More of Mortari’s new capes were fighting, but they seemed content to hold back, maintaining control over the situation. Two guys turned on Chastity, who was already preoccupied, and one of the Mortari capes shot one with what looked like a series of six harpoons. The other Mortari cape hit another.

Larger numbers than we’d had at the loading dock, and men with masks were charging into the corridor to the right, then right-turning again to duck the fog of gas where Fume Hood’s group was fighting.

The one in the lead wheeled around, and backhanded one of his fellow guards in his effort to reverse course and push forward.

Roman laughed, made a sound like a wordless taunt, almost a ‘Nyeh’, and then charged forward.

Bigger, fully armored, and wielding a mace of broken glowing glass, the guard lasted about two seconds.

I crashed into the guards that had almost been bowled over by the other guy, including the one who had been backhanded. I wasn’t gentle, but I wasn’t cruel either, and I managed to avoid any more surprise bites.

“Fume! Love Lost.”

“We’re fine. Almost done,” I heard.

So was Imp’s crew. The only holdout was Samuel. The blond Heartbroken. He wasn’t anywhere near as confident a fighter as Roman, nor as tricky as Juliette, and when he hit his opponent, they didn’t stay down like they did for Chastity. She was cuffing people and slapping them to wake them up.

Samuel fought like someone without powers. Shaky, nervous, hesitant, barely dodging, though his reflexes were good. His costume was similar, not nearly as bold or ornate, a black decorative fitting around the eyes and nose. A slim-fitting jacket that made me think a bit of March, if somewhat more classy and outright ‘villain’. Stylized epaulets like the decorations on the mask, a sash across the chest, black jacket with silver decoration, and white gloves.

He kept going after the same places. A kick or punch to the lower stomach, a kick to the leg.

Roman ran, lunged, and leaped, tackling the guy to the ground. A sharp strike knocked the guy out.

“You gotta let me do my thing,” Samuel said.

“You gotta not take forever,” Roman told him.

“You were taking a while,” Chastity said. “I knocked out and tied up three people and you didn’t even get to first base with that guy.”

“Don’t use that metaphor,” Samuel protested. He looked to Imp.

“Crying to mommy?” Juliette asked.

“I’m not your mom. Thank God for that,” Imp said. “Leave him alone.”

“It’d be nice if I could use my power,” Samuel said.

“Yeah. It’d be nice. Try to be quicker about it,” she told him.

Geez. Show a hint of weakness, and these guys just didn’t let up. It looked so stressful.