Chapter 33. Clashes

The west side of Cardio City was quiet until an explosion ripped through the air. Concrete and glass rained down as a building's wall was destroyed. Dust billowed out in a thick cloud.

A huge guy appeared from the debris and dust, coughing. He moved quickly despite his enormous size, lumbering away down the street.

"Stop running away!" A girl burst through the settling dust, hot on his heels. That was Uma. Her face was set in fierce determination. "It was pointless!"

Not far behind her, moving at a steadier pace, was another guy walking. That was T. He scanned the surroundings warily.

"Hurry up, he ran this way," Uma ordered T sharply, pointing down an alley.

T didn't seem too happy but followed her anyway, his steps quickening reluctantly.

"This would be an easier hunt if you set up your box earlier," T said, a note of frustration in his voice as they ran.

"You know I can't!" Uma shot back over her shoulder, not slowing down. "I needed time for that."

"That's why I said we should prepare first before attacking him," T insisted, keeping pace.

Uma snorted, dodging around a pile of rubble. "Stop complaining! At first, you agreed to do it this way! We even left Vecro behind!"

"Well, in hindsight, this was a bad idea," T admitted grimly.

"Shut it!" Uma snapped. "Look, it was a dead end anyway. Hurry and hold him!"

As Uma said, the huge guy, Bog, got stuck. He ended up on the edge of a sheer cliff overlooking a ravine. There was no other way than to jump down. He turned, chest heaving, facing his pursuers.

Bog hesitated, looking down at the daunting drop. Even with his strong body, jumping from that height still worried him. He glanced back at Uma and T, trapped.

But before he had a chance to make a decision, a strong force suddenly slammed down on him, forcing him to drop heavily to the ground. 

It was heavy. He felt unnatural gravity, making it impossible for him to stand up. He strained, muscles bulging against the invisible weight.

Bog cursed like a sailor as his body stuck to the ground, face pressed into the dirt.

Uma sighed, a flicker of relief crossing her face. "Finally, captured," she said, stepping closer cautiously. "You sure could run, for such a huge guy."

"Hey, this was not the time to feel relieved!" T said urgently, holding his hand down, maintaining the crushing force. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "Hurry up and put him into a box!"

"Alright already," Uma said, raising her hands, concentration forming on her face. "I was about to do that—"

"Oh man, it seemed you were in trouble," a new, raspy voice interrupted her. A short guy with sharp, prominent shark teeth suddenly jumped down from a nearby place, landing lightly next to the pinned Bog. Dust puffed around his worn boots.

The shark guy grinned, showing off his shark teeth in a predatory smile.

"If you didn't do something quickly, you would get captured again," the shark guy continued, nudging Bog with his foot.

"Shut... up!" Bog grunted out, still struggling pointlessly against T's gravity.

"Who are you?" Uma demanded, eyes narrowing at the newcomer. "Don't interfere, or you would be crushed too!"

"How scary!" the shark guy laughed. "But could you actually do it? I mean, could you even move right now?"

Uma clicked her tongue, a sudden tension locking her limbs. Her eyes widened slightly. As he said, Uma suddenly couldn't move her body. She stood frozen mid-step.

"T, hurry up and do something about him!" Uma demanded, her voice tight with strain.

"Sorry," T grunted, his own body rigid. His outstretched hand trembled. "I couldn't move either. This was different from my gravity lock."

"What were you doing to us?" Uma asked the shark boy, fury in her immobilized stance. "Free us immediately!"

"Eh? I didn't think you were in a position to make a demand," the shark boy said, chuckling. He turned slightly. "And it was his doing anyway, not me."

Behind Uma and T, having approached silently, stood a sturdy guy with intricate tattoos snaking up his thick neck. His expression was calm, almost bored.

"Both of you, please stay calm," the tattoo guy said, his voice low and steady. "We didn't plan to fight with you yet."

"Don't mess with me!" Uma spat, straining against the invisible bonds. "Free me right now!"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't do that," the tattoo guy said simply, his gaze unwavering.

"So that's how it was," the shark guy said, turning his attention back to Bog. "Our business was with this guy. Your name was Bog, right?"

Bog didn't reply, just glared up from the dirt.

"You kept making a huge scene that ordinary people kept reporting about you on the news," the shark guy said, crouching slightly beside Bog's head. "Sooner or later, this was bound to happen."

Bog grunted in anger but was unable to do anything. Despite T's movement being locked by the tattoo guy, his gravity power was still active. T could still use his power if he was already doing it; he just couldn't target others when he couldn't move.

"The question was, what were you going to do about it?" the shark guy smirked down at him. "Obviously, you weren't strong enough to deal with it alone."

"If you joined us," the shark guy continued, gesturing vaguely towards himself and the tattooed man, "you wouldn't need to worry about Arcane Keepers or whatever. Or you could always get imprisoned again," he said, smiling with a hint of mockery. "Your choice."

"Fine," Bog growled, the word muffled by the ground.

"What was it?" the shark guy asked, cupping a hand to his ear theatrically. "I couldn't hear you."

"I said fine! I would join! Whatever!" Bog yelled, the effort making him shudder under the combined forces pinning him.

The guy with shark teeth clapped his hands together once. "Good decision!" 

He looked at the tattooed man and gave a small nod. At the same time, the invisible hold paralyzing Uma and T seemed to lessen just enough for the tattooed man to step forward. He placed a large hand on Bog's shoulder, helping the huge man stagger to his feet. Bog swayed, rubbing his neck.

The shark guy Zack smiled, looking directly at Uma, who still couldn't move. 

"My name was Zack," he said. "We were from Serpent's Slaughter, and we would take this guy with us."

With that, the shark guy Zack, his tattooed partner steadying Bog, turned and walked away. They disappeared down the alley, leaving Uma and T frozen and helpless.

"This was humiliating," Uma hissed through clenched teeth as the sound of their footsteps faded.

A few minutes later, rapid footsteps approached. Vecro arrived, panting slightly, taking in the scene – Uma and T still locked in place, the cliff edge, the destruction. 

"Both of you decided to go ahead and ditch me just to get beaten so easily?" Vecro said, crossing his arms, a smirk playing on his lips. "Aren't you guys embarrassed? Not to mention you were flexing to the leader about how you were going to capture back the runaway prisoner."

"Oh, shut up," Uma said, the paralyzing effect finally vanishing. She stumbled slightly, rubbing her arms. "If I couldn't move, I couldn't use my power! There was nothing I could do in that situation."

"He didn't seem very strong," T added, lowering his hand and stretching his fingers, the strain of maintaining his power evident. "I could probably easily crush him with my gravitation. But to completely stop your body from moving, that was definitely a hard power to deal with without preparation."

"Huh, all I heard was excuses," Vecro said, shaking his head. "At this point, Arcane Keepers' reputation would be destroyed, you know?"

"Shut up already," Uma said, frustrated, kicking a loose chunk of concrete. "We didn't do it on purpose."

Not far from them, perched silently on a half-collapsed wall overlooking the scene, Milo watched the whole thing unfold. His expression was unreadable.

He took out his phone, flipped it open, and started calling someone. He spoke quietly, his eyes fixed on the frustrated trio below.

"As you predicted, boss, they were actively trying to recruit others," Milo said into the phone. "I found them."

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