[center][img]http://imageshack.com/i/pnZVpkj9p[/img][/center]
[center][color=35902B][h1][b]「 ARDENT 」[/b][/h1][/color][/center]

[sup][center]5th Avenue, New Athens, Castleburg[/center][/sup]
[hr]

Minutes later, Ardent was in the air.

While he hovered over the parade and waved at the people down below, he cast his gaze over the buildings, looking up and down 5th Avenue and the immediately connecting streets. It was crowded. He could pick out Wireframe from among the pedestrians, and he presumed Bastion was somewhere among them, too, although he didn't know his face. Having opted not to perch on a building, there was no way for Ardent to rely on the support of the part-time hero's shield. It was better to have that protection near the crowd, anyway.

It was a good vantage point, but the villains probably wouldn't be approaching on foot. A car? Ardent descended a little, until he had a view of the sidestreets that let him see the faces of drivers through their windshields.

He heard the gunshot.

Instantly, Ardent whirled around and braced for a hit, his power coursing through his body. There was no impact. He had been hoping to draw some attention in the air and lure out the enemy's first attack. Apparently, someone else had that misfortune instead.

[quote][color=lightgreen]"This is Blast. Don't know if you heard, but they're here and they don't seem to be in the mood to negotiate. Cowboy Bebop is in a particularly feisty mood. I'll try to re-engage him when I get the chance- AGH, SHIT! FUCK!"[/color][/quote]

Blast. There were worse options for people who could've been shot. At least Holliday hadn't opened the fight by killing a civilian.

The scene of the battle wasn't hard to spot. There was a Wild West themed parade float [i]([color=35902B]In a hero-themed parade?[/color])[/i] that was suddenly unleashing a small army of robots, and a certain speedster was zipping around near it, scrambling for cover. Ardent took off, hurtling through the sky over 5th Avenue. He could see his target.

[quote][color=lightgreen]"Hey, Birdboy, could use that weather report at some point. I'm target practice out here."[/color][/quote]

[color=35902B]"Careful,"[/color] Ardent answered through his own watch, [color=35902B]"Might make me rethink [i]who[/i] I'm gonna punch when I get there."[/color]

As Ardent flew, the situation started to clarify. Lady Blade was inside, somehow. She had gotten past them, to the kid heroes and Wiseman. He felt a twinge of frustration. On the upside, they were holding their own, and Oracle's power had given them another huge advantage in intelligence. Out front, a wave of robots began making for the entrance. Thankfully, the parade crowd seemed to have the good sense to run away at the sight of the things. Ardent still didn't know Wireframe's power, but he trusted her and Bastion to be able to handle that side of the situation. He passed overhead, a blur to the naked eye, weaving between the aerial robots. Even if they fired at him in passing, they posed no threat to him. He wasn't interested.

Ardent was keeping his eyes on the prize. Holliday was standing on the remains of the deconstructed float, preparing another six shots.

The former vigilante banked in midair, curving his approach to come from the direction opposite to Blast, putting the villain between the two heroes. The damage that had clearly been done to Blast, and to the mailbox, wasn't lost on Ardent. He remained keenly aware that some of Holliday's specialized bullets might be packing deadly surprises.

[color=35902B][b]"It's high noon, you old-timey fuck!!"[/b][/color]

...But that didn't mean he was going to take a cautious approach.

Holliday had sharp eyes, and presumably drones watching his back for a surprise attack. Given the choice, Ardent preferred to have the sharpshooter look his way, to give Blast and the stranger with him a reprieve. He rocketed through the air at a downward angle, descending faster than any bullet towards Holliday.

Of all the heroes present on New Athens, Blast and Ardent were probably the only two capable of changing direction quickly enough to avoid a bullet after it had been fired. In that sense, Holliday had an unlucky matchup, but they couldn't rely on dodging alone to beat an enemy whose entire schtick was hitting impossible shots.

In Ardent's experience, when it came to long-ranged fighters, whether they used eye lasers, tossed globs of lava, telekinetically hurled cars, or shot plain-old bullets, the core idea was that the best defence was a good offence. This seemed to be applicable for Holliday. His power didn't give him any protection from attacks, so he needed to rely on the fact that either his enemy would get shot and die, or they'd be too busy avoiding his bullets to launch a proper counterattack. It had clearly worked on Blast, who was stuck running for cover instead of closing the distance to take the bastard down. If he waffled about how to avoid taking a little damage, he would never get close enough to strike. Ardent had a different approach.

Even with the warning of a battlecry, Holliday would only have a scant moment to react. Enough time to fire a shot? Possibly. Ardent was ready for that.

A fist flashed out, quick as thunder, driving furiously towards the villain's upper body as Ardent lunged down from above. It was an instinctual, practiced motion that gave no sign of the angle of attack until the moment he entered striking distance. He aimed for the shoulder on the side where Holliday was holding his gun. Even reducing his power to avoid a bloodbath, Ardent's punch carried more than enough force to obliterate bone. Forcing this cowboy to drop his weapon was the first step in crushing him.