Broker

Side Story: Saleh 1

It all happened far too quickly for Saleh to wrap his head around. One moment August was walking out of the hallway, the next all hell broke loose. The wind blew so hard it was impossible to hear anything. He could see portions of the metal sheets that had come down as part of the lockdown shudder and bend beneath the force of the wind. Based on Ishtar’s words, it must be someone called ‘First Wind’, he personally hadn’t heard of them but if he had to guess they were a hero and a threatening one at that. That meant they were out of time. They either secured August now or they all went down.

He chewed his lip and pulled himself free of Broadside who was still holding him by the arm, giving her a sidelong look. She stuck her tongue out at him and he noticed something strange about her eyes, they were crosshairs. How had he not noticed that before? Was it only when her powers were active? He shook his head and focused on the person standing in the middle of the room. August stood like a statue, her hands over her lap and her almost bored expression shifting only to look at them and Grave who was getting to his feet on the other side.

Broadside placed her hand on the wall slowly. Saleh shifted his foot to the right and clenched his fists. Grave slid one last bullet into his revolver. 

RRRRRMMBBBHHHH

Like a starting shot, the building shook again and everyone moved at once. Saleh gritted his teeth and opened his right hand, throwing his arm up and clenching his fist. The ground beneath the woman shook and shot upward from all directions, blocks of stone slamming into her body to attempt to restrain her. The wall along his and Broadside’s side of the room opened and cannon barrels poked out before shifting and aiming. One at a time they fired, like they were on the side of an old battleship. Each slug slamming into the woman and kicking up dust and debris. Six shots from Grave’s gun joined in on the attack, peppering the cloudy spot where August stood. Saleh didn’t wait, he had felt the restraints he’d made get obliterated by the onslaught. He reached out to grab onto the earth beneath her again and it… resisted?

No, it moved against him.

“She’s attacking!” He shouted and dove to the right just in time for a long rod of gold to lance through the air, nearly scratching the side of his face. He tumbled and got to his feet and shot a look back at Broadside who was hopping back one step at a time, chuckling as spikes of gold erupted from the ground in an attempt to impale her. 

Broadside laughed, “I didn’t know she could do that!”

Saleh turned his attention from her, breathing hard, the blood pumping in his veins and stepped easily to the right as a spike prepared to form beneath him. You’re going to have to try harder than that, I can feel everything beneath me. He thought grimly. He needed to calm down, focus, if he was going to achieve his father’s goal. So far the trap had been largely successful, only one loss compared to a full wipe out for August’s side. The only problem was that August was a mythic and had clearly never left enough witnesses alive to give any hint as to what she was really capable of. He tapped his earpiece, “Guru?”

“I’m here, young master,” Guru said a little shakily, “Madame Ishtar is handling the heroes outside, focus on your task.”

“Could use some advice,” Saleh clipped, stepping to the side again as another spike formed. A cannon shot rang out nearby and the cloud of debris and smoke surrounding August became thicker. Somehow the mythic was resisting their attacks. He felt through the ground again and hesitated when he felt a change in the makeup of the floor beneath him, it was spreading again. He clicked his tongue, “She’s changing the floor again!” He shouted into the comm, the winds and gunfire too loud to get his voice out.

“She hasn’t moved, I see a victory but it depends on your abilities young master. All I can do is put you in the right place and-”

“Mine?” Saleh barked back. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Got my fuckin’ boot!” Grave barked back over the earpiece, “Bullets ain’t doing shit.”

“She’s still attacking and I hit her with an anti material round!” Broadside cackled, “This is awesome!”

Saleh grit his teeth and glanced down at his feet, he took a few steps back away from the gold spreading across the ground before looking up quickly as another one of those spears shot through the air towards him. He frowned a little, wondering how he could feel something that was in the air as he sidestepped it and hopped onto one of the display cases, crouching and placing his hand on the surface. Glass was hard to sense things through because of how refined it was but in the end it was still silicon and quartz. He felt the movements again, the shifting, the presence of the woman on the other side. It was like he could feel her entire body.

His brows furrowed but before he could give it any more thought the winds picked up again, the building shook so hard that a portion of the ceiling started to crumble inwards. He felt something else, something that tingled against his skin. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a faint glow coming from the windows. What is that? He thought as his instincts screamed at him to get away from whatever the creepy radiation was. If he touched it, August would kill him. He clicked his tongue and looked around for the others as gold continued to spread across the floor. 

He paused, What am I doing? He hissed to himself and took a deep, steadying breath. I can see them just fine. He thought as he spread his awareness not just towards the mythic, but throughout the room. There was Broadside, hanging from the side of a statue mounted to the floor, she was firing cannon blasts from the base of the statue and laughing uproariously. His senses picked up on a half-barefoot Grave as well, taking a few steps away from the windows and walking steadily away from the spreading gold as he kept taking shots in the mythic’s direction. His bullets seemed endless.

He took another breath, Calm down, think, there has to be a solution. He thought as he glanced down towards the gold spreading on the floor. He narrowed his eyes and felt for the seemingly invincible mythic again. It can’t be that easy, can it? He thought, his senses spreading up from the ground and through her body. It wasn’t like sensing the general shape of his hired-on allies and their positions. It was like I can feel every single- “God damn it I’m an idiot!” He swore into the comms before slapping both hands down on the display case he’d perched himself on. This better work!

“Young master Saleh?” Guru called, “Is everything-”

“Shut up! I’ve got this!” Saleh growled, Depends on my abilities, huh? He grit his teeth and pushed, working his powers like a muscle at its limit. Metals are just a part of earth, just another material the ground is made of. Gold is no different, just pure. He felt his mind creak a little bit under the pressure as he tugged against something that felt close and distant at the same time. He pushed his will through the glass, the floor, the gold, and he grabbed on with all his might. You will not move. He thought firmly. You will not move! He pressed his fingers through the glass, the material parting for him. Hold still!

The sounds of crashing and the floor shifting with the creation of gold weapons and projectiles stopped. Somewhere distantly he heard a voice in his ear but his mind was entirely occupied with holding on for dear life as the presence on the other end of his attention struggled against his grip. No, you are metal. You are mine. Another shout over his comm, he shook his head and redoubled his focus. He had to be rigid. Unbending. Unyielding. You are a statue! He commanded, A statue! He felt one of the teeth in his mouth crack a little under the strain when he finally felt the resistance begin to wane and then it just stopped.

He kept his grip on it as a hand alighted on his shoulder. He blinked and suddenly noticed just how much every muscle in his body hurt, his jaw hurt, and his upper lip felt wet. He looked up to see an eerie black mask looking down at him, two blazing pink eyes meeting his.

“You did well, little villain,” Ishtar rasped as a pale white glow gleamed from her palm, “Let’s get her out of here.”