They wouldn’t listen to her. She wouldn’t have listened either. But she had to try. No matter what they had managed to face down before, none of them were in Jaeger’s league.
She flew lower than normal. Even if she wasn’t next on Jaeger’s list, it would be hard for him to turn down such an easy target. She was ready for him. There were reflection points all over her body, as many as she could make. Even a mind reader would have a hard time finding a gap in her defenses right now.
She would have to live with the small ache beginning to buzz near the back of her head. If she didn’t fly, she couldn’t lead Jaeger to a safe place for their fight, and there was no way she would turn her defenses off.
She passed over the highway; traffic was only just starting to let up from the morning rush, but it was still packed with cars.
The area in front of her was desolate. The buildings that were still standing were as empty as the streets below them. She’d be able to go all out with worrying about sho might be in the way of anything she sent flying.
She floated to the center of the abandoned blocks and began to wait.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
He hadn’t quite drawn the short straw; Unimportant and Burnout were working on tracking down Jaeger’s hideout, and Hawthorne had gone to get Mach and hang around Red’s room. He was the only one left who could do this job.
Allspades stuck to the streets when he followed Miss Mirror. It wasn’t hard; she was flying low, letting the lights of the city reach her. She knew there was a fight coming and was letting Jaeger know that she was ready.
It was a desperate move; she was letting her opponent choose when and where to attack. It was the kind of opportunity his old team would have used to take a target out before they ever had the chance to react.
It wasn’t until she crossed the highway that he understood where she was going. The ruins left from there fight with Trump had been cleared out, but nobody had started reconstruction yet. It was a large open area that nobody wanted to walk through if they could help it.
In the middle of a place like that, she might actually get the chance to see Jaeger coming, but she hadn’t seen him in person.
She knew where Red was. If Jaeger was really looking for him, then that was the only reason she’d make it through the first attack. All he had to do was wait for her powers to run her down and he could break through.
Allspades stayed near the edge of the area, keeping an eye on Miss Mirror’s floating form. This was the last building he could use to hide himself. His hand drifted to his phone hidden in his costume and clicked a few buttons. His earpiece buzzed to life.
“Allspades?” Hawthorne’s voice drifted into his ear. He could hear someone else talking in the background, Mach he guessed, but nobody seemed to be talking back. “What’s up?
“She’s floating in the middle of what’s left of Trump’s rampage. I don’t think she’s planning on going anywhere. Any updates from the others.”
“Burnout described a very detailed map of the city that Unimportant has been sticking pins in. I don’t think they’ve found anything solid yet. And I’m stuck in civvies until something happens.”
Paige tugged at their bond, jerking his attention to the roof.
“I need to go. I’ll let you know if something happens.”
“Just keep an eye on her, okay? If Jaeger comes for her, then you’re the only one who can help.”
She said that like he’d have a chance to do anything. By the time he reached Miss Mirror from where he was standing, Jaeger could have killed her a dozen times in increasingly intricate ways.
Allspades had to kick off the building about halfway up to make it to the roof. Paige seemed to drift away from him once he landed, he felt the bond stretch toward the sky.
His vision went black. He failed to suppress a yelp, and only the reassuring waves from Paige kept him from doing worse.
Allspades took a deep breath, and, one by one, specks of light started to fill his vision. He was looking through Paige’s…eyes wasn’t the right word.
It was like he was slowly spinning to take the entire city in, but he could see it all at once. Paige would focus on whatever he asked her to, but he never lost sight ov everything else. Miss Mirror was just as far as she’d been from the street, but he could see her clearly enough to make out the scowl on her face.
Paige drew his attention elsewhere. Across the city, the air was rippling. Nobody walking near it was reacting. Unconsciously, despite the distance between him and the shimmer, he reached out to rub his hand against it. He couldn’t have touched it, but the moment his arm saw fully extended, he cried out.
His vision snapped back, throwing him to the ground. The muscles behind his eyes squeezed uncomfortable, causing the sky to swim above him. Even the slightest movement caused his head to scream and the ground and sky to rapidly swap places.
Allspades brought a hand up to rub the headache away. It took him three tries to successfully land his hand on his head before he could gently massage his temple.
The bond hummed gently without noise. He tried to reassure Paige, but he couldn’t be sure if his message was coming through clearly.
His tounge was dry, but his mouth was filling with spit. Allspades was immediately glad for his mask-free costume when the contents of his stomach spewed from his mouth and onto the rooftop.
“Let’s…not do that again if we can help it.”
The bond seemed to flip up and down rapidly.
His eyes returned to Miss Mirror. She was hovering in the sky still, but had slowly started to turn around and was sinking even lower.
“If he’s attacking he’ll do it soon.”
The bond screamed, but it was too late.
Allspades was soaring through the air. His cartwheels barely let him see the ground, but he could see the black and silver figure keeping pace with him, before he slammed into Miss Mirror’s floating form.
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