“There!” she shouts, and starts shooting her blaster into thin air on the right. Sarah follows suit, not really aiming, just trying to cover the same area as Ella.

Most of the blasts sail harmlessly into the wall. After a few shots, though, one of the electric currents seems to stop in midair. It sizzles for a moment and I see the outline of Six’s skeleton, almost like an X-ray, as it’s knocked to the ground. Six’s form reappears, looking surprised and confused that she’s been caught out. She has to crabwalk backwards to avoid another volley of shots from Sarah and Ella.

“Nice job, guys!” I yell. Ella and Sarah take a moment to high-five before going back to aiming at Six.

I slink along the wall, watching the action from the sideline. No one’s paying any attention to me yet, and that’s just the way our team wants it.

In the center of the room, Nine ducks under one of Five’s steel-plated punches, grabbing Five’s arm as it sails over his head and twisting it, wrenching it behind Five’s back. He starts prying at Five’s fingers.

“You might be made of metal,” I hear Nine snarling, “but you’re still not stronger than me.”

Nine forces Five’s hand open. I can hear the metallic clang as Five’s ball bearing hits the floor. Immediately, Five’s skin returns to normal. Nine shoves him away, right into one of the swinging medicine balls. It hits Five in the face, flipping him over. He groans, holding his head.

“Oops,” says Nine. “Looks like somebody lost his balls.”

I’m distracted by the fighting so I almost step right on the bracelet that Nine tore off John’s wrist. Figuring that might come in handy, I pick it up and snap it on my own wrist. The icy feeling that spreads up my arm surprises me so much that I almost tear the thing off. I force myself to focus, sliding along the wall, staying out of view.

“Hey!” yells John, and it takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me. “You’ve got something that belongs to me!”

Both of John’s fists glow with fire. He sends two burning orbs the size of basketballs sailing right towards me.

I wouldn’t have lobbed fireballs that intense at Marina if I wasn’t sure the bracelet could handle them. The shield deploys in time to absorb them, but the force still knocks her against the wall, stunning her. I don’t know what she’s up to, sneaking around on the sidelines, but I’m sure it’s part of some plan their team concocted.