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<span class="mu-r">“I’m not going anywhere until we can confirm that our teammate is alive and safe.”</span>
Glass and W stood resolutely by your side, nodding their approval and staring down the metal man as if daring him to protest.
<span class="mu-r">“Can that suit of yours keep you alive out there?”</span>
You added. In response, the metal slid a compartment open in his wrist, removed a small, cylindrical object and flicked it over your heads. It flew end over end, landing in the water behind you with an anticlimactic little splash. You all waited cautiously, waiting for something to happen, but…nothing did.
<span class="mu-r">“I just told you that I’m not going out there</span> <span class="mu-s">again. Who knows what might</span> <span class="mu-b">still be lurking out there.”</span>
<span class="mu-g">“What was that?”</span>
Ana demanded. But, the metal man was seemingly unfazed.
<span class="mu-r">“It scans for life signs and reports back</span> <span class="mu-s">to me if it finds anything. If your friend is</span> <span class="mu-b">alive, then I’ll be the first to know.”</span>
W glared slightly, but neither she nor anyone else moved to confront the Iron Man or go after Iara. A few times, though, you thought that they’d decided on the latter, from the way they kept glancing back at the water. But no one moved, and you continued your stand-off, waiting to see whether Iara would surface, or if this guy would find her before you.
During this time, there were no negotiations, no small-talk, and not a single quip. You all just…waited. And waited. And…
<span class="mu-r">“My sensors have picked something</span> <span class="mu-s">up. Whatever it is, it’s moving</span> <span class="mu-b">fast in our direction.”</span>
The Iron Man’s shoulder mounted cannon turned to point at the pool of water, and their Gatling gun began to spin up, ever so slightly. The rest of you backed away from the area, hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst. And when Iara breached the surface, flopping on the floor like a fish, you and the others rushed to her aid.
<span class="mu-g">“That was the craziest, most stupid thing I’ve ever seen you do.”</span>
Glass looked like he didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved. W was just fussing over her, checking for wounds or anything obviously wrong with her friend.
Iara smiled weakly at him, her chest heaving as she rolled onto her back.
<span class="mu-b">“You must not be watching close enough. I’ve done plenty of things more stupid than this.”</span>
<span class="mu-g">“What happened down there?”</span>
Prowler was looming over her, and she blinked several times at him before answering.
<span class="mu-b">“The Acanti was sturdier than we thought. The bombs didn’t kill it right away. Just weakened it. I had to…do the rest.”</span>
You nodded slowly, picking up on her implication. If she was already that close to the heart, then she easily could’ve shredded the beast’s organs with her considerably sharp blades. It probably took a while, though, which was what made her late in coming back. That, and the fact that she was relatively close to the cluster bomb that Prowler jury-rigged when it blew up.
(Cont.)
