Template:Featured Articles/48-2016
 Well Ebersol was right about one thing — she had no idea. Topaz jerked back as he moved at a speed she wasn't expecting, throwing up a shield around herself for him to ping pong off of. Fixer glanced off the shield with a grunt, ricocheting into the wall. He picked himself up, glaring at Topaz. "Nice trick. How long can you keep that up?" And with that, he lunged at her again, swinging enhanced arms at the shield in huge roundhouse punches. With what she'd just absorbed from his puppets? Longer than normal but probably not long enough to outlast him considering he'd just rammed into a wall and stood up again like it was nothing. She winced back as he punched at her shield, scrolling quickly through her options. Everyone else was busy in their own fight and there was no cavalry swinging in to save her this time. As Fixer reared back for another punch she dropped the shield and blasted him back, energy crackling around her fingers. Fixer managed to throw up his arms to protect his face, his skin burning away beneath the energy to reveal not flesh but metal. Faster than she might have anticipated, he surged forward again, taking advantage of her dropped shield to try to tackle her to the floor. "Fucking — " Was about as far as Topaz got, shock momentarily distracting her — was he a bloody robot? — before Fixer slammed into her and sent her crashing to the ground. Her head snapped back, stars bursting to life before her eyes, and she blinked desperately to try and stay conscious. "I didn't want to do it this way." His hands, part metal and part burned skin and meat, reached around her throat. "If you'd just LEFT ME ALONE to finish my work..." His eyes bulged in his head as he squeezed harder. "I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END THIS WAY!" Whenever she saw someone getting choked in a movie, Topaz had always thought it was stupid that the person tried to claw at their attacker's hands. Wouldn't it make more sense to go for the face? Apparently adrenaline and panic turned even the smartest people into idiots, though. Topaz grasped desperately at the man's hands, trying to throw him off, gasping uselessly for air. No, no, no, no, nononono... It's gonna kill Amanda to lose another student. That was the thought that cleared Topaz's mind enough to focus. She couldn't breathe, but she could still cast a spell. She forced herself to focus, gathering the energy in her palms once more, reaching back to the very corners of her mind and dragging it all forward. And she blasted Fixer off of her. He flew across the room, crashing into the wall with a bone-breaking thump. The air rushed out of him and he slid down the wall to land on the floor, limp and still, his neck unnaturally twisted. For a moment Topaz just lay on the ground, waiting for him to come back and trying desperately to find the energy to move. Her head was spinning, adrenaline mixing with the emotions she still had left in her mind to make a very interesting, and somewhat disconcerting, high. Until a minute too long passed and she realized that Fixer wasn't coming at her again. She forced herself to sit up, blinking when she saw him crumpled against the ground. Had she knocked him out? Thank god. She stumbled up, cautiously moving closer... And froze when she saw the angle his neck was at. "Oh god..." She whispered, kneeling down and reaching out in a vain attempt to look for a pulse. Stupid — he was clearly dead. The lack of one wasn't a surprise. Topaz withdrew her hand, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes and breathing deep, trying to focus. "Fuck." |
