章 64: One Tough Cookie

Micu glided through the city. The feeling of flying was one of his favorites and one of the main motivations behind him choosing to specialize in long-range attacks. As he neared the sounds of gunfire he came to rest atop a medium-sized building overlooking the courtyard. He instantly pinpointed where the machine gun was firing from. Isabel had assumed he would do something like this though and his vision was blocked by the few trees that were in the courtyard. "Jen I see him. He's at 10 o'clock. Hidden behind the bushes." He watched as Jenira leaned out of cover and fired a few speculative shots towards the bushes. The machine gun paused for just a moment before resuming its assault."Close," he crooned as he watched the bushes rustle with movement.

As he began lining up his scope to finish whatever popped out of the bushes he felt a wave of power wash over him. He brushed it off and looked through his scope as he waited but something caught his eye. He moved the scope slightly and watched as individual bullets moved through the air. The bullets looked like they were moving through tar. He gasped to himself and then heard that ominous voice in his head. "Turn around Micu," it said. He turned and saw the outline of Isabel running towards him about to fire. But she was also moving at a fraction of her full speed. It was like someone had slowed time to one-tenth it's normal speed. He easily lined up his rifle and fired. The bullet he fired moved normally and exploded into her abdomen. She didn't react at all though and continued charging towards him.

"This is but a taste of the power I can offer Micu. Consider it." The voice then laughed in his brain before gradually fading away. As soon as the laughing sound disappeared from his brain time returned to its normal speed. Isabel took a step towards him before hesitating and looking down at her stomach. "H...how?" She gasped as her body dissolved from the simulation. Micu's eyes were wide and he quickly lay back down and looked to the machine gun. He couldn't make out one individual bullet, much less track its flight path. "What the hell..." he whispered.

"You okay Micu?" Jayce's voice came through his mic. "Uh yeah, I'm fine. Isabel tried to ambush me. She's gone." A whoop of excitement came through his mic. "Hell yes! Well done Micu!" Ralnas shouted. Micu took a deep breath and looked around for any sign of another one of Isabel's team trying to sneak up on him. "I think the last two have that machine gun." He said. He then saw Jayce's figure creeping up on the machine gun nest from behind it. He quickly began firing his rifle to keep the gunners pinned down. Jayce noticing this took off at a sprint and dove into the bushes beyond Micu's line of sight.

A series of small explosions rocked the bushes and in the ensuing chaos, Jenira and Anna scrambled towards the machine gun as well. "Ral you down?" "Nah just got hit in the leg again." "Nice," Micu laughed as he continued to observe the area below him. A triumphant Jenira, Jayce, and Anna exited the bushes and the whole area around them faded. Micu breathed a sigh of relief as he was slowly lowered to the ground. He had been concerned he would be dumped on the ground again like last time.

The five stood and waved to the now obvious crowd that was above them. "That was too easy," Ralnas said as he stood and waved. "She's literally been competing all day. I think the next round will be far more interesting." Jayce nodded, "I hope so." Jenira punched his shoulder, "Be nice." Anna said nothing and looked up into the crowd. "These four kids are freaks," she thought to herself. She eyed them suspiciously. Each appeared to be no more than a year younger than her but they carried themselves like they had lived on battlefields their entire lives. She then let her gaze rest on Jayce. He hadn't even used his god powers. She sighed, "You four are pretty impressive." The four teens smiled at her. "You haven't seen anything yet."

The ground below them opened and the four descended the stairs to return to the competitor area. Jayce wiped his brow and smiled at his team. "Well break time until we're up again. Should be like 15 minutes." He ambled off towards the vending machines. Jenira rolled her eyes and followed after him. Ralnas headed towards the medical tent to get some additional bandaging for his now bruised leg. Anna noticed Micu looked lost in his thoughts. "You okay?" She asked and his eyes refocused. "Yeah, just an interesting round." He forced a smile and then turned and strode away from her.

Anna sighed as she was alone again. Looking around she noticed a small group of people was watching the current match on a big screen. She joined them and quickly joined in with their cheering.

Micu was getting a drink of water when he felt a hand on his back. "How did you know I was there?" He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked back to see Isabel. "What do you mean?" She stared deeply into his eyes. "How did you kill me? I did everything to avoid being seen by you. I was invisible until a second before you shot me." Micu shrugged, "Intuition." Isabel narrowed her eyes. "Really?" Micu nodded. She brought her face to within inches of his face. "Did you cheat Micu? I won't tell." Micu shook his head. "I wouldn't cheat against you. You wouldn't believe me even if I told you the truth." Isabel let the distance between their faces decrease even further. "Try me."

Micu furrowed his eyebrows. "First tell me what you saw before I shot you." Isabel rocked back on her heels but never took her eyes off his. "You were laying down on the rooftop, just like I knew you were going to do, and I burst from cover to end you. Then you moved faster than anyone I've ever seen and shot me before I could even get a single shot off." Micu nodded his head intrigued. "Did you hear any voices? Feel different in any way?" Isabel gave him a confused look. "No? What are you really asking?" Micu waved away her question. "I knew you would try and eliminate me from the game to gain a height advantage. Plus we both know that team needs me." They laughed together after he said this, "So I got the hologram grenade and waited for you to make your move. I thought you were going to be coming from my left or right but I heard your footsteps and managed to take you out before you saw me."

Isabel nodded defeated. "I was hoping you cheated. I made such a rookie mistake revealing myself as soon as you were in position." Micu put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I was just lucky. Next time we'll be on the same team." Isabel raised an eyebrow. "You're going to join Jayce's team right?" Micu watched realization dawn on Isabel and she nodded, "Oh yeah! Of course. Can you imagine choosing anyone else?" Micu laughed, "Honestly I can't." Isabel reached up and hugged, "We need a rematch so I can regain my pride." Micu smiled as he hugged her back. "Anytime, anyplace." She released him and walked off into the distance to watch the rest of the matches.

Once she was gone Micu breathed deeply and relaxed his shoulders. Tentatively he tried to contact the voice in his head. "What are you?" He thought. There was no response and he sighed. Finishing his drink he returned to the center area where he spotted Anna watching the current match. Sliding down next to her he tried to see what team was competing. "That's the Yuhru team from the exam!" He practically shouted. Anna gave him an annoyed look. "Yeah, you don't have to announce it to the whole world though. We already know." Micu blushed. "Sorry I was just surprised to see them." Anna said nothing her attention totally on the match taking place.

"Anna I think the voice spoke to me again," Micu whispered. Her attention was instantly on him. "What happened? Tell me everything." Micu nodded, "I was on the rooftop when time stopped. Well not stopped, but slowed. Then it told me to look behind myself and there was Isabel. I moved at normal speed and easily was able to shoot her. Then it laughed and said this was only a fraction of its power." Anna was rapt in her attention and nodded along with him the whole time. "So that's it. I tried to talk to it but there was no response." Anna made a "hmmm" sound. Micu sighed and let her think as he continued to watch the gloriously color Yuhru compete against some team he didn't recognize.

"I don't think any of the Overwatcher's have ever demonstrated a control over time," Anna said finally. Micu felt even more defeated. "Then we have no idea what this could be." Anna nodded glumly. "Afraid not." Micu sighed, "It's okay. Eventually, this will work itself out." Anna gave him a half-hearted smile. "I think it will." Micu leaned back on the couch and let himself enjoy the rest of the match.

Jayce flexed his shoulders as he Ralnas and Jenira stood around the vending machine. "You felt it too?" Jenira nodded. Ralnas raised an inquisitive hand. "Something powerful was in that battle with us. Right before Micu shot Isabel." Ralnas lowered his hand. "You think someone was spying on us?" Jayce shook his head. "No, they can watch us without having to use their powers just by showing up. This was something else." Jenira shuddered. "It felt...scary." Jayce nodded, "It definitely wasn't any of the other Overwatchers. I recognize their presences now." Ralnas glanced over to where Micu had gone. "Should we go protect Micu? Think he's in danger?" Jayce shrugged, "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one who felt it." Jenira nodded. "I definitely felt it." Jayce pointed towards where their friend had gone. "We better go make sure he's okay."