Frost danced over Mav’s skin, alongside the fires that filled the room. Hell’s Domain wasn’t as explosively powerful as Inferno Hellscape, which would have killed everyone in the hideout, Mav included. The move, however, still took a lot of energy. More than he’d have liked. 

At least it’s closing my wound. In times of trouble, always look to the positives, like the frost creeping over Mav’s shoulder and blocking the blood from flowing. 

Then another dagger flew through the fire. 

Eyes wide, Mav ducked, then leaped aside as two more followed. Gravity’s weight spiked, nearly pinning him to the ground. Another three daggers arced toward him. 

“Spinning Flame!” 

Mav spun on the ground, sideways like a breakdancer, and kicked the knives away. The flames followed his movements, coalescing at the ground floor and whirling to form a maelstrom of fire. 

Crack! 

From above, nearly fifty feet in the air at the ceiling, floated Asaka and Dearil. Asaka’s hands were raised and the ceiling was rumbling. 

Don’t you dare! 

Mav called the remaining flames back to himself. The orange glowed bright, though not quite white. Asaka threw his arms down. A chunk of the ceiling – a rectangular boulder – plummeted. 

“Ascending Meteor!” 

Mav sent a blast at the soles of his feet, hurling him upwards. The remaining flames condensed until they only covered his left hand. Think you can crush me? I’ll show you what I’ll do to anything you throw at me! 

With a scream, Mav punched the falling boulder. 

An earsplitting blast shook the whole room, likely even the whole hideout. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of smaller collisions sounded along the wall outside and something buffeted into the back of Braiden’s shoulder. 

He screamed, pushed forward, and another bang shook JJ’s eardrums. A bullet ricocheted from the floor to the wall, the violent swish passing near Nadja. 

Lungs depressing, JJ used his winds to rip the rifle from Braiden’s failing grasp. It skidded across the floor, stopping at JJ’s feet. Braiden didn’t seem to notice, curled over, gripping his shoulder, and screaming near the entrance. From outside, bright, molten rock seemed to be flowing. 

“Thanks for the assist, Mav,” JJ said. 

Now to bring Nadja to safety... which would take them through a warzone. 

Imani hadn’t expected Maren’s onslaught. Truth be told, who’d expect a Wave Leaper to learn Flame Dancer forms? So Maren landed several solid hits; quick jabs to the chest, a slightly stronger one to the cheek, and a solid kick to the abdomen. Imani had dropped her ice in the initial attack. Admittedly, even though it was now shattered on the floor, she could still use it to attack Maren. 

Hence the ironic genius of this plan: genius, as it gave Imani no time to focus on controlling the ice; ironic, as this was exactly what Mav would’ve done. 

Thinking of Mav... 

Boom! 

The floor tremored, throwing an already off-balanced Imani down. Maren stepped in. One, two, three more strikes to the face, all before the back of the terrorist’s head smacked the ground. In reaction, Imani’s eyes clenched shut. Skin drying, Maren shot water underneath nearby bomb piles – both upright and fallen – then ceased as Imani rolled away, shattered pieces of ice beginning to float as she rose. 

Looked like Maren had taken too much time drenching the bombs. 

“This is frustrating,” Imani growled, blood dripping down her nose. “You know you would lose in a fair fight.” 

“Because using my power against me is fair,” Maren said. 

“But it’s not exactly one-on-one if your friend can help even from a different fight.” 

“That’s one thing you gotta know about Mav. When he’s around, things tend to go boom.” The floor shook, making Imani stumble. Maren smirked. “And Mav’s always around.” 

Mav knelt amongst the rubble, his chilled breath visible in the sizzling air. Chunks of boulder were embedded in the wall, while others on the floor glowed a molten orange. Asaka and Dearil stood thirty feet away, keeping their distance from him – or the superheated stone around him.  

This fight is too dangerous. The boulder’s destruction could have harmed Maren or JJ. Mav needed to move the fight elsewhere, unless he unintentionally wounded a friend. 

Good thing the exit was right behind Mav. 

Dearil threw another knife. Mav skirted away, backing closer to the opening he’d made minutes earlier. Dearil took the bait, moving closer, though still giving the melting rock a wide berth. He threw another knife as Mav chucked a small fireball his way, hopping back again toward the exit. 

That’s right. Get in closer. 

Stone crunched from behind and a large cloud of dust shot forth, covering Mav. Mav coughed, closing his eyes as stone rolled into his calf. As the dust settled, Mav saw that the open path he’d made had been closed by fallen stone. 

Asaka, now fifty feet away, stood with one palm toward the floor, while the other was clamped to the side of his head. 

Koda had done that, when he’d used his Gift excessively. It was especially prominent after he Folded, but it also happened whenever he moved objects while also Seeing through space to view far distances. 

Asaka had held Dearil and himself aloft, while also pulling a huge chunk of the ceiling down. Seemed the more he pulled objects in two different directions, the sooner the ether would consume him.

“Don’t try to run,” Dearil said. “You’re going nowhere.” 

“But he is,” Mav said, then darted toward Asaka. 

Mav didn’t have to avoid the molten rock, giving him a straight path. He forged ahead, his movements heavy and sluggish from the frost, but Dearil couldn’t near him due to the heat. Before he reached Asaka, however, Mav tumbled. Like a rug pulled out from under him, Mav flipped forward and hit the ground. What the...? 

Mav’s shoes ran backwards, no body to power them. Like I need shoes to fight! 

Asaka began skirting back, out of Mav’s reach. Another knife hurtled toward him. 

Here we go again.