Shifting Gears Part 2

Routine Bustdown

It is a chilly morning. The sky is teal, and the grass is still wet with dew. Several large crates and delivery boxes are scattered across a wide space. Four guards march around the arms depot's West flank. Two are swordsmen, one is a firebender, and another is a rifleman with a matchlock gun. 

Ron takes aim behind a rock and pelts an arrow into the gunman. Yoki raises her arms and pelts several rocks into the sword users. The firebender enters his stance but he is rushed and cut down by Finchai. Kanna: "Nice, I didn't even have to lift a finger."

Finchai: "Hey what should they call us?"

Yoki: "That's a good question. The Fabulous Four!"

Ron: "Heck no."

Kanna: "How about the Proxy Force?"

Ron: "That works." The Proxy Force advances before running into a patrol squad. The squad has three sword troopers, two firebenders, and two riflemen. The swordsmen immediately run after them with the firebenders stepping in the middle of the formation and the riflemen standing in the back. 

Yoki hurls bricks at two sword users. The one in the center is nailed in the chin by a brick but the one of the right slashes two bricks apart. Finchai springs into action and horizontally slashes the man's legs. Kanna lobs a fire stream from her right foot into the remaining duelist.

A firebender punches two flames at Yoki but she raises two earth objects which intercept the fire blasts but crack apart in the process. The other fire user punches three fireballs at Finchai who blocks them by protectively swirling his double-bladed sword.

A rifleman aims at Finchai and Yoki decides to give him a boost. A split second before the man shoots, Yoki launches Fin in the air between the two riflemen. A firebender prepares to counter Yoki but Ron bolts an arrow through his esophagus. The other firebender is blown backward by Kanna Foloki who drops him with a double kick front flip blast.

One of the riflemen aims at Fin and opens fire. The duelist slides left, and the shooter accidentally kills his comrade. Finchai leaps up and diagonally dispatches the man. As the team presses on, a new unit comes to stop them. This one includes two men with swords & shields, two spear troopers, and firebender. 

Ron launches an arrow, but it is blocked by a shield. Yoki hurls stones which are also thwarted by a barrier. Kanna kicks a fireball into one of the shield fighter's shells, causing him to stumble two inches back. Kanna flips in the air and lands between the firebender and spear warrior behind them. 

The firebender pops a fireball at her but the ex-scout twirls right of him and the fireball hit a spear trooper. Kanna knees the man in his gut then back kicks him down before pushing a ray of fire into the last spear soldier in the team. Kanna left kicks a fireball into the back of the head of one of shield fighters.

The other shield fighter turns to face Kanna head on but is bolted in the back by one of Ron's arrows. Kanna gives her team a thumbs up, "Good work guys, looks like we are almost done." The heroes jog on. Kanna kicks flames into dormant cannons, setting off chain reactions that start to blow parts of the depot into dust.

Areas of the depot shake graphically. The others stay with her and watch closely to see if any more resistance emerges. Things seem to be over until they find the final squad, just as they are preparing to exit the burning depot. A man with a sword, hat, and cape stands across Kanna, "I am the Depot Keeper, and you'll pay dearly for this."

Two riflemen and two firebenders stand with him. The keeper gives the signal and the firebenders charge first. One punches a fireball at Ron who ducks behind Finchai who leaps in the air and decapitates the bender. The other firebender kicks a fire stream at Yoki who sinks herself under the ground then emerges beside the bender and hammer fists him in the back of his head. 

A rifleman shoots at Yoki but she generates a wrist guard that blocks the shot before hurling her guard into the gunman. Ron pops an arrow into the last rifleman. Kanna comments, "You operation has gone to mush sir."

The keeper runs at Kanna in a burst of rage and leaps at her with a diagonal slash. Kanna pivots left and kicks a flame into his left thigh. The man immediately goes down and his hat falls off. The Proxy Force runs out of the burning depot, and it blows up. Finchai shouts, "Yeah, we are the best team IN THE WORLD!"

Kanna shakes her head, "Don't get overconfident, we are an awesome team, and we did what we needed to today. That's it. Pray we will be strong enough to do what we need to next time without losses or as well as we did today."

Diplomatic Sitting

Kubala meets with Kanna, "This evening, I'd like you to watch after a City Council member. One of Jorai's closest colleagues, the CEO of Vicca Glass Tech will be giving a speech at the City Square. It will be about future developments within the city." Kanna nods.

Kubala: "You can take your team with you." Several hours later, the sky is eggplant purple, and orange mounted torches illuminate the area. Few normal people attend this event. Most visitors are either corporate executives whether local or traveling from other citizens. The whole presentation is about industrial stuff which bores Kanna's team.

Ron: "This is why I don't like industrialization all that much."

Kanna: "Oh come on, it has some nice perks. Like the exchange of different cool goods. I've been able to eat Earth Kingdom cookies in the comfort of my home country." 

Finchai: "I'm kind of split on this." The CEO clears his throat when an archer takes aim at him in the distance. Ron sees the commotion. 

Ron points, "Everyone look, there is an archer!" 

Kanna looks at Yoki, "Come with me. Fin and Ron, protect the guests!" An arrow is fired at the man's left shoulder, but Finchai knocks it back and hops on stage. The crowd screams in terror and the speaker cowers behind his podium. Kanna and Yoki rush after the girl and start climbing up a ladder before rising on the roof of a building. 

They notice the archer descending to a building that is just about ten feet ahead of them, it looks like she is trying to get closer to ground level. They continue to stalk the archer until she become more visible. It is none other than Miss Gloom, the Feral Pariah member, known for her stance against the establishment. 

Yoki looks at Kanna, "What's up with all these anti-establishment groups?" They get around even level and Gloom is only fifteen feet away from them. She scurries across a building and jumps from that roof to another. Kanna and Yoki sprint before doing the same in pursuit of her.

The chase continues for about two minutes with Gloom maintaining her distance. Kanna follows a bit more closely than Yoki who isn't used to going after someone for this long. The chase gloom until she seems to be at a dead end where there are no buildings to escape to. Kanna: "Stand down, you have no way out."

Miss Gloom: "Don't be so sure of that." Kanna nods at Yoki. Kanna swirls a dark orange and gold blaze of fire at Miss Gloom's lower body while Yoki pushes several bricks at her upper figure. Gloom dives off the building. Kanna and Yoki run to the edge to see what happened. 

Gloom descends twenty feet before spreading her arms and utilizing her suit glider. The masked fighter flies away and a few of Yoki's bricks fall down toward her but she steers herself past the objects and past their visible view. Kanna: "Dang it, she's a hard one to catch."

Yoki: "How were we supposed to know she had a glider? Oh well, we'll get her next time big sus."

Kanna nods, "We totally will."

Yoki: "It all starts with belief."