Chapter 30: Two v. Two II

The very next moment, as if on cue, Zayn began to pick up his pace. First jogging, then running and until, finally, he was full on sprinting so that his body was leaning forward at a seemingly impossible angle.

Petticoat then jumped in their direction with a loud battle cry. From the air, he threw a straight punch sending a wave of barely visible, yellow energy in Sylvan and Zayn's direction.

Sylvan jumped to the right and Zeff to the left as the car they had just been standing beside was crushed as if by sudden intense gravity followed by a massive explosion, likely from the gas tank.

Zayn, still sprinting, took a wide approach, coming up on Sylvan who, bobbing on his toes and fists raised, sprung forward to meet Zayn.

*Bang-Bang* clapped Zayn's pistol.

*Schwoop-Schwip* Sylvan, seemingly teleporting, dodged each shot with no trouble, appearing finally behind Zayn.

As Sylvan gathered himself to strike Zayn in the back, Petticoat suddenly landed behind him and prepared to grab Sylvan. But *Boom!* Zeff struck Petticoat with a flying drop kick to his right side.

It was the only thing he could imagine that might deal some damage.

It didn't, of course... But it did distract Petticoat long enough for Sylvan to finish his swing at Zayn.

Zayn somersaulted to the side, where, *schwip* Sylvan was already waiting, his fist in motion towards Zayn's swollen face.

Naturally Zayn could read Sylvan's mind. Before Sylvan had even been conscious of the fact that he had made the decision to strike and where he would do it, Zayn was aware of it. He rolled under the punch without even looking and then threw himself into the air as—

*PUOHH* a wave of yellow energy blasted through the area where Zayn had just been standing, heading straight for Sylvan.

The wave of poisonous, yellow light never reached him, however, as Zeff jumped between the blast and Sylvan, his hands making a spade in front of him like he was preparing to dive into a pool, cutting the blast in half and dividing it in two. One half flying to his left and the other right.

At that moment, Zayn landed directly next to Petticoat, whose fist was still extended after throwing that blast of energy.

For a brief moment, there was stillness as that exchange ended and the next was about to begin.

Sylvan sighed, 'These two are a formidable pair… Zayn likely told Petticoat to attack as he wants and that he would dodge or follow his lead using his gift… but the real problem is that they're BOTH using midranged attacks and being careful about spacing...'

Zayn, his eyes on Zeff and full of something Sylvan could only interpret as hatred, dropped the empty clip from his firearm and pulled out another using his knife hand from his thigh pocket, reloading his weapon.

'And I've never seen Zayn so serious…'

*Uck!* Zeff suddenly retched as though he were about to vomit. "Doc…" he said as his knees began to wobble. "I can't take another one like that…"

Sylvan held his tongue at seeing Zeff in such bad shape. Truth be told, he could have easily dodged that blast, but now was not the time to point that out. They needed—

"A plan… I have a plan." whispered Zeff.

Sylvan at once began to despair. Not because he didn't trust Zeff to come up with a plan. But because he knew that Zayn would see any plan he thought up before he could set it into motion. But when he looked at Zayn, rather than the confident smile he expected to see, he saw a hint of worry flash across his face instead.

"Trust me…" Zeff reassured.

Sylvan couldn't have known that Zeff was suspecting that something was wrong with Zayn's gift. Though he might have guessed at seeing Zayn's swollen face if he had thought that there was even a remote possibility of such a thing.

Zeff, now that his mind was clearer, was fairly certain, however. Not only had he struck Zayn once already with little effort, he had even taken him by the neck and pummeled him nearly half to death. If Zayn had been at one-hundred percent, that should not have been possible.

*Bang-Bang* Zayn, finally breaking the lull in the action, shot two shots at Zeff both of which connected, each hitting Zeff square on his forehead, knocking him to the ground.

Then Petticoat swung his fist in a large arc in their direction, sending a wave of energy toward the two men. As Sylvan grabbed Zeff off of the ground like he was a wounded puppy and jumped to avoid the blast, Zayn shot off another volley as the two men soared through the air.

*Tink-Te-Tink!* Said the bullets as they bounced (relatively) harmlessly off of Zeff's Armored Hide as Sylvan used him as a human shield.

As the two were about to land, Petticoat wasted no time. "Quit running like little mice and die!" he yelled as he swung his arm with full force, sending out a massive wave that was meant to collide with them near the end of their jump.

Zayn had already begun to act before Petticoat had attacked, however. Using his gift, he knew the blast was coming. He had thrown his dagger so that the blast would propel it forward.

As the blast enveloped his dagger, in just that brief moment of time that was too short for anyone present to perceive, the dagger absorbed the yellow aura and was accelerated by it.

*Chock*

"AHHG!" Screamed Zeff in pain as the dagger struck him in his back, its blade burying itself in his armored skin.

Then moments later, *Boom!* the wave of energy hit the two just as they were inches from the ground, sending them careening backwards through the air.

Sylvan gave a pained yell as his body bounced off of the hard ground and flew at breakneck speed into the far guardrail.

Zeff was not so lucky… He flew over the guardrail and into the lake below hitting the water with a loud splash.

"Bleughh!" Sylvan vomited almost immediately. Then screamed out, "Zeff! No!!"

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It was at that moment that Sylvan had realized that the battle was over… They had lost.

*****

Sylvan was too weak after taking that last blast of aura and Zeff, though he wouldn't drown, couldn't fight effectively with a knife wound in his back. Even if Sylvan could have thrown just one more punch to take one of the two out, they were both keeping their distance (as not to be taken by surprise, no doubt).

"And so, it ends…" Petticoat sighed, his body glowing all the while.

Zayn didn't speak. Though, perhaps, Sylvan thought, he couldn't with his face in such bad shape. But either way, Zayn's attention was not on Sylvan, it was focused out over the water as though he were looking for Zeff to be swimming away.

Petticoat went on, "You b*stards put up a good fight. But this is what happens when you break the law…"

"You wanna lecture me about breaking the law?" Sylvan chuckled dryly. "May I ask you, Billy-goat, how many of your men, honest, hardworking police officers, do you think you killed today, huh?"

Petticoat's eyes grew to the size of golf balls. "What are you talking about?!"

"Oh, dear…" Sylvan sighed. "You didn't even notice…"

Away in the distance, Sylvan could just make out a line of cars approaching them fast. It was likely the reinforcements he had been warned about. He had only one chance to make it out of this alive. He had to sway Petticoat. To appeal to his lingering sense of justice.

"Shoodup, Silbwen." Zayn attempted to say, in spite of his terribly swollen face, as he lifted his gun pointing it at Sylvan to scare him into silence. On any other occasion, Sylvan would have laughed. But not today.

"No. Let him speak!" barked Petticoat.

Sylvan didn't have time to hesitate. "You were too angry to notice, it seems… But, look over there." Sylvan pointed to a part of the guardrail that was completely destroyed. "Do you not remember when you blasted the cars and your own men off the highway? Do you think unconscious men can swim?"

Petticoat nearly gasped with horror as realization sat in. He looked all about and noticed that there were still a few dead cops left on the road, many of which were not killed by gunshot wounds… They were likely killed by Petticoat himself!

"Welcome to 'Club: Outlaw', my boy." intoned Sylvan solemnly. If he were asked to speak honestly, Sylvan would have admitted that he felt sorry for Petticoat who was about as much of a victim as the cops laying dead in the street. The only difference was Petticoat would live to see another day...

Petticoat, on the other hand, could only stared blankly at the scene before him, his eyes misty from unshed tears.

Zayn merely looked on with a look of indifference. They had won. He likely was thinking that there was nothing more to be said and nothing Sylvan could do within the next few seconds despite his best efforts. The row of cars were much closer now and Sylvan had yet to convince Petticoat to—

"SYYYLVAAAN!!" Came a familiar cry from beneath the bridge. "TAKE COVER!!!"

Sylvan was shocked for a moment as it occurred to him that it was Zeff who had yelled out, but it was, indeed, a very short moment. Deciding without another moment's hesitation that he would trust Zeff, he lowered himself all the way to the ground and put his hands over his head.

Petticoat , too, lowered himself in to battle-ready position, while Zayn did something Sylvan never thought he'd see. He looked around in all directions in search of Zeff, a glint of fear on his swollen face.

The next thing Sylvan knew, as if from far away, there came a terrible yet familiar sound. It was a sound he had heard only once before and nearly a week ago, at that.

The 'glint' of fear that had been on Zayn's face was now replaced by full on terror, as he, too, recognized the sound.

In a matter of a few seconds, it grew louder and louder, and shiller and still shriller until the air was vibrating with it.

It was the sound of a dragon preparing to breath fire.

Then, for a fraction of a second, the most brief of moments, there was silence. Silence like the Still before the storm.

But then, *DOKOOM* boomed a sound like the world was splitting in two, as the bridge exploded upward into a blaze of light and thunder and rubble.

Zayn and Petticoat disappeared into the following conflagration as though swallowed by it, while Sylvan was propelled backwards over the guardrail, falling head-long into the dark depths of the lake.

*Splash!*

He was hardly beneath the water's surface when he felt a hand grab him by the arm.

He feared the worst and was about to attack the threat blindly, but that's when he felt the hand gently squeeze him twice, a clear gesture of friendship.

At once, Sylvan let himself be pulled away from the falling rubble and up to the surface.

In no time his head broke the surface of the water and he gasped for air. Or, at least he began to. Until someone put a hand on his mouth.

"Quiet…" whispered Zeff.

Just up on the bridge, east of the gaping hole Zeff had just made, a line of black cars had stopped and several people were shining flashlights down into the water.

"Now, we run?" whispered Zeff.

"Now, we run…" agreed Sylvan as the two men swam into the night.

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