Maybe there was a special case where he could get locked in an endless fight against the one Titan.

The problem was that that took time. We had a minute before Nemean arrived. The others would come shortly after.

With my forcefield, I picked up the edge of the gun, then found the handholds. I hadn’t even lifted it fully off the ground before I fired, aiming for the worst damage at the side of her head. I floated, and I was slow to take to the air with my burden.

I wasn’t going to leave it behind, though.

I kept shooting, until I heard the beep, the double-beep, and the triple-beep that marked the weapon overheating. Capes erected barriers and weapons. Laser lassos, cranes, outcroppings of rock, forcefields. A few brutes got in the way.

Fuck you, I thought, staring her down. I spared a brief glance toward the people who were descending into the crack below. I’m not going to leave this weapon where you can smash it. If you want it, you’re going to have to make me drop it, and I’m going to fight you every step of the way.

It wasn’t enough to stop her. I braced for the impact.

The number of defenses going up between me and the Titan increased. More forcefields, more barriers, spikes. A few capes stepped in as she slowed down.

I kept firing, floating back while I did it.

“First thought, aww, baby cousin got a laser of her own!” I heard the voice.

Another laser joined mine, firing in the same general direction.

“Second thought: how the hell do you get a long ranged laser and put yourself in a position to collect more injuries?” Crystal called down to me. She grimaced as she made another crimson forcefield, which Skadi immediately shattered by lurching through it.

“I got the idea from you!”

“Lies!”

Reinforcements. The Wardens were on top of things, and as the clock ticked down the last twenty seconds for the Nemean Titan to appear on the scene, our guys were already here, relocating and preparing us for the imminent attacks.

Good job, Wardens.

“You got so much shit for breaking formation and getting into the thick of it!” I called out.

“Lies!” she said again, sounding more amused than anything.

“It’s true,” my Aunt Sarah said, adding her beam to ours. Bright violet. Her forcefield was already in the way, placed more to brace some of the constructions and keep them from toppling than to stand in Skadi’s way on its own. Her voice had a haunting quality to it. “I remember it.”

“Well shit, what am I supposed to say to that?” Crystal asked. “I never got hurt!”

“I didn’t get hurt just now!” I retorted.

“Because we saved you!”