“It’s just people, man! It’s just fucking people! The only people still in the city are the ones with responsibilities, stubborn folk, assholes, and stubborn assholes. Lo and fucking behold, they’re acting to type! Yeah I’m talking to you!” the captain barked, turning to one of the protesters with that last line.

“Bonk, bonk, bonk,” Finale said, hands indicating the target people and places with each statement. She drew in a deep breath. “Ready!”

“Hold off!” Withdrawal called.

Fume Hood was using her gas, but the wind wasn’t favorable. When it blew the gas toward the good guys, she put her hand out, created a new ball, and sucked in the gas.

Because of that, it almost felt like the wind was pushing and pulling the crowd. Wind blew toward them, that yellow-green gas went away, and the people could charge forward. Wind stopped or blew the other way, and the orbs came out.

“I’m ready!” she reminded Withdrawal.

“Hold off!”

“Okay!”

Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

“My phone is ringing! Can I go answer?”

She kind of knew the answer already. No, she wasn’t even sure where she would go if she did.

Other people had slipped by.

“Mine too!” Withdrawal called out. “If they’re calling us both at the same time, I think we’re okay if just I answer. I can use my helmet.”

“’Kay!” Finale drew out her voice and moved her hand at the same time. The ‘kay’ became a general wedge shape, like a triangular see-saw hanging in the air, ready to slam forward. Not too hard a slam.

Finale saw someone trying to circle around, climbing up onto the concrete pad by the building, running along it. She ran back to intercept, get in the girl’s way.

“Let me by,” the girl said. “I don’t like you guys but I don’t want to hurt you or anything.”

“That’s great,” Finale said. “I can’t let you by, but if you sit over there, we can try to get things moving again.”

“I’ve been in a car for half a day. I barely had dinner last night, I’ve barely slept, and I haven’t had breakfast or lunch because we had to pack up our food. Just let us through. Let us have food and beds. Work through the kinks later.”

“I don’t think those guys would like it very much if people came in willy-nilly,” Finale told the girl.

The girl reached behind her—knife? Gun?

Gun.

“Finale!” Caryatid called out, warning her.

She activated her power. Let all of the potential become actual.

The triangular bashy ‘kay’ wave of sound slammed into the gun-wielding girl, who probably wasn’t much older than Finale. Hard enough to break ribs and maybe hurt her hand. It made her drop the gun.