"I'm telling you, that guy was a criminal!" Twinblade yelled at Courtney as he swung his scythes at her again. She took a step back, letting them fly through empty air, then moved to get behind him.
She really didn't care if some guy on the street was a 'criminal' as Twinblade insisted. She didn't recognize him, so he probably wasn't dangerous enough to be on her radar. Miracle wielders were her main priority, and that random person didn't seem to be one. If he had a Miracle, he probably would have worked harder to defend himself.
No, her focus had to be on the dangerous individuals in front of her. The hostages had all fled by now, letting all three of them focus on the fight.
Whiplash's chain flew in front of her, preventing her from grabbing Twinblade. Two-on-one was really unfortunate, especially since Whiplash had so much range with those chains of his. At the same time, she'd really rather Odin not get involved.
If Darius showed up, someone might die. So Courtney had to handle this herself.
She backed away from another flurry of scythe attacks, ducked under a few chains and grimaced. Basic hand-to-hand combat was so much easier.
So much easier.
Courtney ducked under another flurry of attacks, kicking in an attempt to knock Twinblade's legs out from under him. Her foot connected with one of his legs, throwing him off balance and forcing him to fall on his hip. Twinblade groaned at the pain.
Long limbs and speed were Courtney's only advantage here. And she had to milk them for all they were worth. Keep Odin out of it. Keep Odin out of all of it. Hopefully someone could catch Ferry today.
As more chains flew towards her, Courtney refocused. She couldn't afford to be distracted. If Cleo deemed the situation too dangerous for her, Darius would come in with his weapons. That had to be prevented at all costs.
Courtney grabbed one chain, giving it a hard yank. Since Whiplash wasn't actually attached to his chains at all, it didn't do anything, but with this...
She accelerated even more, until the world around her moved like thick molasses. Carefully, so the impacts didn't do too much damage, she wrapped the chain around Twinblade's ankles and tied them in a knot. At the very least, this should limit his movement.
Time sped up again, and Courtney took a few breaths. Too much speed was exhausting, but she was perfectly willing to push herself here. Catch one Miracle criminal that Ferry would hopefully leave in prison. It was the only way to keep Odin at bay.
Unfortunately, as soon as Whiplash realized what was going on with Twinblade's legs, the chain vanished into thin air. Of course.
Then she'd have to take out Whiplash. Time to accelerate again. She wove through the chains, ignoring Twinblade for the time being. At the rate she was moving, he wouldn't have time to accomplish anything anyway.
Letting time resume as normal, Courtney quickly chopped the back of Whiplash's neck, knocking him out cold. That should get him out of her hair for a while.
"Bitch!" Twinblade ran at her, then threw one of his weapons. Courtney dodged easily, leaving Whiplash on the ground for the time being. She moved in, avoiding the thread that connected the weapons, and aimed a punch at Twinblade's gut. He didn't have time to turn his scythes into a shield, so he took the full blow, coughing and gasping for air.
"Time for prison, pal," Courtney said flatly, twisting his arms behind his back.
"You'll pay for this, bitch!" Twinblade continued spitting profanities at her, but Courtney ignored them, holding him firmly on the ground while she waited for backup.
A few minutes later, the military's Third Division arrived. It wasn't her normal squad, so Courtney would have to be slightly cautious.
"Hey, Sergeant!" she called nodding at him. "Got two for you to take with you. Grab the one over there before he wakes up."
Sergeant Wagner glowered at her, but gestured to his officers to do as she said. Three moved to secure Whiplash, while four came towards her. She backed off, letting them grab Twinblade, who was still screaming about how unfair all of this was.
"You're coming with us too," Wagner said coldly, gesturing for the last few officers to move towards Courtney.
"Sorry, can't stay. I promise, I'm not your enemy." Courtney took a couple steps backwards as the officers approached her.
"All Miracle bearers are to be taken into custody. The Legion are no exceptions."
"I'm not with the Legion anymore," Courtney said. "We're..."
"Don't care. Come with us."
An officer reached for each of Courtney's arms, and she hopped back, her heart pounding. What would Odin do if she got locked up? She didn't want to know. Better not to test the man.
As Courtney backed up, a portal opened up behind her and she fell into an alley. When the portal closed and no one had followed her, another one opened up behind her, depositing Courtney on one of the sofas in the Underwing.
She blinked, and slowly took in her surroundings. Sawyer was sitting across from her, glowering in Darius's direction. His balaclava was on the floor in front of him. Cleo was sitting on the floor, panting and holding her knees to her chest. Ned was helping Darius finish up a pitcher of lemonade, with several glasses with ice in the bottom lined up on the counter. Finally, Jumper was shivering on the ground, his outfit soaking wet.
"What happened?" Courtney asked, running over to Joey and helping him sit up.
"Cold Snap," he said, rubbing his arms.
"You should get changed there, Lactose," Odin said, his voice echoing from the speaker. "We'll debrief once you're dry."
"Why does he need to change?" Sawyer asked, frowning. Part of Courtney wondered why Odin was so worried about that as well.
"Idiots. The wet clothes will just make him colder, leeching his body heat and potentially causing frostbite or hypothermia. I really don't wanna deal with that. Ned, get your ass moving and help him out. The robot can finish the lemonade."
"R-right." Ned hurried over and helped Joey get up, then the two of them hobbled over to the rooms.
"How the heck did that happen?" Courtney asked, glaring at Odin's speaker.
"We caught Ferry. For a minute," Cleo said, raising her head. She looked really tired. "Cold Snap was with her. She froze Joey all over when she was trying to get him to let go of Ferry. By the time he did let go of her, I had them in the Underwing, but Ferry teleported out."
"Shit," Courtney growled, flopping back onto the sofa.
"Then after they were gone, the rest of Team Chaos got teleported into retreat. Then Achilles and Barrier Maiden started grilling me," Sawyer added, glowering. "They were all like 'hey, we arrested you before' and I was like 'yeah and now I'm out' but Achilles wanted to lock me up again. Man was it a pain. Next time, I insist Jumper stay to vouch for me."
"If there is a next time," Odin said.
"On the bright side, I caught both Whiplash and Twinblade. They'll be hanging out in prison for a while."
"With any luck," Odin cut in, heaving an annoyed sigh.
"They don't have Ferry to free them," Courtney insisted. "You can leave them be."
"I keep my word, Turkey. Now leave me be. I'm going to get some real work done. You kids feel free to exchange information and plan for next time. I'll record your conversation and look over it later. Come up with a plan I'll like."
Courtney sighed, glancing at Sawyer. He looked about as pleased as she was.
They really had sold their souls to a devil, hadn't they?
