Dervish
The Striker Team Strikes
Callan | Sander
๐: ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ. ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ / / ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ฃ๐, ๐๐๐ฃ๐ช๐๐๐๐ / / ๐๐ ๐จ๐ / / ~๐๐๐๐
Collab with @Baklava @RedDusk
By the time they neared their target, Sanderโs heart had gone into overdrive. He was up from his seat, fighting the urge to launch himself out of the helicopter and onto whatever waiting bellow. Fear and doubt ebbed out his nerves, leaving behind violent urges and an eagerness to pit the monster beneath his skin against the one beneath that hide of steel.
Bits by bits, he let go, until his heart hammered and he bared his teeth in a grin, eyes locked onto the monster below. Right then, above it, a light flashed. He saw the beam coming, and its wake, he only grinned wider. Harmless, like raindrops against his skin.
But there was still the scent of carbonated sweetness behind him. With all those parts of him that was still lucid, Sander turned just as the red beam cut through the distance, grabbing Callanโs upper arm before diving out. He split a piece of his fire and gave it to her too, just like how the dream taught him. Just to be sure.
Damn. Probably wasn't the best idea for Chris to go airborne before it was time to go, huh? Callan stood and watched as Chris was immediately swarmed. Not good. She turned her eyes to a flickering of red light coming from the massive metal serpent up ahead, watching with a steadily rising apprehension as its mouth filled with light.
NOT GOOD.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sander smiling. An absurdity that seemed so out of place in that second that it actually gave her pause. Creepy. He spun to face her. There was a sudden pressure on her arm followed by a sensation of fiery warmth that preceded the beam of red energy. She flinched away and shielded her face with her free arm out of reflex.
It passed over her, vaporizing the unprotected fabric of her maroon hoodie, helmet, and even her hair tie, but otherwise not causing any physical harm-- even as she processed what was left of the helicopter exploding around her. Then there was a sharp tug as Sander yanked her sideways. In her disoriented state, she moved her feet to catch herself, but there was nothing there. She was falling.
Ears still ringing from the foray of sound, her heart beat wildly in her chest as she opened her eyes to see the ground rushing towards them. She was basically supergirl. Falling from this height probably wouldn't hurt too bad. Despite these facts, she couldn't will herself to calm down. She latched onto Sander's arm tightly and did her best to brace herself.
Sander only let go of Callan once they had hit the ground. It was a rough landing, but his power protected him, just like how it protected Callan. He withdrew the fire though, because he needed more than she did. He wanted it more. He didnโt have to check on his teammate though. Just from the scent alone, he could tell that she wasnโt bleeding. So he left, dashing toward his target while the broken pieces of the helicopter was still raining down around them.
She didn't notice the glow from Sander's ability until he let go and it faded away. Was that why she was unscathed? She wasn't allotted much time to think on it. Picking herself up off the ground, she noticed Sander had already gotten to his feet. Off he went towards Factory.
"Wait!" she shouted, but her voice was drowned out by a particularly large chunk of helicopter crashing into the ground beside her. She quickly stood up and glanced down at herself to assess the damage-- or lack thereof. She was durable, but not THIS durable. Sander had definitely done something.
"Striker Team... are you there?" Angel's voice was leaking of concern, seemingly on the edge.
"I repeat... Callan, Sander, are you two alrig-... Ah shit!" the sonic Mage repeated.
A hint of irritation rose over the concern as the message cut off abruptly-- and not just because she realized her communicator had been vaporized as well. They shouldn't be allowing themselves to get distracted like that.
"Transmit," she said, moving forward, "We're FINE. Stay focused! Over." In spite of her efforts to sound confident, her voice faintly betrayed that she was a little shaken. She hadn't paid any mind to the pilot of the helicopter, but she got the distinct feeling there wasn't going to be anything left of the man. But again, no time to think about that.
She broke into a harder sprint after Sander. He seemed to already have an idea of what to do now. She only hoped it was a good one because, as of now, their previous plan was fucked.
Sander either didn't notice Angel's voice or was just too far gone for the transmission to reach him. Regardless, he forged forward, his body a red blur as he launched himself toward Factoryโs looming body.
Callan grit her teeth and inwardly cursed. Kardos said to take out the lower limbs first! And that giant serpent thing with the death laser was still right there. Regardless, she figured she couldn't just stand there and watch. She had to make the best of things. If Sander could take one of those laser hits unscathed, then perhaps he was all the distraction they needed for now. As she ran, she kept her eyes trained on the serpent, approaching parallel to Factory in an attempt to reach its leg without falling into either's line of sight.
Nearing the limb, she summon the same obsidian colored hammer she'd practiced with at Ground Zero, staggering slightly under the weight as she tried to raise it just enough so it wasn't dragging in the mud while she ran. Just before she was close enough, she swung the hammer in a full circle before pivoting into a slight crouch and taking one last step forward. Hopefully Sander had bought her enough time for it to connect. Nonetheless, she braced herself for the worst.