Dealing with Traitors

Wesley felt the ground beneath his feet in almost an instant. There was the very briefest pauses in what felt like hangtime in the air. Nothing was above or below him, and it was as if he were free falling. But that lasted for less than an eyeblink and suddenly he was standing on solid ground. His gaze flickered up over those gathered to take stock of the situation. There was a lot going on, and he needed to find out where he would be of the most help in the shortest amount of time.

Of course, Evie and Theodore weren't on the front lines- both of them were a short distance back, with Mr. Woodhead nearby. That was good- Evie had listened to his request. That would hopefully keep the both of them out of the direct line of combat. Wes wasn't sure how well either of them could do, but he didn't want to put them into any danger if it wasn't warranted.

That left Sasha, Jay and John all currently engaged in combat with one of the Traitors. Jay and John were far more equipped to fight- and currently Evie's smaller, weaker summons were helping out Sasha by serving mostly as a distraction. Even still, it was clear to him that Sasha was going to need the most help.

Even with her being belligerent and confident to a fault, she didn't have the Skills to back it up. She only had Venomtouch as a Death Skill, and it was about the only thing that she could really use for offense. The other Skills she had were all from her Space Framework and while her Teleport and Force Shield could be used for such things... she hadn't had the time to train with them very well, yet.

Jay's Skills mostly just augmented how he was going to fight anyway, with his fists and feet, and so while he didn't have any more Training than Sasha did, his Skills were easier for him to use. Not wanting his face to be seen, Wes pulled his shirt up around his features a bit. It wasn't the best, but it would do, he hoped.

Wesley didn't have enough Time Framework within him to really use any of its Skills, so instead he tapped back into the Space Framework, vastly increasing the distance between Sasha and her opponent, before decreasing the distance between that Traitor and himself. "I can't believe what you're doing," Wes growled as the distance between them shrank.

"Looks like we got another Space Framework!" the man in front of him called out, and as Wes reached forward, aiming to strike with a punch augmented with High Impact, the man was moving with far too much speed, and Wes inwardly hissed. This guy was a Time Framework- which meant he was going to be hard to pin down.

"Kick his ass, Lane!" one of the other Traitors called. He was built wide and tall, with a rather dour-looking expression. He and Jay were currently locked in combat, but even with Jay's natural athleticism, and the High Impact Skill, it looked like he was getting overpowered.

Lane smirked, his dark eyes glinting with something akin to excitement. "Well, you heard the man. Let's see if you can keep up." Even with Wes watching him closely, Lane was moving incredibly quickly, and if it hadn't been for a sudden increase in distance between himself and the Traitor, he likely would have taken anywhere form one to four shots to the head.

"Can you pay attention?" Sasha hissed at him from nearby, and he realized it was her that he had to thank for saving his skin right then. He hadn't expected Lane to be quite so fast. He hadn't seen someone Accelerate faster than Jay had- he didn't realize just how fast it could get. "I hate saying it but... he's fast," Sasha muttered under her breath.

Wes knew he couldn't leave Lane alone, either- if they backed off then he could team up on either Jay or John- or both. "Ted! Evie! Now's your time!" Wes called out to the two who'd been waiting off to the side, and immediately he could feel their Framework happening around them. He looked to Sasha. "Let's go- now!" he called, and she used the Teleport Skill before he could even finish talking, the woman appearing right near Lane.

"You don't understand anything, you Soldier wannabes," Lane hissed. "The Beasts are here to save us from ourselves. The longer we hide from them, the angrier they'll be!" the man called out. "Tell 'em, Sage!"

The large, angry-looking fellow snorted. "They wouldn't get it even if I did. This world's got a new leader. The four Elements and the Frameworks are done and over with," Sage growled, his strength weakened enough by Evie that Jay was able to at least keep up, even while bleeding from the corner of his mouth and above one of his eyes.

Wes took this time while they were talking to Teleport as well, arriving just in time to see Sasha catch a punch to the stomach, and then another one hard across her jaw. The suddenness of it caught him off-guard, but suddenly a roar from beside him- from Jay, caused him to look over at his brother briefly- before realizing too that Lane was doing the same thing.

He was angry that Sasha had been hit, sure, but while Jay seemed to roar and growl like a beast, Wes just saw it as an opportunity as his hand shot forward. As it did, grey energy wrapped around his palm and wrist as he managed to catch Lane on his side. "What the-" the man spoke before the freezing, icy cold feeling began to hit. On the receiving end, Wesley felt a warm, comforting feeling wash over him.

"What the hell is that?" Lane growled. Of course, there were Watershapers, and there were a rare few that could do Iceshaping. "Iceshaper!" Lane called out in a sudden panic toward the other two. That would mean that he was skilled, if nothing else. Iceshaping was extremely difficult to do. "I thought they were just military brats!"

Sage grunted as he took a punch from Jay, before returning one in kind, causing him to reel back, blood spilling from his nose and mouth, now. "Fenn's got a Tier Two. We need to back out of here," he grunted, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. Sage vanished for a moment, faster than Wesley could keep up with before he felt a blow on the side of his head, causing his whole world to spin in response to the attack. "Fenn!" he heard Sage call, even as his world shook around him.

Wes took a staggering step, his hand no longer clutching onto Lane. His vision was swimming as he managed to get his feet underneath him. It seemed like Wes and his group were losing... but the Traitors didn't want to keep fighting? He didn't fully understand, as he blinked through the watering of his eyes.

"What a cheap...bastard," Sasha grunted as the girl got up to her feet on her own. Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth as well, but she didn't seem to mind it all that much as she looked at Wes. "You get him?" she asked, the intent behind her words clear as day.

Wesley nodded. "Yeah. I'd hoped to get more. We got their names, though, right?" he asked, looking at the others.

"Lane... Sage... Fenn," Theodore spoke as he came closer. "Unfortunately... they sound like... code names. All of them... are four letters," Ted offered, frowning. "But we may... get lucky with them."

John looked in a fairly all right way, himself. He had a few scrapes and bruises but he didn't seem to be bleeding from anywhere. "I can't believe they just turned tail and ran like that. After the leader, Sage... after he hit Wesley he could have come after any of us. That... was lucky," he admitted quietly, looking toward Sasha. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I can take a hit," she returned, her eyes narrowed in a glare back at him. "Looks like you made it out all right."

John merely shrugged in response. "I believe Fenn was more of their support. I felt decidedly weaker and more sluggish... but he did not have anything to really come at me with an attack." John surveyed the others, before frowning as he looked to Jay. "Are you-"

"Nah, I'm all right, dude. It'll heal on its own. I'm not worried about it," Jay spoke, his tone a bit nasaly at the moment, given the fact that his nose was currently broken from the blow he'd taken. "Sash, you sure you're good? That was a nasty hit you took."

"I said I'm fine. You don't need to baby me. I just want to know why they fled like shitty cowards," the girl hissed.

Evie popped forward then, riding on Mr. Woodhead's shoulder. "They said Iceshaper and then all freaked out!" she spoke, before giggling at the idea. "Wesley can't Iceshape. How stupid."

Wes frowned, looking down at his hand, closing it for a moment and reopening it. He felt... calmer. More relaxed. "I think I took a bit of his Time Framework. He's not going to like that."

"So what the hell do we do now?" Sasha muttered, looking to Jay, and then to Wes.

He nodded toward the busted wall. "We put it back together. At least as best we can. The last thing we need is another Beast busting through there," he spoke.

On the other side of the wall, a low, clicking growl began to emanate outward...and the six of them froze.

Dammit.