Raph rushed between them as if they were in a dance that only he knew the steps.

Three different water orbs crashed towards him, ping-ponging off circular discs faster than Margie could keep track of.

Raph didn’t share her trouble. He ducked under the first aimed at his head, turned sideways as the second brushed his ribs, and then met the third with a punch.

A flash of turquoise light enveloped his fist just before impact.

The man seemed to grow even faster as he closed in on Ned.

Del snapped her fingers, and a flash of white settled into Ned.

Raph came up just short of crashing into the taller man, both fists raised in a boxer stance. Ned raised his hands in a guard as he shuffled backward.

Buford and Noodle rushed for Raph’s back.

Raph shuffled forward, faking a jab. Ned danced back, barely avoiding the punch.

Raph faked two more, and Ned jerked to the right. The instant Ned dodged, Raph sent a punch careening in from the other side.

Before it hit, one of the water orbs that had missed Raph crashed into the back of the man’s head.

Somehow, Ned had kept track of them while dodging.

Raph stumbled forward a step, and Ned snapped out a punch to his jaw.

The hit didn’t even make him flinch. But he did begin to laugh.

The sound boomed out of him as if coming from a man twice his size.

Raph snapped out a kick that took Ned in the hip.

He spun as Ned cried out, meeting Buford in the middle of a leap.

He slammed a punch into the malamute's side, and Margie clinched her fist, using the dog's momentum to shove him in the direction of the punch.

Buford was knocked aside, but the impact was lessened, and Raph was too slow to stop Noodle from landing a bite on his shin.

Once again, there is a flash of turquoise light, but Noodle's shadow-covered maw pierced through it.

Raph granted and whipped his other foot around in a blistering kick.

Margie swapped herself with Noodle and jumped.

With a portion of her Skills running through her, she cleared the man’s foot entirely. His eyes widened, she’d say in joy more than shock, and she punched him in the cheek.

He staggered back a step, then sent a return punch at her cheek.

With a burst of energy, she swapped with Buford.

Buford appeared, his jaws already open wide as Raph’s punch flew over the dog. He clamped down on his thigh, and there was another flash of turquoise light, but Buford’s teeth didn’t sink through.

Del arrived before Raph could respond to Buford. Driving a flurry of punches at the man’s face.

His stance tightened, his footwork shifting to something steady.

His hands flashed out, slapping punches and elbows out of the way with unnatural precision.

Del faked a punch and drove her knee toward the man’s gut.

It caught him, but he immediately sent his own punch whistling in from the side.

Del staggered from the hit but didn’t cry out.

Buford kept biting at the man. Raph danced back, dodging where he could and using that turquoise light when he couldn’t.

Margie was sure of it now. Each time he blocked a hit with that turquoise Skill, he got a little faster. And with their luck, probably stronger too.

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She sucked in a breath as the man continued to weave between them, grinning all the while.

“Well, fuck.”

~<>~<>~

Lilly was pissed. Keeping away from Miguel’s bullshit had been tricky enough when she had Steven playing bouncer for her.

She’d barely seen the man drop into a portal, and then all her focus was taken up by the paint rushing at her.

Her build wasn’t equipped for something as esoteric as magical paint.

A bruiser throwing heavy hits, fire? She can handle that just fine.

But her Skills gave her virtually no protection against a ball of paint that stuck to her like glue.

If it weren’t for her Class passive, she’d likely be stuck to the floor by now.

Siphon-Stress

Rare

Purpose: to guide and redirect

Scope: very broad

Class passive: Primary Siphon

Effect: gain bonuses based on which Skill is in your first slot.

She slipped behind a pillar in time to avoid a splash of red paint.

A bit of it got on her arm, and she hissed. It was like getting hit with boiling water.

It only stuck for a few seconds before sliding off, but it was a rough few seconds. An inch-long splotch on her arm turned bright red and began to throb.

Miguel had switched from playing keep away to chasing her down once Steven exited the picture. It was all Lilly could do to keep from getting cooked alive.

Thankfully, his red paint seemed to cost him more than the blue. Since she hadn’t seen him throw out even a quarter of it.

She glanced at the others. Markus was fighting a guy encased in his own shadow, wearing a trenchcoat, of all things.

Doris was chasing after that prick who threw flame at them.

Micheal was… She scanned the room and saw him creeping towards Miguel.

She wasn’t going to complain. She could use the help, though she wasn’t sure what the man could do here.

She had to trust that he knew what he was doing. These idiots had made it this far; he wouldn’t be sneaking up if he couldn’t hit-

Micheal jumped from behind the table of comic book shirts he was crouched behind and screamed at the top of his lungs. “Hey, asshole!”

Miguel spun, green paint streaming along his arm before pooling in his cupped hand.

Well, there was that. Maybe he was just an idiot.

Micheal charged the painter, his arms and legs pumping as he sprinted for all he was worth.

Well, at least he was being a distraction.

Lilly burst into motion, closing on Miguel from the other side.

He swept a wide arc of green at Micheal, and the shorter man dropped to his knees, sliding along the tile. He went right under the attack and popped up to his feet.

He barely slowed, letting him close on Miguel and snap a punch into the other man’s face.

It definitely wasn’t Skill enhanced, but it was a good jab.

Miguel stumbled. He quickly gathered himself and then glowered down at Micheal.

Micheal feinted with another punch, and when Miguel flinched and stepped back, Micheal turned and burned. Sprinting back the way he’d come.

Miguel shouted and hurled more paint after him. Blue light sprang up around the redhead, and his speed surged.

He dodged the spray of paint, and before Miguel could ready a second spray, Lilly was on him.

Her fist crashed into his side with all her weight behind it, and he staggered.

He recovered faster than he had with Micheal, immediately spraying a burst of blue at their feet

Lilly began to stumble and slip.

I am not getting paint on my coat!

She wrapped her arms around Miguel in a bear hug.

He shouted and struggled, but that just threw them both off balance.

They started to go down, and it was clear she would land on top.

Miguel snarled and stomped his foot. The blue paint vanished. Caught off guard, it took Lilly a second longer to regain her footing.

Miguel slammed a knee into her stomach, then flipped a glob of green paint at her shoes.

It caught her right foot, anchoring her in

place.

Miguel backed up a few steps and glowed at her. “Finally! You were fucking slippery.” Then he snapped out a kick.

With her foot stuck in place, Lilly couldn’t hope to dodge it.

Finally.

She activated Siphon-Stress and raised her hand.

The kick landed with what should’ve been bone-breaking force. Instead, it curved to the side slightly as she siphoned its energy from the left instead of evenly.

The stolen energy coursed through her, and she shot the man a savage grin.

“Thank you.”

Then, in one motion, she ripped her foot from her shoe, leaving it stuck to the floor, and drove her fist into the man’s nose.