“Oh, and before we start, my name‘s Raph.”

Del knew something was wrong the second she saw Raph’s grin.

It sent a cold shiver over her skin, flipping every red flag, and survival instinct, she had learned over the course of her life.

And then he actually moved.

The man closed the distance between him and Buford in under a second. It wasn’t literally faster than she could track, but about a second ago, she would have said a human couldn’t move that fast, even with a Class.

He slammed into Buford like a truck, his knee impacting the dog's cheek with a crack.

Buford’s shroud dug into the ground, but he still slid back several feet, letting out a surprised yelp.

As they all stood in shock, Raph stared down at Buford with a raised brown. “He survived! Well, that’s good. I would have felt really bad about killing a dog.”

His legs tensed, and Del saw his gaze flick to her for just an instant.

She activated all her buffs at once.

The man surged forward, covering the distance between them faster than Del could take two steps, and then his fist was hurtling for her face.

Del’s mind flicked toward what she should do next. She wasn’t particularly worried about the hit. For the next 45 seconds, she wouldn’t be surprised if she could stop a bullet.

But when his fist impacted, she felt it.

Not enough to stun her, but the fact the punch hurt at all was terrifying.

She threw her own punch.

It was a solid hit, and Raph staggered several steps back. “Hey, you’re pretty tough. And my punch barely hurt you.“ He couldn’t grin wider, but Del felt like he wanted to.

Raph kicked, his foot slamming into her chest like a bucking horse. He put enough upward force into it that it took her clear off her feet and sent her flying back through the air.

She hit the ground and bounced.

She was sturdy enough that it didn’t even hurt, but the instant her buffs dropped, she was going to die.

~<>~<>~

Margie would mark this as a low on the roller coaster.

The thought was a little concerning, considering the circumstances.

But the sight of this hooligan striking her dog had pulled on her anger, flaring it so high that she went full circle into feeling calm again.

She clenched her fist and began to charge Hopscotch Hound. At the same time, she pursed her lips and let out an ear-piercing whistle. “Sick ‘em, boys.”

Noodle and Buford rushed for the man, closing in on each side.

Ned ran to one side, slowly gathering water orbs between his hands.

Smart decision.

Before Raph could keep going after Del Noodle reached him.

His shadowy teeth drank in the light as he bit, his jaws sinking into the man like a bear trap.

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Raph grunted and kicked out, flinging Noodle Noodle off of him.

The dog was too slow to right himself in the air, but he was tough enough to land unscathed.

Buford lowered his head and tried to take the man from his feet.

She didn’t usually have a chance to triggered Jugger Rush during a fight, but Buford was really moving by the time he reached Raph.

His shroud thrummed with energy, the crimson light thickening around his shoulders.

And all of it blasted towards Raph as Buford’s shoulder met his hip.

There was a flash of turquoise light the instant Buford made contact, but then Raph was blasted from his feet.

He hit the ground and tumbled head over heels, slamming to a stop against the railing with a crash.

Ned, it seemed, was finally in position and began chucking water orbs.

They slammed into Raph before ricocheting off.

Small circular panels appeared in the air, bouncing the orbs around in a chaotic pattern.

With each rebound, they got faster and faster until they zipped around the room, screaming through the air like bullets.

Raph started to laugh as he jumped to his feet.

One of the orbs crashed into his side. He grunted but didn’t even miss a step as he moved towards Ned.

He cracked his neck as two more water orbs flew to his left and right before redirecting off panels and surging towards him.

He took a single step, and then his entire body tensed.

He exploded forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet and sending bits of concrete and carpet flying.

Margie barely saw him move before he appeared at Ned’s side, kick already swinging for the man’s ribs.

Ned had better reaction times than she did since he was already hurling himself back.

At the same time, one of the water orbs ricocheted off a panel and sailed past Raph, slamming into Ned’s chest.

Instead of bursting, the orb spread itself until it covered the man’s entire torso. He was flung backward, dodging the kick by inches before slamming into the ground.

The orb on his chest recoiled, bouncing back into Raph.

It struck the man dead in the face and actually moved him.

But then he was back at it, charging towards Ned like a bull.

Buford snarled, and Margie activated Hopscotch Hound.

Noodle, who had moved to flank Raph as he moved towards Ned, was almost on him.

And as Margie tightened her grip, Buford replaced the little dog.

He was already running, his paws digging into the carpet as he barreled forward.

He hit Raph from behind, biting down on his calf.

At the same time, Margie reached out, causing his shroud to stick to Raph like glue.

He spun and backhanded the dog.

Buford was ripped off his calf and left the ground. He flew back, but his shroud kept him from going too far.

It snapped taut, dragging Raph, a step towards the dog.

With a start, Margie realized his car was barely bloodied.

What the hell were his Skills? Just super strength and toughness?

He swept a punch at Buford’s head, and Margie activated Hopscotch hound again.

She didn’t have time to charge it, so the energy drain hit her like a punch to the gut.

Buford vanished, Noodle standing in his place.

The punch that would’ve slammed into the malamute's ear sailed over the basset hound.

Raph’s eyes widened in surprise. Noodle tensed and leaped towards the man.

With a grunt of effort, Margie activated her Skill a third time.

Buford swapped in, flying through the air before slamming into Raph. He pushed off with all four paws, rebounding off the man and sending him staggering.

Water orbs bounded around the room, gaining speed by the second.

Her dog's growls shook the air as they flanked him, and Del rose to her feet, making her way over to him from another side.

Raph began to laugh, the sound rich and free and totally unconcerned.

More than that, he was overjoyed. “I was right! This is going to be fun!“