The spiraling on the breaker’s arm intensified. I adjusted my flight course—realized belatedly that he was swiping at me. It was hard to process his movements, because he seemed to retroactively be wherever he was going. It was my perceptions, I was pretty sure, and not time manipulation or anything.

He swiped again, and I maneuvered, moving around his buddy at the same moment. He had reach, arm extending as the gap widened between the floating segments of forearm, and parts of a hand.

I shone with my aura, no longer being subtle, seizing the shotgun and put my foot on the goatee guy’s shoulder. I flew up and pushed down and out with my foot. My interest was twofold—to kick him toward his breaker buddy’s arm, and to use full-body leverage to get the shotgun out of his hand. He had good trigger discipline, and so me pulling the gun away didn’t also pull the trigger against his finger.

I had the shotgun and I’d put myself far enough away to be out of the blue breaker’s reach. I brought out the wretch and had it demolish the shotgun in my hands.

If I was going to use an all-or-nothing weapon, I’d rather use the ones I was familiar with.

Still turning in the air, I traveled an unpredictable course, arcing down to the ground, hugging the ground as I traveled a quarter-circle arc, ever-mindful of the guy with handgun. He aimed at me and fired.

His bullet hit the wretch, and I hit him at the knees, bowling him over.

Before he was on his feet, and before the blue breaker could swipe at me, I grabbed him by the ankles. Flying, I dragged him across the forest floor. More to the point, I dragged him in a way that put his upper body and face closer to the ground as I dragged him.

He grabbed me by the wrist, and it took me a second to realize the how and why of it. I’d had him by the ankle, and his foot was now a hand. He was strong—enough that I thought something would pop or break if he squeezed any harder.

I changed course, and I flew him into the base of a tree trunk. I heard the solid impact, and I felt the ‘leg’ I was holding jerk in reaction to the pain, but I didn’t succeed in breaking his grip.