Was that me? Did I actually do that? Sorli thought.

He had swung the sword of burning feathers at Freefall, but he didn't summon it. Making weapons was not a power that he had. Sorli's ears perked up at the sound of approaching helicopters and gouts of flame.

Atreyu and a battalion of GSO elite soldiers were inbound. The grunts would be no issue, but the elite soldiers were another case entirely. While not gifted with powers, each soldier of the Elite Forces had been modified genetically with superior strength and resilience... not to the level of a super, but just enough that fifty or so would be a problem.

Then there was Atreyu.

"You must be a glutton for punishment, Grimm Raven," Atreyu menaced as he landed out of Sorli's range.

"It's not what you think -" Sorli tried to explain.

"Enough!" Atreyu shouted a wave of frost roiled out from him, punctuating his call. "You've murdered a hero in cold blood, you will face justice."

Can I take him?

Sorli ran inventory on himself. He was exhausted; the burst of power that had slammed through him when he killed Freefall was spent, he still had the sword made of smoldering feathers, and the mark on the back of his hand still burned. Sorli had only survived his skirmish with Atreyu on the roof due to the unpredictability of his recently awakened powers, in his current state, he wouldn't be able to stand toe-to-toe with the top-ranked hero.

He'd be lucky to run away.

"Freefall wasn't a hero," Sorli growled, "he was working with Thorn Titan, they were running some sort of scheme -"

"No more lies!" Atreyu cut him off, "I've endured your nonsense and conspiracy for long enough."

Atreyu was a blur of motion, unslinging his bow, drawing the string back, and unleashing a fusillade of arrows at Sorli all at once. He reacted instinctively, lurching to the left and swinging his blade out to the right, saving himself from the arrows aimed at his heart and face, but not from the arrow that slammed into his left side. Atreyu had anticipated his dodge.

Sorli spun with the impact and nearly toppled over.

"Will you just listen to me?" Sorli shouted, "I don't want to fight you."

"I wouldn't want to fight me either," Atreyu menaced with a predatory grin.

He drew his bowstring back again and the arrow that formed along it rippled with heat and destructive power.

Shit

"Dodge this one, if you can!" Atreyu shouted as he loosed the bolt of annihilation at Sorli.

The suit ran a rapid analysis on the incoming projectile and the rune on the back of Sorli's hand burned once more. The arrow was volatile and dodging it, according to the suit would be a bad idea. The burning mark of Tyr had saved him once before, Sorli trusted it was trying to do the same again.

He brought the smoldering feather sword up in front of him and swung it straight down to impact the tip of the arrow, sending it careening into the ground not three feet in front of him.

"What are you -" Atreyu cried at the instant of impact.

The arrow detonated with the force of a cruise missile, sending Sorli flying and forcing Atreyu to backpedal.

I'm not going to be able to take much more of this. Sorli realized as the taste of copper filled his mouth.

Before he could right himself in the air, the familiar tone of Leap's teleportation sounded behind him, a pair of hands gripped him, and he heard the sound again. Both he and Leap tumbled onto the carpet of a familiar apartment floor.

Sorli groaned and rolled onto his back. The arrow that had lodged itself into his side had snapped off evenly with his skin despite his suit. Burning streaks of pain shot through the whole of his torso as he tried to sit up.

"Fuck."

"He got you good, love," Leap said as she offered her hand to Sorli, "no time to lay about, we need to move, now."

Sorli clasped Leap's hand and, with her help, got to his feet.

"I didn't know you could teleport with other people," he commented.

"That's the trick to staying free, love. Tell them enough that it's believable but not enough that they can catch you whenever they want," she answered.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Right..."

"Hey Cat," Audrey piped up, she strolled around the couch with a syringe and a note, "Remedy left this for you the other day, guess this was what it was for," Sorli noted the bags packed against the back of the sofa - it looked like they were going somewhere.

Leap took the items, glanced at the note, then handed it to Sorli, "This is for you."

He unfolded the paper and read.

> Grimm Raven,

>

>   A friend told me that you would be going up against Tyler Snow soon. I never liked the bastard, left too many bodies to be a proper hero. If you're banged up and need to fight, this little concoction will let you do so. It's still in the experimental phase and I won't bore you with all of the science behind it, just know that it kicks like a mule and will have you going strong for about fifteen minutes before the effects start to wear off.

>

>   Be safe, Grimm. You're doing good work.

>

>     - W.Greer

"Thanks," he answered as he held his hand out for the syringe.

Leap hesitated for a moment but surrendered it.

"So -" she started.

Sorli pocketed the booster and moved toward the door.

"Grimm! Where are you going?"

"Atreyu tagged me, they'll be here any minute, I'm going to head North. The two of you should go South."

"But -"

"There's no but about this Leap," Sorli interrupted, "I have a target stuck in a rib, you're implicated and now Audrey is too. This thing will give me fifteen minutes and I can't keep you two and myself safe. This isn't up for debate."

When Leap stammered, Sorli turned and left the apartment.

I have to move fast, he thought as the sound of Leap's teleportation sounded behind the door.

Sorli sprinted down the hall toward the North-facing window at the end of it. With a grunt of effort he soared through the glass pane, the jagged shards moved over the suit like rainwater as he launched into the city's skyline. He rolled over in the air, scanning the horizon; the attack choppers diverted sharply from their intended course in his direction.

A gout of flame and a burst of neon light told him that Atreyu and Arclight were headed for him too.

Shit

Arclight, civilian name Sergei Vaugh, was a City Guardian level hero but would be problematic to fight alongside Atreyu. He seemed a little too laid back whenever the news stations caught him in action, seeming to be comfortable where he was. If Archlight were holding back to maintain his current position Sorli would be outgunned even at his peak.

Sorli adjusted his trajectory and rocketed for the ground, he would only have one real shot at shaking his pursuers, and the more difficult it was for the helicopters to navigate, the more he could focus on the real threats.

Not bothering to hold back his shouts of pain, Sorli dug his fingers into his side, around the haft of the projectile still lodged in him until he got to burning arrowhead and tore it out.

The relief from the pain was instantaneous, as was the fading of adrenaline. The pain had kept him sharp, now that it was gone, he was just exhausted. That was until he remembered the asphalt rushing up to meet him.

Sorli flipped in the air and slammed both feet into the pavement, heaved the arrowhead Westward, and took off to the East, toward the bunker. He stayed on the ground, forcing his legs to pump as fast as they could.

Best case, Atreyu and Arclight split up where I landed and the grunts circle the area in an expanding radius. If I can get outside of that without getting caught, I can get to the bunker and wait it out. Worst case, I have to fight both of them, fifty soldiers and deal with the choppers all in fifteen minutes... if that's what I have to do, maximizing collateral is how I get away, but...

Sorli stumbled and almost lost his footing, "That's what a villain would do."

He slid to a stop and dug into his pocket for the needle, then held it behind his fingers, using his index and pinky to hold it in place. Sorli turned to look at the blazing neon light that approached him and held his hands up in mock surrender, keeping the injector out of sight and the plunger right next to his thumb.

"That is the first smart thing you've done today... er... Grimm Raven? Right?" Arclight asked as he landed at least twenty feet away.

Not a lot of space... Sorli thought. Arclight's projectiles traveled at the speed of... well, light. He'd have to get very lucky or move very quickly to dodge.

"You know, I don't hear that often enough," Sorli bantered.

Wait until he calls it in, then move.

"So, this was your whole plan? Kill Freefall, get rescued by some thief, and leave town? Not very well thought out, especially with the press conference and everything... come on man, I thought you were going to 'save the world' or whatever. Pretty uninspired in practice, no?"

He's stalling too... Sorli realized.

"I mean, what plan maintains contact with the enemy, am I right? I planned to expose Freefall as a villain conspirator, but, that only went so well. I was the only person he confessed to and now he's pretty dead." Sorli goaded.

Arclight was about Sorli's age but had all of the brainwashings the GSO wanted him to have. He got red in the face and brought his left hand up to his ear.

Go time.

Sorli turned his right hand around and sidestepped to the left. His assumption that Arclight would fire at the first movement he saw was correct as a lance of neon light shot through the air where Sorli's right hand used to be.

He jammed the needle into his neck and pushed the fluid in, dropping to the floor of the dingy alleyway to avoid another blast. Sorli's heart thumped hard against his ribs and the colors of his vision split into three waves for a second before reconvening into a solid image.

"Kicks like a mule" Remedy had written.

Sorli pressed up against the ground and over the next blast, landed on his feet, and surged forward.

"Nothing personal!" Sorli roared as he drove his right knee straight into Arclight's groin and dropped his right elbow onto the back of the young hero's neck. He whirled around to the left and landed a devastating shin kick, sending Arclight into the nightclub adjascent to the alleyway through the wall.

Sorli touched down and went to sprint away, but his legs didn't move.

They were frozen.

"Shit."

He looked up just in time to see Atreyu leering at him and loosing an expanding arrow made of ice. "Got you, Little Raven."

Sorli held up his arms to block the shot and braced.

"What the..." he muttered.

The arrow had collided, but there was no pain, just cold. Ice spread over Sorli's forearms and raced up to his shoulders and across his chest.

"Grimm Raven, you're under arrest for the murder of Freefall - the Momentum Hero, Destruction of GSO Property, and endangering the lives of countless civilians. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Atrey asked.

"Fuck You," Sorli spat before the ice covered his face and froze him entirely.