“You won’t live long enough for that,” Scream Eagle said, and the circle of metal balls and metal dust descended toward me.

I didn’t doubt that my suit could withstand ball bearings, but I didn’t know how long it would withstand repeated damage.

It looked like I’d get to find out, though, because the rotating circle of metal hit my chest. I’d been trying to dodge, but it moved faster, chipping away at my armor.

Errors and damage notifications followed. They didn’t do much damage, but the damage was steady. The suit showed 100% armor and then dropped to 99% in that spot.

I jumped sideways, giving my suit time to repair or at least spread the damage out. Then I changed direction and jumped toward him.

He stepped back, sending the circle of balls toward me, but not with the same speed as he might have. He was working with the same problem we all had—inertia. Now that I was right in front of him, he risked hitting himself if he moved them too quickly.

Sword in hand, I rushed him, but he didn’t want to stick around and find out what happened if I stabbed him.

He used his jets to send himself sideways, flip over, and land. on his feet, which was impressive in this small space. It was a large enough space, though, that I’d have to move a good 20 feet to get into melee range with him again.

I began to, and the circle of metal whirled toward me. That didn’t worry me much. I knew I’d reach him before serious damage could be done.

He must have understood the same because as I ran toward the kitchenette where we’d shattered the microwave oven, he used a power I’d only begun to suspect he had seconds ago.

He connected with the Rocket suit and tried to take it over. The signs came first in the notifications informing me that a shutdown was imminent, and did I want to stop it?

Now that I could connect to the suit with my implant, I could stop it at the speed of thought and did. That was at the price of slowing my run to the other side of the room. That meant more chances to be attacked by the mobile circular saw.

Watching the damage rise, I started running for him again, dimly aware that Sydney and Haley were fighting for their lives against Art and Zola. As much as I wanted to help, I was more than aware that if I weren’t keeping Scream Eagle busy, he’d be shutting down their suits, not to mention using his ability to control magnetic forces to tear away at the layer of metal around Sydney.

At the same time, even the shortest summary of their fight didn’t hide that it was a tough one. Art and Zola were trying to get away with Jody’s unconscious body. Only shots from Sydney kept them from grabbing him and jumping out the window.

It’s not that they hadn’t grabbed him either. It’s just that the moment they’d picked him up, they’d stayed still long enough for Sydney to target them. That would have been the end of any normal person, but between their speed and the malleable but tough natural armor they’d grown, they didn’t die.

All the same, Sydney’s missiles did knock them over, even with a light graze made possible by the speed of their reactions, forcing Zola to drop Jody.

Despite dropping to the floor, Jody continued to sleep—which was a credit to Daniel. The blue carpet on the floor next to the table wasn’t thick enough to absorb much of anything.

Haley, meanwhile, had been choosing her moments. When Zola dropped Jody, Haley threw a chair, hitting Zola as she bent down to grab Jody. Zola knocked the chair to the side, only to jump to avoid a burst of missiles from Sydney.

Meanwhile, Art leapt for Sydney, and Zola took a punch in the stomach from Haley, whom she then howled at and chased.

I didn’t have time to follow her past that flurry of activity. I’d almost reached Scream Eagle, but I’d run close enough to the table that Scream Eagle pulled it away from where we’d sat around it and broadsided me with it. The table broke, the clear plastic or glass shattering into tiny pieces that scattered across the floor.

That’s when Scream Eagle shot across the room, jets roaring as he flew, flipping over and landing next to Daniel and Jody. Grabbing Jody’s body, he held him with one arm, turning toward the nearest shattered window.

I’d started moving even as I found my footing from being hit with the table. It took me two rocket-assisted steps to cross the room.

As Scream Eagle pulled Jody up to his body and prepared to fly away, I swung my sword through his arm and partly into his torso, throwing sparks the whole way. It practically exploded into sparks as it hit him, but didn’t leave a visible mark.

Scream Eagle gave a whimpering cry and dropped Jody, who again landed on the floor, still unconscious.