Impact

20 Minutes Earlier…

The street was wrecked. Chunks of asphalt were uprooted, cars lay in twisted heaps, and store windows had been blown out from the sheer force of the battle. Overhead, the sky was a murky gray, choked with dust and debris.

Harper gritted her teeth, sweat beading on her forehead as she extended both hands. Her telekinetic energy—visible as a faint blue shimmer—wrapped around a mangled streetlight and sent it hurtling toward their opponent.

Metal Mage barely glanced up before flicking his wrist. The streetlight froze midair, surrounded by his own metallic aura, then instantly reversed course—barreling straight back at her.

Harper barely had time to react before Miss Powell slammed into the projectile, shattering it with a single punch.

"Focus, Harper!" Miss Powell barked, her voice sharp even as she ducked under a barrage of razor-thin metal shards. Each deflected off her indestructible skin with loud pings, but even she couldn't get close. "If you keep throwing garbage at him, he's just gonna use it against us!"

"I'm trying!" Harper shot back, rolling out of the way as another chunk of debris nearly flattened her. "He's not giving me a lot to work with here!"

Metal Mage smirked from his vantage point—hovering just above the ruined street, encased in a shifting exoskeleton of living steel. Every time Harper or Miss Powell attacked, the metal armor morphed, reshaping itself into razor-sharp weapons or barriers.

Worse, he kept his distance, forcing them to stay on the defensive.

Harper took a deep breath, trying to center herself. Think. He has to have a weak spot.

Before she could act, Metal Mage thrust a hand forward, and a massive slab of twisted metal shot toward her like a battering ram.

The force of the impact was instantaneous.

One moment, she was standing her ground—the next, she was soaring backward, air ripping past her face as she was flung blocks away like a ragdoll.

She barely had time to scream before she crashed through a half-collapsed building, tumbling through shattered concrete and broken rebar before landing hard on her back.

Everything hurt.

"Shit, shit, shit!" she gasped, struggling to get up.

Then, from the distance, she heard a metallic screech—Metal Mage had launched something else.

A jagged mass of metal, spinning through the air, coming straight for her.

Harper's eyes widened.

She raised her hands, trying to summon enough telekinetic force to stop it, but before she could react—

A blur cut through the air.

Then—impact.

The projectile shattered against something—or someone—solid.

Harper blinked, coughing from the dust.

A guy stood in front of her, his back turned, his posture completely relaxed despite the fact that he had just taken a massive metal attack to the chest.

His shirt, however, hadn't survived. The fabric had been obliterated, leaving him standing there bare-chested, his physique ridiculously sculpted.

Harper blinked. What.

The guy turned slightly, flashing a grin. "Mind if I join the party?"

Sebastian barely had time to register Harper's bewildered expression before he bent down and effortlessly scooped her up.

"H-Hey!" Harper flushed instantly, her body light as a feather in his arms. "What are you—!"

"You got launched, like, four blocks away and nearly got impaled," Sebastian pointed out, carrying her over to a half-collapsed wall for cover. "What did you expect me to do, just watch?"

Harper huffed, crossing her arms over her chest—still slightly red-faced. "You're a civilian! You shouldn't even be here! You—"

She trailed off, finally noticing that his shirt was completely gone, and immediately looked away.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Uh… you good?"

"I—! Just—just focus!" she snapped, trying to recover. "We need a plan!"

Sebastian sighed, setting her down. "Alright, fine. You good to fight?"

Harper rolled her shoulders. "I can still throw shit, yeah."

"Cool, 'cause I've got an idea."

By the time they returned to the battlefield, Miss Powell was still holding her own, but it was clear she was stuck in a defensive loop.

Metal Mage's constant long-range attacks had her on lockdown. Every time she moved, more steel projectiles rained down, forcing her to either tank the hits or dodge.

Sebastian cracked his knuckles. "Alright, new plan—I'll handle transport."

Miss Powell barely glanced at him as she dodged another metal barrage. "Transport?"

Sebastian grabbed her.

"Wait—!"

And then he threw her.

Like a damn missile.

Miss Powell let out a short, startled grunt before rocketing through the air—straight at Metal Mage.

The villain barely had time to react before she collided with him mid-air, tackling him full force and sending both of them crashing through a nearby building.

Sebastian dusted off his hands. "That should do it."

Harper, still wide-eyed, stared at him. "Did you just—"

"Yup."

From the wreckage, Metal Mage's armor crumpled inward as Miss Powell drove her fist into his gut, forcing him into close combat for the first time.

Harper shook herself out of it and focused, her eyes glowing as she lifted an entire car with telekinesis. "Alright then let's kick some ass."

Sebastian grinned.

And with that, they charged back into battle.