"Didn't see Saph anywhere. Looks like the path is clear."
There was as short pause over the air waves.
"Hey, we're coming to you guys." Hang's voice filtered through the comms to the other teammates throughout the compound. "Should be around in about two minutes."
The news of backup seemed to reinvigorate Austin a little as he worked tediously against the netting. He'd done his best to right it where he could, and had moved on to pulling its ends apart. Two minutes was a long time to wait in battle, but he took some solace in that there had been plenty of time to incapacitate both Joan and himself since he entered, and no one had.
"We'll be here."
Austin flipped back one end of the net, finally having untangled it. He offered Joan an outstretched hand to help her up, but his eyes were trained on their surroundings. Exercise machines littered the room, and he fully intended to re-up on their weapons supply before attempting to enter the hostage room. If Alex was right about the pool room, Austin suspected they'd need every ounce of adrenaline-fueled ingenuity to combat the strongest defenders.
Hearing that they hadn't seen Sapphire worried Joan even further, but it was good that they were heading their way. They would likely need backup to handle the coming fight, considering Victor, Koa, and Sapphire were the ones they had left to face.
"Well, keep an eye out for her if you can. We're going to take a look around here while we wait." As she spoke, Austin pulled the net away. She took his proffered hand and pulled herself up, mumbling a "thanks" before turning to survey the gym equipment.
"Do you think we can lift this?" She prodded the net with the toe of her sneaker, frowning contemplatively. Without waiting for a reply, she made her way across the room and took a bar off a rack, weighing it in her hands before taking a couple test swings. Satisfied, she tucked it under her arm and looked around for anything else she could use.
"We could probably carry it in together, but I'm not sure we'd put it to too much use. Doubt we'd manage to really ensnare anyone in the thick of it."
From where he was kneeling, Austin tested the weight of several dumbbells. He briefly considered using one like a club, but began to laugh at the thought. If anyone was going to charge in close enough to hit someone with a dumbbell, it was not going to be Austin. Amused, and yet disillusioned, the boy slotted each piece of equipment back into its place before standing and dusting himself off. In the corner of the room he spied a couple of medicine balls, and made his way over to them with a renewed interest.
"I'm thinking that Hang at least could probably use some of the heavier stuff in here…" With a look of deep contemplation, he tried to lift each of the balls. The thirty-pound ball was way heavier than he would've expected, and after nearly losing his balance trying to stand with it, he hurriedly put it back in place. Sheepishly, he looked over his shoulder in Joan's direction, hoping her attention was elsewhere.
Twenty pounds it is, I guess.
"What the heck are you guys doing," Alex said as he just…appeared behind them, Hang in tow. "Joan, here, take this," he said, passing over the megaphone he was still holding. "You heard Darius, blue button only," he said, reaching into his back pocket as he pulled out the walkie talkie he took as well. "Think its a normal walkie talkie?" he asked as he looked it over, accidentally pressing a button.
After a little white noise, the walkie talkie seemed to right itself. Music suddenly blared, a radio station pulled into place.
"And I dug my key into the side of his, pretty little suped up four wheel drive.."
Alex winced before quickly punching the same button again, trying to turn the thing off.
"Ugh, God, thank you," Hang muttered to herself as she sneered at the walkie-talkie, looking around the gym.
I don't know what Victor can do, and Koa's...whatever she's got are too strong for me to break on my own. What kinda goodies have we got in here? Seeing the net, she raised her eyebrows and lifted it, tossing it over her shoulder with relative ease. That'd come in handy later.
"Alright, game plan, chumps. Hostages are in the pool room. I say I head in first, get a feel for what Victor's up to, and then report back," Hang suggested.
Joan nodded when Austin pointed out they probably wouldn't be able to use the net effectively. Maybe it would be effective if a single person could carry it, but as it was, it was probably best to leave it be. She continued poking about for a bit, but decided to stick to the bar for now.
"So, when do you think they're gonna--"
She was interrupted by Alex and Hang appearing out of nowhere behind them, and she jumped back with a yelp, fumbling the bar out from under her arm and gripping it tightly in both hands before she realized it was just them. Letting out a shaky breath, she lowered the exercise bar, shaking her head.
"Trying to make use of some of this stuff," she managed to say before Alex passed her the megaphone. She held it in one hand and looked it over, noting what he said about the blue button. "What exactly does this do? And that doesn't look normal to me...where did you even get these?"
She winced as the music came blaring out of the walkie-talkie. "Great. Just great. How are we supposed to use that?"
Hang started speaking, and when she turned to look, she saw Hang had picked up the net.
Oh, good. One of us can use that, at least.
"Um...I was actually thinking it might be smart for Alex to see what's up if he can, or for people to go in pairs? If you think both Victor and Koa are in there, and if you haven't seen Sapphire yet, that's a lot of people to face by yourself, and Alex can go in unseen." She swallowed nervously before continuing. "And it's not the smartest to go in alone against unknowns, right?"
"Problem being, we don't know what Victor does, or what Koa's doing. Alex goes in, and he's not gonna know either, because they're not gonna bite back. He's not going to be able to see Sapphire as it is. I'm pretty sure she can turn invisible," Hang stated dismissively, picking up a lift bar. She made a face as she realized it was way too heavy for her to just swing around. "But if
I go in, get 'em to lob a few things my way, and duck back out - well, that's a different story. If plan A fails, send in Alex to see what's up. Or send him with me. Either way, we're just not gonna know what's in there until somebody dips their toe in the water."
"I say send Alex with you, then, because like you said, we don't know what they can do, and while you're the toughest we have, you're not invulnerable." Joan winced slightly as she spoke, but she seemed to be gaining a bit more confidence. "What did you guys see, exactly?"
Before either Alex or Hang could reply to Joan, Austin cut in from where he had been waiting. He might've been predisposed to let other people handle decision making, but his encounter with Christina had embedded a healthy fear of the unknown into his conscious.
"For what it's worth… I-I think Joan's right." He briefly measured Alex and Hang's own features, before directing his eyes downward. "Sending less than two is…" Austin wanted to say stupid, but he caught himself before the words left his mouth. The thought of insulting Hang's ideas to her face did not seem wise after all he had experienced in the last couple of minutes. "It's not that clever. I don't know about you guys, but they've already caught us off-guard today." Austin gestured to the net on Hang's shoulders, and turned to face her directly.
"If we only send one person, there's a bigger chance they'll be incapacitated with some trick, or be ganged up on. If they manage to take out you—which, by the way, I'm definitely not saying they absolutely
could—we'd be totally screwed. Seems to me like there's a greater chance someone will be capable of reporting back if there is more than one target for the bad guys to worry about, ya know?"
Austin lifted the medicine ball into the crook of his armpit, and tentatively stepped a little closer to the group. With his free hand, he brushed a mess of sweat-soaked curls from the front of his forehead and did his best to straighten the front of his prematurely-worn sweater. There was no telling what was waiting for them, but the brief period of calm had done wonders to straighten out his nerves.
Hang twisted her lips into a moue of dissatisfaction, but she seemed to concede to his point as she rolled her eyes and said, "Alright, fine - then what - we all just barge in like we're storming the barricades? Or do we have anything else?"
"There are multiple entrances to the pool," Alex remarked. "We could try flanking anyone in the pool. Two sided flank would be plenty; the side that isn't fighting Victor can focus on other enemies, surprise attack, go for the hostages…anything really."
The country music stopped as Alex pressed the button once more. White noise fizzled in again and then cut itself off, the walkie becoming quiet. As Archer let out a string of curse words, cradling his own head, Jace pressed a finger on his earpiece.
"Silas is keeping Archer and I trapped in here. Archer just hit his head and Casey is out cold. He's probably got Christina too." Jace sighed as Archer continued to whine. "Basil's walkie is working perfectly. They're planning on sneaking past you and taking position, possibly flanking. Victor, you might want to set something up. We'll find a way out of here."
Victor smiled, rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles. "We don't want to let this one go too easy," He hummed, slabs of earth popping up in a perfect row, blocking the entrance to the pool and to the bathroom. Alex would be able to phase through these, no doubt, but there were at least five in a row, making it an extremely exhausting endeavor. This action was performed with the utmost ease for Victor, who seemed to even enjoy it. The fight was about to begin.[/hr]
