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Iara hissed at him.
<span class="mu-b">“What’s it take to kill this guy?”</span>
He laughed, his face curling into a smile that you could only describe as oily.
<span class="mu-r">“Three mutants skulking around my city. Am I perhaps being targeted by the X-Men?”</span>
You frowned and glanced at the other two. They were glancing at each other, and then Ana. She shrugged, and then every eye fell on Oya. She scowled at him.
<span class="mu-b">“The X-Men’s business is their</span> <span class="mu-r">own. This is mine.”</span>
She pushed another wave of freezing energy at him, and this time, the entire city block became covered in frost! Degli was pushed back a bit, but he dug his heels in and pushed back, clearly struggling against the Nightguard’s overwhelming power. You noticed then that he had several rings on fingers that were glowing brightly. You weren’t an expert in magic, but you felt comfortable guessing that those rings were heavily enchanted, thus granting him a supreme amount of protection from Oya’s attacks.
<span class="mu-r">“You’re powerful indeed…but not powerful enough to do more than inconvenience me!”</span>
He pointed a finger at Oya, and your eyes went wide. You might not have much strength left in your body, but your Spider Sense never seemed to run out of battery.
<span class="mu-r">“Get down!”</span>
Oya hastily erected a frost wall and dove for cover as a bright white projectile smashed straight through her barrier with no trouble at all!
Degli found his footing once more after Oya ceased her relentless assault. He waggled his finger back and forth with a sinister smirk plastered across his face. He switched from target to target, before settling on the most vulnerable of your number.
W.
Your heart sank, and you moved to yank both her and Iara out of the way, but the arrival of yet another familiar face drew everyone’s attention. And to your great relief, she had arrived way ahead of schedule.
<span class="mu-r">“Don’t you go pointing that finger at them, Blackheart. God knows where it's been.”</span>
Elsa Bloodstone stomped across a frozen field, her brown trench coat billowing in the wind. She was carrying what looked to be an old-fashioned pistol made of wood in her right hand, pointing it directly at Degli.
He sneered at Elsa at first, but as soon as he saw the gun, he jolted in place. The man looked as if he might piss himself on the spot!
You gave the gun a closer look, and was surprised to learn that your earlier assessment had been incorrect. The gun wasn’t made of wood, after all. Its texture almost reminded you of marbled meat, but the surface of it was too sinewy. Too dark. And… was that a hissing noise coming from the barrel?
<span class="mu-r">“Is that…!?”</span>
Elsa’s grin widened. She eyed the gun appreciatively, running her gloved hands over its glossy surface.
(Cont.)