a guttural voice yelled out. I turned to look down the street. I whimpered. There was a gang of about six Gredean's lined up on the sidewalk advancing slowly, confident in their superiority. Luke dismounted from his motorcycle, and slowly walked forward, "Start running," he murmured. Kyle helped me up, and both him and Elliot started pulling me forward. "I know how to run, thank you very much," I hissed, pulling my arms away.
"Then maybe you should start," Kyle snapped.
I looked back one last time. Luke was running towards the Gredeans, a pipe in his hand, presumably something he'd found on the ground. There was no conceivable way he'd be able to kill all six of them without seriously hurting himself. After all, he was only human.

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"I have to rest, guys, please!" Zephyr panted as we reached the base of the building Luke had pointed out. I rolled my eyes, but waved my hand in consent. Zephyr sat down on the building's front steps.
"Do you…do you think he'll be all right?" she asked, breathing heavily.
Elliot bit her lip, "I don't know…six against one isn't a fair fight to begin with. Add in superhuman abilities…" she trailed off.
"It didn't look good for him," I added quietly.
"Zephyr, have you tried teleporting yet?" Elliot asked warily.
She nodded, "It's not working…"
"Elliot, why don't you try taking her with you?" I suggested hopefully.
Elliot grabbed Zephyr's shoulder and closed her eyes, a frown forming on her face. She shook her head slightly, "I can't. I don't know why, but I can't," she muttered, frustrated.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I sensed somebody watching us. I spun around and nearly collapsed. Another gang of Gredeans approached us, this time numbering an even dozen. By unspoken consent, the three of us began running again. We ran inside the building, and unable to spare the time for an elevator, started running up flights of stairs. It was, a small part of my mind noticed, an apartment building. We took two stairs at a time, but we barely managed to keep apace of the Gredeans.
"Your flight is futile, Nataeans," a small warrior growled.
I threw a ball of fire into his face and he dropped with a scream of pain, "We might've been altered, but we're still humans, asshole," I muttered.
By the time we reached the sixth and highest floor, I'd already been forced to knock out the other nine Gredeans. They were just as quick as we were, and in far better shape. I was exhausted, and neither Elliot or Zephyr were much better off than I was. We stumbled through a hallway, only to reach a dead end as we turned a corner, a long hallway with a large window at the end of it. We walked to the window and looked out of it and down at the ground.
"You put up a good fight, Scions, but now it is time to accept your fate," a soft voice commended, "If you come peacefully, I can guarantee you will not be harmed."
I stepped in front of Zephyr and Elliot, "Like hell we're going with you," I spat.
The Gredean smiled broadly, a second beside him laughing silently, "I was quite hoping you'd say that, Nataean scum," he told me maliciously, advancing slowly. I barely had any energy left, and I knew that if I tried to burn these two Gredeans, I'd be completely incapable of anything else later on. I didn't have any other choice though. An earsplitting noise resounded through the hallway, three more following it in quick succession. The Gredeans dropped, blood pouring out of their backs. A figure clad entirely in black stood behind them, a shotgun resting on his shoulder. He had two pistols belted at his waist, and two more shotguns sheathed on his back. A sword hung on a belt, slung across the back of his waist. A massive pack was worn on his back over the shotguns. His face was covered by a hooded cloak. The three of us tensed as the figure spoke, "Good job holding them off Kyle, sorry I was late."
"Talk about great timing," Elliot muttered.
"It's good to see you again Luke," Zephyr said, sounding a little more than relieved.
Luke pulled back his head and I winced.
"Luke, what happened to you?!" Zephyr cried out, rushing forward. Luke's left cheek had a massive gash in it, and the other side of his face was a faint purple. It didn't seem like it was something hadn't gotten used to though, taking into consideration that he'd acquired a scar on his other cheek. It seemed like it was rather recent, too.
"Luke, let me take a look at that," Elliot offered with a smile as Zephyr fussed over him.
Luke grinned, "Maybe later, but right now, we need to get moving…awww, fuck," Luke cursed as we heard people rushing up the stairs. He pulled out the two pistols from their holsters at his waist and handed them to Zephyr and Elliot. He pulled off his pack and poured out the contents, quickly arranging them against the walls. There were two MP7s and about eight extra magazines of ammunition for them. Pulling out the shotguns he'd sheathed on his back, he laid them down on the ground. I recognized them as Benelli M4s. He had about a 100 shells for them. He tossed one to me, "I know you know how to use one, so aim carefully."
The Gredeans rounded the corner, and Luke opened fire. He didn't miss a single shot, and every Gredean he hit dropped like a stone. I waited until he needed to reload to start shooting. My aim wasn't nearly as good, but I managed to stall them long enough for Luke to get started again. He managed to halt the rest of them. "Okay, we need to get moving, now," he ordered sternly, picking up the two MP7s and pocketing the extra magazines, "Each of you grab a shotgun and some ammo."
Zephyr stayed put near the window as Elliot and I moved to obey, "Luke, this is scary," she whispered. Luke and I both turned to face her as we heard the glass in the window shattered. A Gredean pulled her out from the window and rappelled down the side of the building with her. We could hear her screaming in fear. Luke backed up, and MP7 in each hand, muttering a string of curses, eyes wide. "Luke…Luke, what are you doing?" I asked nervously.
"Get back to the safe-house," he ordered, running forward. I could only stare as he ran and jumped out of the window, spraying bullets as he flew downwards. Watching from above, I saw him fly straight down, shooting down at an idling sedan in the alleyway adjacent to the apartment complex. He somehow managed to nail each of the Gredeans in the car, and the one holding Zephyr, before he ran out of air. I could hear him yelling a string of curses on his way down. He landed on the Gredean's getaway car with his shoulder, rolling off of it and onto the ground. He didn't get up. Zephyr ran over to him as another car, a hummer it looked like, pulled up. She pulled out one of the MP7s. One of the Gredeans in the sedan stumbled out as Zephyr pointed her gun at the car that was pulling up. I yelled out but the Gredean grabbed her and twisted her arm. Zephyr screamed out in pain as her arm twisted to a sickeningly abnormal angle. The Gredean kicked her knee out of place and Zephyr dropped. A burst of gunfire dropped the Gredean as Luke rolled over a pulled the trigger on his other MP7. I watched as Braiden jumped out of the hummer and ran over to Zephyr. Luke stumbled to his feet, but dropped to a kneeling position as the pain overwhelmed him. He tried to stand up again, but he fell, and this time he didn't get up. I spun as I heard footsteps rushing once again up the stairwell. I locked eyes with Elliot, and with gritted teeth, we disappeared back to the safe-house.